Читать книгу Infants and Children in Context - Tara L. Kuther - Страница 217

The practice of co-sleeping, which refers to the infant sharing a bed with the mother or with both parents, is common in many countries yet controversial in others. In Japan, China, Kenya, Bangladesh, and the Mayan peninsula of Mexico, co-sleeping in infancy and early childhood is the norm and is believed to enhance the child’s sense of security and attachment to the mother (Huang, Wang, Zhang, & Liu, 2010; Morelli, Rogoff, Oppenheim, & Goldsmith, 1992; Super & Harkness, 1982). In Latin America and Asia, infants are not usually expected to go to bed and sleep alone at a regular time each night. Instead, they are held until they fall asleep and then are placed in the parental bed (Lozoff, Wolf, & Davis, 1984). In contrast, in many industrialized countries, such as the United States and the United Kingdom, newborns are placed to sleep in their own bassinets, whether in their parents’ room or in a separate nursery. In these countries, learning to sleep by oneself is viewed as fostering independence and the ability to self-regulate (Ball, Hooker, & Kelly, 1999; McKenna & Volpe, 2007). Parents’ decisions of whether to co-sleep are influenced by their own values and beliefs, which are often shaped by the context in which they live.

While sharing a bedroom can enhance the infant–parent bond and make nighttime feedings easier, infants are safest in their own bassinets, such this one, which is adapted to promote safe parent–infant contact.

Jennie Hart / Alamy Stock Photo

Proponents of co-sleeping argue that it best meets the developmental needs of human newborns and aids in forming the attachment bond (McKenna, 2001). Infants who sleep with their mothers synchronize their sleep patterns with hers, permitting more awakenings for breastfeeding, yet lengthening the total time that infants sleep (Gettler & McKenna, 2011). Both mothers and babies benefit from skin-to-skin contact, as it enhances breast milk production, stabilizes infants’ heart rate, increases the prevalence and duration of breastfeeding, and is associated with more positive mother–infant interactions (McKenna & Volpe, 2007; Taylor, Donovan, & Leavitt, 2008). Fathers report that they find co-sleeping rewarding rather than an intrusion on the marital bed (Ball, Hooker, & Kelly, 2000).

Pediatricians in Western nations tend to advise separate sleeping arrangements for parents and infants. Opponents of co-sleeping point to an increased risk of accidental suffocation and an increased risk of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome), especially among mothers who smoke (Mitchell, 2009). The American Academy of Pediatrics and the U.K. Department of Health have declared sharing a bed with an infant to be an unsafe practice; instead, they advise having infants sleep in a crib in the parents’ room (Task Force on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, 2016; U.K. Department of Health, 2005). Despite these warnings, co-sleeping has become more common among Western families. Some believe that co-sleeping can be safe if appropriate precautions are taken, such as using light bed coverings and a firm mattress and avoiding comforters and pillows (McKenna, 2001). The American Academy of Pediatrics advises that bedsharing should be abandoned in favor of room sharing, to provide the developmental advantages of co-sleeping and minimize the dangers (Task Force on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, 2016).