Effects of Cosleeping
By Joseph J Cleary
Social Stigma
Actual ad put out by the City of Milwaukee Health Department in 2011
Why Cosleep?
• Colic/infant preference• Parental preference• Logistics/beds available • Lack of knowledge of risks/risk factors• Breastfeeding convenience
• Mothers breastfed longer at each session and breastfed infants until an older age.
• Increased frequency of feeds with breastfed over bottle fed?!?!?
Breastfeeding
Awakenings vs Sleep?
• Cosleep increases awakenings • Cosleeping infant slept the same amount of time• Cosleeping children returned to sleep faster
Marital Satisfaction & Sexual Implications
Negative effects for cosleepers as a whole.
For those who cosleep for other reasons
There was a large correlation to marital and sexual dissatisfaction
For those who chose to Cosleep
There was no marital or sexual implications
SIDS studies
• Soft Bedding x2• Couch or Chair x2-x6• Smoking x2-x10• Alcohol Consumption
(see graphs)
Risk factors found in Literature
Asphyxiation
• 51.8% of Asphyxiation deaths within bed• 13.7% in crib/bassinette
Retrospective Study showed…Control Study showed…
• 7 out of 10 prolonged episodes resolved by parent• 2 out of 10 resolved by infant calling out • 1 out of 10 resolved by infant moving
Will I get stuck cosleeping?• Cosleeping at younger than three years old was not predictive of future cosleeping.• Cosleeping at four years of age or older was shown to be a precursor to cosleeping
later in childhood.
Demographic Variation
White Black
Asian/Pacific Islander
Hispanic American Indian/Alaska
Native
15.7% 43.1%
23.8%
41.1% 26.0%
Always Cosleep Sometimes Cosleep with Smoker
18.1% 19.5%
7.1%
6.2% 21.6%
Demographic Variation
Income
<30,000 per year more than x3 as likely as >50,000 per year
Education
<12 years education more than x2 as likely as >12 years
Maternal Age
Age 13-19 more likely than age >19
Conclusion
• Do not cosleep if you are a smoker• Do not cosleep on a couch or chair• Minimize bedding, sleep on firm mattress• Never cosleep after drugs or alcohol
General recommendations:
Conclusion
• How to refine studies? What populations to study?
• How to relay results? • Command not to vs Educate?
Questions:
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Jenni, O., Fuhrer, H., Iglowstein, I., Molinari, L., & Largo, R. (2005). A longitudinal study of bed sharing and sleep problems among Swiss children in the first 10 years of life. Pediatrics, 115(1).
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Mao, A., Burnham, M. M., Goodlin-Jones, B. L., Gaylor, E. E., & Anders, T. F. (2004).A comparison of the sleep-wake patterns of cosleeping and solitary-sleeping infants.Child Psychiatry And Human Development, 35(2).Messmer, R., Miller, L., & Yu, C. (2012). The relationship between parent-infant bed sharing and marital satasfaction for Mothers of infants. Family Relations, 61(5).Phillips, D., Brewer, K., & Wadensweiler, P. (2011). Alcohol as a risk factor for sudden infant
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