Co-sleeping – or the practice of letting infants sleep in the same bed as their parents at night – is on the rise according to a new government-funded study.
In fact it has more than doubled over the last two decades according to researcher Eve Colson of the Yale University School of Medicine. Colson studied 19,000 subjects as part of the National Infant Sleep Position study – conducted via telephone in forty-eight states.
Her findings?
In 1993, only 6.5 percent of parents (errr, “nighttime caregivers”) reported sharing the bed with their infant at night. In 2010, that number had risen to 13.5 percent. Among blacks, the percentage soared from 21.2 percent to 38.7 percent, while for Hispanics it climbed from 12.5 to 20.5 percent.
Among white infants, co-sleeping increased from 4.9 to 9.1 percent.
Critics of co-sleeping argue it exposes the infant to unnecessary risks – however co-sleeping advocates maintain there is no evidence linking the practice to elevated instances of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
5 comments
Governor for Candidate in Write Thornton Alex
Alex Thornton Write in Candidate for Governor
She’s hot enough.
Is Sic going to say he banged her, too?
Wtf?
TBG believes that the increasing obesity epidemic, in combination with “co-sleeping” is probably not the best of ideas.
TBG grew up on a farm that raised pigs and knows of which he speaks.
I’m pleased to see this. Cribs separate babes from their parents and are sometimes very dangerous.
Of course, the trend is probably due to the struggling economy.