Why Bed Sharing Is Important for Infants - Assignment Example

Why bed sharing is important for Infants Family experts and parents believe that bed sharing, also known as Co-sleeping, between an infant and the parent is important. Supporter of this idea view co-sleeping as a way of creating a strong and affectionate bond between a mother and child. Mothers understand that bed sharing with their children provides an easier way to breastfeed the child and increase cuddling time. On the other hand, critics share a different opinion about the same. They oppose the idea based on the facts that co-sleeping discourages child independence and decreases chances of comfortable sleep in infants. Melissa Hunsley and Evelyn B Thoman describe in their text that co-sleeping puts the infant in a vulnerable situation. According to their text, co- sleeping may lead to either harm or death to the infant. In their experiment, Hunsley and Thoman set out to investigate the implications of co-sleeping towards infant development. The test involved recording the sleep patterns in one hundred and one healthy and full-term infants (Hunsley, 14-22). The experiment also involved non-intrusive 24 hour monitoring of the infants aged 5 weeks and 6 months. The researchers divided the infants into three groups; none co-sleepers, short term co-sleepers, and long term co- sleepers. At the end of the experiment, results indicated great disparity between the long term co-sleepers and long term co-sleepers. Long term co-sleepers indicated less active sleep, fewer arousals, and less wakefulness. This sleep pattern found in long term co-sleepers indicates stress in the infant (Hunsley, 14-22). As the child develops, he or she experiences stressful sleep due to disturbances experienced during co-sleeping. In some cases, co-sleeping parents who smoke lead to passive smoking by the infant, which is a health hazard to the child. It could be fatal. However, majority of the parents still practice intermittent co-sleeping with their babies despite government and paediatric warnings. Regardless of the various hazards infants get exposed to while co-sleeping I support bed sharing as a way to improve child development. Co-sleeping holds greater advantage over non co-sleeping. The discussion below explains why I choose to support co-sleeping, and it explains how useful it is to the infant’s development. Experiments and investigations carried out give proof of the advantages of co-sleeping. Most people tend to overlook the meaning of co-sleeping. While giving news reports, people mostly leave out what led to the loss of the child. Co-sleeping has different meanings, for example; sharing a room with someone is co-sleeping. It can also be portrayed as the deed of sharing a bed with someone. Co-sleeping refers to a situation in which the parent sleeps within proximity to her child. The safety of co-sleeping can be well understood through looking at its deeper meaning. Room sharing, which is a form of co-sleeping, offers great protective measures for the child. Epidemiological investigations prove that room sharing reduces chances of infant death by 50% (McKenna, 201-216). Majority of the scientists consider it as a safe practice since the parent can closely check on the baby. Bed sharing, on the other hand, poses as both a safe and unsafe practice. Furthermore, this does not entirely consider it as an unsafe method. Both the mother and the child can easily respond to each other’s signals and demands. Interpreting the meaning of the word correctly enables people to view co-sleeping differently and as a safe practice. Scientists and biologists consider a mother sleeping with her child as a biologically and psychologically importance. For this reason, scientists recommend co-sleeping for infants to allow the creation of a bond between the baby and the mother. Bed sharing or room sharing gives the infant a chance to know the mother or father easily. The parent checks on the baby, and also does the right thing to make it comfortable. Psychologically, the baby gets to know its mother or father through facial and voice recognition. Presence of the parent gives the child emotional comfort since he, or she is aware that the parents are there for protection. Concurrent to this, the parent looks after the child closely. Bed sharing gives the mother a chance to constantly breastfeed the child and to also clean the child by changing the diaper. The mother protects the child by placing the baby in a secure place away from objects that may be harmful. Sleeping in separate rooms can lead to accidents that could be avoided through co-sleeping. Infants face various accidents most which include suffocation. When such accidents occur with the parent away, it is difficult to save a child’s life. However, with bed sharing or room sharing, the caregiver can remove a pillow covering the child or toy that rolled onto the child’s face. If done safely, mother child co-sleeping saves the child’s life and contributes to healthy growth. As explained above co-sleeping is safe, it saves infants’ lives and prevents Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) (McKenna, 201-216). SIDS refers to sudden infant death while sleeping. It occurs due to several factors including sleeping positions and environmental conditions surrounding the infant. In the article ‘Is Infant-parent co-sleeping protective?’ by James J. McKenna, the author describes researches conducted to show that co-sleeping is important. The article explains that co-sleeping and bed breast feeding in Japan is a cultural norm. Despite what critics think, Japan has the lowest Sudden Infant Death Syndrome globally. According to the public, bed sharing makes it easier for mothers to breastfeed their children, and it increases the rate of breastfeeding by a 100%. It also allows the mother and child to sleep comfortably for long hours, which is healthy and appropriate for development. Constant breastfeeding during the night, aided by co-sleeping builds the child’s immunity since the mother passes her white blood cells to the baby through the milk. Constant breastfeeding reduces the chances of breast cancer. Through such beneficial attributes most parents in Japan spend most of their night period in bed with their children. Recent national surveys indicate 50% of Americans spend most of their time at night in bed with the children; due to the same reasons (McKenna, 201-216). Tallies show that countries that support bed sharing have low SIDS rates. This brings out the argument that, co sleeping is not the basis of death in infants. However, the main source of death associated with this is how co-sleeping occurs and who does it. Studies carried out support bed sharing. Researchers believe that bed sharing is a protective practice dependent on who is doing it, how they are practicing it, and the circumstances under which it occurs. Co-sleeping is appropriate when the care-giver positions himself or herself properly, and the baby. People also consider it safe when the parent handles the child carefully. The bed should provide enough space for both of them. Some of the other advantages of co-sleeping include: it enables the baby’s sleep synchronize with the mother’s. The infant and the mother sleep at the same time which is appropriate for them. Furthermore, the mother knows what time to breast feed the child throughout the night. It also aids the infant to sleep and go back to sleep easily while they are awake at night. Co-sleeping provides the child and mother with enough time to sleep. This is important for the child’s healthy growth and development. Finally, bed sharing allows parents who spend less time with their children during the day with quality time to create a sense of intimacy. For safe co-sleeping practices, the American Academy of Paediatrics advocates for the following recommendations: Parents should not bed share with infants when they are drug desensitized or exhausted. This is to prevent an adult from suffocating the infant unconsciously. Parents should never place other babies especially toddlers in the same bed with infants (McKenna, 201-216). Parents who smoke should cut smoking completely to prevent passive smoking by infants. Spaces in between beds should be filled to avoid the baby from slipping into the spaces. Majority of the parents, scientists, and society around the world recommend co-sleeping. As explained, it holds great benefits for both the child and the mother. Through careful and healthy practices, following the right procedures, and sticking to the recommendations provided co-sleeping is safe. It also provided protective measures for the child. However, critics and proponents continue to provide more and more reasons to support their opinions. Proponents such as I agree that how caregivers do it bears greater significance compared to co-sleeping. Works Cited Hunsley, M., & Thoman, E. B. "The sleep of co-sleeping infants when they are not co-sleeping: Evidence that co-sleeping is stressful." Developmental Psychobiology0.40 (2002): 14-22. Print. McKenna, James J. "Sudden infant death syndrome in cross-cultural perspective: Is infant- parent co sleeping protective?”Annual Review of Anthropology 0.25 (1996): 201-216. Print. Read More