Safe Cosleeping

Since two of the Seven Standards of Ecological Breastfeeding involve cosleeping, I thought it would be helpful to discuss safe ways to cosleep.  Here are those two Standards:

Standard 4: Sleep with your baby for night feedings.

Standard 5: Sleep with your baby for a daily nap feeding.

Just to avoid some confusion, cosleeping refers to sleeping close to your baby.  This can mean your baby sleeps in your bed with you, sleeps in a cosleeper right in your bed, sleeps in a sidecar attached to your bed, or sleeps in a separate crib or bassinet next to your bed.  Bed sharing means your baby sleeps in your bed with you, so it is a type of cosleeping.

Ideally, according to Dr. James McKenna, the nation’s expert on breastfeeding and cosleeping, a safe cosleeping environment begins with a healthy pregnancy.  Next,  breastfeeding your baby greatly reduces the risk of your baby having SIDS.  Of course, if you are following the Seven Standards, you are breastfeeding!  You should put your baby on her back on a clean, firm surface (not a couch or chair) with light covers not covering her face.  When my babies were very new, I would usually dress them in pajamas in the winter and then use a sheet as our shared blanket.  In the summer, I would use less clothes or lighter clothes for baby.  Keep stuffed animals, toys and pillows away from baby’s face.  If you are breastfeeding baby in your bed, she will already be away from your pillow since your breasts are naturally at a different height.  Both you and your husband need to be aware of the baby while sleeping and not be intoxicated, sleep deprived and exhausted, or under the influence of drugs or alcohol that make it more difficult to wake up during the night.  If you have long hair, be sure to tie it back, and if you or your husband is obese, it is better to cosleep using a separate surface such as a side car, crib or bassinet next to the bed instead of bed sharing.  Do not let babies under one year cosleep with an older child.

I bed shared with all five of my children - for about 15 years.  I used a bed rail on my bed so that I could switch sides when nursing.  When my babies woke up during the night, I would just switch him or her to the opposite side.  That way I did not need to remember which side was next.  This helped me avoid engorgement.  I checked the bed rail every night before bed to make sure it was snuggly against the mattress.  Dr. McKenna does not mention bedrails on his site, so I am not sure of his opinion about them.  However, Dr. Sears does talk about how to use a guardrail safely on his site.  Dr. Sears’s site is great, because he and his wife have personal experience with cosleeping.

Dr. Sears also mentions something interesting on his site.  He recommends avoiding strong perfumes, because the odor masks the natural scent of the nursing mom.  Your baby is very in tune to your scent!  It is one way a newborn baby finds the breast! 

Dr. McKenna does remind us on his website that adult beds were not designed with child safety in mind.  However, I do want to say that moms and babies have been bed sharing for thousands of years even before there were commercial furniture standards. 

There are risks to every sleeping environment.  The key is to do it as safely as possible.  

Pray about cosleeping or bed sharing, talk about it with your husband, and research the topic (I listed Dr. McKenna’s website and Dr. Sears’s website pages at the end of this post).  If you have any questions about cosleeping or bedsharing, ask on the CNML Ecological Breastfeeding Facebook group.  You can also email CNML if you have questions!  

1. Safe Cosleeping Guidelines - Dr. McKenna

2. Cosleeping safely - Ask Dr. Sears

3. Benefits of Cosleeping - Ask Dr. Sears

4. Cosleeping: Yes, No, Sometimes - Ask Dr. Sears

Disclaimer: Dr. Sears and his family are Catholic.  They do have a small section about artificial contraception on their site, however this is the only place I have found that they deviate from Catholic Church teaching.  Their site is scientifically accurate and supports breastfeeding and ecological breastfeeding.