QWhat are the benefits of letting your child sleep in your bed?

AThe article on Co-Sleeping in the WholeFamily site mentions a few of the beneficial effects for children who sleep with the parents -- children have a more rested mother, it's good for family bonding, and there seems to be a lower risk of SIDS.

The following resources contain information about many studies on the subject. You might be especially interested in the research now in progress by Dr. David Servan-Schreiber and author Maria Goodavage who are surveying mothers, fathers, and children who have "graduated" from the family bed. They can be reached at the last web site on the list.

Whatever you decide to do, we wish you many nights of sound sleeping!

Newspaper articles:
"Commentary: Warning About Sleeping with Baby Doesn't Hold Up," Penelope Leach, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Sunday, October 3, 1999 (reprinted from the New York Times)

Web links:

• Transcript of 20/20 show on attachment parenting and the family bed
  
  
• SIDS web site
  
  
• La Leche League International
  
  
• Katherine Dettwyler (anthropologist, expert on biocultural perspectives)
  
  
• article by Dr. David Servan-Schreiber on the family bed for family.com
  
  
• Little Koala web site with web page on the family bed, including a forum for discussion of the topic