After the tragedy of 23-day-old Cameron Rowland, who died after his parents brought him into their bed, co-sleeping is a hot topic. Here’s what parents and experts think…
Posted: 18 August 2011
by Siobhan O’Reilly
“It helps protect babies’ health”
“In countries where babies routinely sleep with their mothers or others, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is unheard of. Plenty of research is going on to find out exactly why co-sleeping is protective of babies’ health.”
“I’d never take my other babies into bed with me”
“I was sharing a bed with my 2-day-old baby, Edward, when he died. I was breastfeeding at the time. I thought he’d fallen asleep. The doctors didn’t make any connection with the fact that I’d had him in my bed, but I’ve never dared take either of my other two babies in with me. No matter how much they cried in their cots, they had to sleep there.”
Jessica Morcom, 38, from Leicestershire, mum to Adam, 4, and Freddie, 2
“Check the guidelines thoroughly”
“One problem with telling parents not to co-sleep is that the advice is easily misunderstood. Lots of parents think, ‘I mustn’t take my baby into my bed,’ and so they go and lie with him on the sofa instead, which is much more dangerous. Anyone considering bedsharing should look thoroughly into the guidelines for doing it safely.”
GP Dr Kerrie Spaul, from Leicestershire
“Co-sleeping can be a sanity-saver”
“I’m a counsellor for women with postnatal illness, and co-founder of the charity Mother’s Voice [www.mothersvoice.org.uk]. We’ve found that women who are sleep-deprived often suffer PND symptoms more severely. Many of our mums have decided to co-sleep for their own mental health.”
Lisa Tanner, 36, from Worcester, mum to Amelia, 7, Eloise, 5, India, 4, and Scarlett, 2
“I never thought it was risky”
“Megan’s now 10, and when she was little, no one said anything about co-sleeping being a risk. Olivia wakes so often for feeds that it just became easier to have her in with us. I didn’t realise there was different advice now.”
Sharon Pritchard, 39, from Leicester, mum to Megan, 10, and Olivia, 11 months
“I was too embarrassed to admit we were co-sleeping”
“My husband and I had Sam in bed with us from when he was born until he was 16 months old. I found it really positive, but was embarrassed to tell other mums about it and scared to tell my health visitor in case I was told to stop. I’ve since realised lots of mums feel that way. If we could be more open, it would be easier to get advice about how to do it safely.”
Julie Adams, from Bristol, mum to Sam, 18 months
“The safest place for your baby is in a cot”
“The advice from The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID) is that the safest place for your baby to sleep for the first six months is in a cot in the parents’ room. Research has shown that if you fall asleep together with your baby on a sofa it increases the risk of SIDS 50-fold.
Research also shows that bed-sharing increases the risk of sudden infant death if either of the parents is a smoker; if they have recently drunk alcohol or taken any drugs that make them sleepy; they are tired; or if the baby was born premature or with low birthweight.
Any parents wishing to get advice on caring for their infants are asked to contact the helpline on 020 7233 2090.”
Joyce Epstein, Director of FSID
