Mixing of facts and myth makes it difficult for a mother to decide if co-sleeping is for her and her new baby. Here are a few facts you can count on.
Potential Dangers in Co-sleeping
Co-sleeping could mean sharing the same bed or sharing the same room.
AAP – American Academy of Pediatrics recommends against sharing the same bed. They believe that sharing the same bed could be a contributing factor in approximately 3500 annul infant death.
Regardless of the potential, the risk of sleeping in the same bed is unacceptable.
That leaves the second option not only open but approved by AAP. The second option is sleeping in the same room but in a separate bed.
Is co-sleeping dangerous?
Just like many things in life, it is how you perform an act that matters more than the act. In this case, sleeping in the same room serves a purpose, and sleeping in the same bed could be extremely dangerous since it involves the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
Is sharing the same room with your infant beneficial?
Better sleep vs chances of death is what you are asking.
If you believe that sleep duration matters, according to AAP, within four months the sleep duration of the infants who slept in the same room as their parent was the same as those who learned to sleep in a separate room.
At nine months, those early independent sleepers slept longer.
However, and this is a big one, AAP has found that found the Majority (Ninety percent) of deaths related to sleep happen by the age of 6 months with between 1 and 4 months.
This statics is behind the recommendation for room sharing for at least 4 months and preferably for one year to help reduce the risk of SIDS.
Think crib or bassinets.