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Re: co-sleeping
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Lisa,<br>
A colleague of mine does work in this area. Below is some information she
shared with me. If you have any questions, you could contact her, Wendy
Middlemiss, at wlm6@psu.edu<br>
<br>
Middlemiss, W. (2004) Infant Sleep: A Review of Normative and Problematic
Sleep and <br>
Interventions. <i>Early Child Development and Care, 174,
</i>99-122.<br>
<br>
Middlemiss, W. Infant Sleep: A Different Approach to Defining What is
Problematic? <i>Zero to <br>
Three, 24, </i>46-51. <br>
<br>
These articles should provide a number of resources that can address your
question. Below I have addressed some of your questions briefly, based on
the information I have found in the research. <br>
<br>
I am looking for the latest research or official (e.g. from<br>
a body of physicians) recommendation regarding co-sleeping<br>
of parents and children.<br>
<font color="#0000FF">Co-sleeping, although common throughout most of
world, is still a practice that garners much debate in the US. There is
some greater acceptance of co-sleeping at early ages; although generally,
based on a project we did assessing how nurse practitioners' viewed the
role of sleeping in regard to children's development, co-sleeping is
still thought to have potentially negative affects in regard to
children's development of independence in regard to sleep and in regard
to separating from parents. The literature, however, does not clearly
support positive or negative outcomes based on one or the other type of
sleeping arrangement....the findings are very mixed.<br>
</font> <br>
At what ages is it found to be helpful/harmful and under<br>
what circumstances? (e.g. helpful if mother is nursing,<br>
harmful if mother is obese, not recommended beyond X years<br>
old, etc.).<br>
<font color="#0000FF">In regard to ages, most practitioners would like to
see families who engage in shared sleep arrangements to discontinue this
practice some time at the 1 year mark. There is little empirical
information that addresses this issue. In regard to breastfeeding, there
are researchers who suggest that breastfeeding is more likely when
families engaged in shared sleep arrangements, but this has not always
been supported in the literature. Obesity, however, has been identified
as a risk factor for co-sleeping families. <br>
</font> <br>
At this point I can use an "official word" more than<br>
anecdotal info. this is for a book and I could use this help<br>
quick.<br>
thanks y'all!<br>
<br>
<font color="#0000FF">If you have any questions, please let me know....or
if you would like a copy of either of the articles, I could furnish those
for you. Good luck with your book. This is a fascinating topic. <br>
</font>Wendy Middlemiss, Ph.D.<br>
Associate Professor<br>
Penn State Shenango<br>
147 Shenango Avenue<br>
Sharon, PA 16146<br>
phone: 724 983 2953<br>
fax: 724 983 2820 <br><br>
<br><br>
At 10:21 PM 9/1/2004, you wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">I am looking for the latest
research or official (e.g. from <br>
a body of physicians) recommendation regarding co-sleeping <br>
of parents and children.<br><br>
At what ages is it found to be helpful/harmful and under <br>
what circumstances? (e.g. helpful if mother is nursing, <br>
harmful if mother is obese, not recommended beyond X years <br>
old, etc.).<br><br>
At this point I can use an "official word" more than <br>
anecdotal info. this is for a book and I could use this help <br>
quick.<br>
thanks y'all!<br><br>
Lisa fontes, Ph.D.</blockquote></body>
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