Co-sleeping worldwide! give me the stats! (channel 7 news report)

[Epacris]

What I don’t get is this:

33 of 72 deaths during sleep had involved sleeping with other people or a pet

Umm so that means 39 deaths during sleep involved babies sleeping alone. So doesn’t that mean babies sleeping alone is more dangerous???

And I would like to know how many of those 33 cosleeping deaths had un-safe cosleeping risk factors. How many of the parents had been using drugs, were extremely tired, there was too much bedding (pillow donnas), on a lounge or in a chair or with a sibling or a pet?

It is just so wrong (and makes me so angry) when authorities make such ridiculously blunt statements, i.e. “Don’t cosleep”. People will cosleep, cosleeping is the only option for some families (that allows some them to function), some people want to cosleep. “Just put baby in a cot” for some families, it’s just not that simple. We need information on safe cosleeping!!!

[Butterfly Dawn]

Lisa- I totally agree. These things are all natural so how are they unsafe? We should be educated about how to do these safely.

When will people start to accept that everybody has different ideas about how to raise their child and (within reason and logic) there are no real wrong ways, so many of the arguments can not be won, just discussed. Unfortunately there will always be deaths, there always has, but helping us to make informed decisions should be the goal, not scare mongering.

[Earthmama]

When I was in the hospital the nurses encouraged me to co sleep ...that was before I knew how good co sleeping was for your child.

[forshelby]

As soon as we got home from hospital, and DS 'woke up' (began exhibiting signs of being the son of satan LOL) we started co-sleeping. Mostly because I was sore and struggled to get up out of bed every hour. I actually never planned to do it this way, nor did I want to. But it was the best thing for us all.

DS has gone into his cot in the last 2 months. But he still likes a good snuggle in the big bed with me in the wee hours of the morning. Now that he's bigger I do share a blanket with him, but it's light, and he sleeps by my head, so only his legs are covered. I awoke to find him spooning my back the other day, lol. I find co sleeping less stressful as long as it's just me and DS in the bed. DP has been evicted from the boudoir as he doesn't trust himself to be aware enough. And he smokes. And likes a beer or 6.

As long as safety is considered, I think co sleeping is fabulous. It saved my sanity, my relationship, you name it. So up yours, main stream media. I wish reports were more balanced. It's not fair to use such scaremongering tactics.

[forshelby]

I have to add- just popping baby in the cot sounds easy, but many of you will know it's not that simple! It was co-sleeping, or no-sleeping for me. I remember many nights spent wearing 3 layers to keep warm without blankets. I'd sit up in a chair, pop DS in his sling, and put my dressing gown over the outside but wide open, just keeping my arms warm. As you can see, I'm a fan of improvisation.

[MantaRay]

This makes me really angry also. Safe co-sleeping is safer than baby sleeping alone, but it seems that there is a huge reluctance to tell people that. Instead it seems easier to just say "don't do it". But that is doing families a dis-service on so many levels. It's not giving them the information to make their own choice, and let's face it, at some time pretty much every parent is going to bring a baby into bed with them when the baby won't settle. So why not accept that and give people the information to do it safely. And co-sleeping in a bed is sure safer than a parent not taking the baby into bed with them because they've been told not to and then falling asleep with the baby on the couch.

I have heard James McKenna speak on co-sleeping - he is a brilliant anthropologist who has written books on parenting and promotes the safe co-sleeping message around the US. I love his work and he really makes sense with his messages. If only there were more like him. He will be in Aus again soon, hopefully the media will pick him up like they did last time and promote him on mainstream TV!