Co-Sleeping: The Webinar

Co-sleeping…The sanity saver for many new parents. Is it unsafe, a “killer,” as it’s been deemed by government agencies, both here and in Canada?

Friday!
Join this Webinar and find out! Experts will discuss the safety issues, the benefits, and the beauty of co-sleeping. This Mothering.com special features:
Dr. James McKenna, is author of Sleeping with Your Baby: A Parent's Guide to Co-Sleeping and runs the University of Notre Dame Mother-Baby Sleep Laboratory.
Dr. Paul Fleiss is a pediatrician and the author of Sweet Dreams: A Pediatrician's Secrets for Baby's Good Night Sleep, as well as numerous scientific articles published in leading national and international medical journals.

The controversy: We’ve heard it all before.

The Globe and Mail reported that Canada’s deputy coroner, Dr. Jim Cairns, announced last year that co-sleeping contributed to the deaths of 11 infants out of 21 SUD (Sudden Unexpected Death differs from SIDS in that cause can be determined) cases in 2005 in Ontario.

'We are opposed to co-sleeping, period,' Dr. Cairns says. 'The only safe sleeping environment is in a properly manufactured crib with a proper mattress and nothing in it.' Cairns said he understands the argument from mothers that they want to breastfeed their infants in bed. 'I am not against breastfeeding; just don't do it in bed,' he said. 'Bond with the baby in the crib beside you. At least you are bonding with a baby who is alive.'

No word yet on whether the illuminating Dr. Cairns finds any problems with the host of toxins in the standard crib mattress.
His angry declarations against co-sleeping just barely top the recommendations of the CPSC. The Consumer Products Safety Commission has warned parents not to sleep with babies. Lead in your toys? Formaldehyde in baby's nursery furniture? No problem! Nurturing your baby at night? Heck no!

What are those crazy bureaucrats going to think of next? Legislating love?!
…Oh, wait.

One of my top baby picks was a co-sleeper. Co-sleeping saved me during the first few months with both my sons. I am a firm believer in the evidence that women who breastfeed get more sleep; the proof has been real in my life.

While many nights I pull E into bed halfway through the night and multi-task (sleep and breastfeed), I don’t necessarily need to. I could simply leave him in his bassinet, which is positioned within arm’s reach. So I don’t religiously co-sleep. I don’t have to. But I do leave room for compromise: E takes naps on his own or in my mei tai, E sleeps like a cummerbund, sprawled across my belly as he feeds, or he soundly sleeps next to the bed. Whatever works. I feel safe in our decision to let E sleep in our bed. Instinctively, we both know where he is at all times. Honestly, hardly a morning goes by when I don’t wake up sharing Mark’s side of the bed, baby E laying spread eagle across the middle of the bed happily.

My goodness, how did the human race manage to make it all these thousands of years without "expert" proclamations in the realms of pregnancy, childbirth, and even sleep?!
Instinct, or luck?