All parents have different opinions about allowing their children to sleep in their beds with them. Some will be surprised to find out that it is not only in certain cultures that parents and children sleep together at night in the same bedroom or even in the same bed, but it happens everywhere. Some families keep it a secret for fear other parents will frown on their habits, but it is truly a common practice. In fact, the National Sleep Foundation reports that about 24% of parents let their children sleep with them for at least some part of the night.
Even child experts, family doctors and counselors have differing opinions on co-sleeping, a term used to describe the practice of allowing a baby or child to sleep with one or both parents in bed. Other terms, such as bed-sharing or sleep-sharing have also been used. Scientists, pediatricians, family life experts and many authors have conflicting opinions on this custom based on conflicting results of their own research. In the end, some experts believe that it is really up to the family's decision to do what works for them, and no book, research or expert opinion can say definitely which one is best for every family.
Another point of contention about co-sleeping is the age of the baby or child at which parents can allow them to share their bed. Again, with this matter, opinions differ, with some experts warning parents about the danger of suffocating their babies in bed while asleep. It has been reported that the rate of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is higher for infants who sleep in an adult bed than in a crib. It is also estimated that about 100 infant deaths occur each year in the US due to parents accidentally laying over and suffocating their babies while sleeping. Oth...
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... the parent is extremely obese and might not be able to feel how close the infant is to their bodies.
Works Cited
WebMD. Get Your Bed Back. http://www.webmd.com/parenting/features/getting-kids-to-sleep-in-their-own-beds
Children's Health Network. Sleeping with the Parents (Bed-Sharing). http://www.childrenshealthnetwork.org/CRS/CRS/pa_bedshare_hhg.htm University of Notre Dame. Safe Cosleeping Guidelines. http://cosleeping.nd.edu/safe-co-sleeping-guidelines/ Ask Dr Sears. Co-Sleeping: Yes, No, Sometimes? http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/health-concerns/sleep-problems/co-sleeping-yes-no-sometimes Dr.Momma. Children Should Sleep Near Parents Until 5 http://www.drmomma.org/2009/07/co-sleeping-children-should-sleep-with.html She Knows. Fall in Love with the Family Bed. http://www.sheknows.com/parenting/articles/950105/6-benefits-of-co-sleeping-with-your-children
Each year at least 40 million Americans suffer from long term, persistent sleep disorders, and an additional 20 million experience occasional sleeping problems. About 60 million Americans a year have insomnia and it tends to increase with age and affects about 40 percent of women and 30 percent of men. It is estimated that 18 million Americas are suffering from sleep apnea, 12 million have RLS, and 250,000 are affected by narcolepsy. Adults typically need between 6 and 10 hours of sleep per 24 hour period, and most people need approximately 8 hours of sleep per day. Infants generally need about 16 hours per day; whereas, teenagers require 9 hours on average. In the first 3 months of...
The very low birth weight are newborns that weigh less than 3.3 pounds (1,500 grams). Unfortunately, newborns that are under 3.3 pounds (1,500 grams) do not often survive, and the ones that do have delayed motor skills and cognitive development. The numbers decrease further to extremely low birth weight of 2.2 pounds (1,000 grams), where chance of life is very small. Low birth weight babies 1,500 grams – 2,500 grams (3.3 -5.5 pounds) have a good chance they will survive with proper care. Newborns that are small-for-date are placed in incubators that are sealed beds where temperature and air quality is regulated. The beds isolate the infants from pathogens and the environment. The babies need sensory stimulation to grow, so a recorded tape is played of the mothers soothing voice. Visual stimulation from video, and tactile stimulation helps foster physical and cognitive development in the baby. At five months while the fetus is in the womb ithas sensory capabilities, and can hear the mother’s heart beating, food digestion, speaking, and others speaking to her! The incubator stimulates this environment. There is great success with proper attention and care to the low birth weight babies, and. Many of the low birth weight babies are effects of parents that live in poverty, unable to access adequate medical care, and they experience stress due to an unhealthy family life.
Imagine you just had a baby and you are taking him/her home today. It comes to bed time; would you have your child sleep with you in the bed or in a crib? Co-sleeping is an important decision when it comes to parenting. Co-sleeping is when a baby, from birth to age two, sleeps with their parents in the same bed. It is also a big discussion if co-sleeping is a good idea or not. Many people have different opinions. I have a couple of sources that look at both sides of the issue. Three of the sources are blogs. Two out of the three shows advantages of co-sleeping and the other is against co-sleeping. My mother, who is another source, is against co-sleeping due to some experience with me when I was a baby. One study that is very interesting looks
In different countries and cities, infant caretaking styles can differ widely due to varying cultures and values. For example, the study done by Morelli, Rogoff, Oppenheim and Goldsmith in 1992 revealed differences in the infant sleeping practices between Mayan parents and U.S. parents from Utah. While more Mayan parents preferred to let their infants sleep on their bed to develop a close mother-infant bond, more U.S. parents preferred to keep their infants on a separate bed and to let them sleep alone as soon as possible in order to allow their child to become independent (Morelli et al., 1992). The purpose of this study is to examine the caretaking practices of a current parent through an interview and to compare and contrast the parent’s
Newborns do not contribute much to society at large. In fact, they do not do much in general. It is impossible to know the details of what goes on in an infant’s mind. One of the things we do know about newborns is that sleep is crucial and they spend an average of 16-18 hours each day sleeping (Ward, 2015). This paper will examine the experiences of one mother’s decisions in regard to sleeping arrangements and the values, both cultural and personal, that support these arrangements. It will also compare her decisions to the decisions of U.S. and Mayan mothers discussed in the research article “Cultural Variation in Infants’ Sleeping Arrangements: Questions of Independence.” The mother who was interviewed for this paper is 54 years old and
12 March 2014. “Co-Sleeping Safety.” PhD in Parenting. n.p. 11 January 2009. Web.
In most states this would be considered child abuse. Child abuse is defined by the CDC as the following; “…any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent that results in harm, potential for harm, or threat of harm to a child.” There are strict laws against physical and sexual abuse for the health and wellbeing of children. These physical abuse laws should be applied to criminally charge parents of morbidly obese children.
Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems. Obesity has been a health problem ever since infectious disease began in the first half of the 20th Century. A person with obesity is not the only person who is affected by their disease. In the case of childhood obesity, it can affect the parents because they might be the cause of the child’s issues. It can also lead to many different health problems such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and respiratory problems, and it can also even lead to death.
This could be very detrimental to the health of her incoming baby. She has not been keeping up with her prenatal care she is at a greater risk of having preterm labor. Preterm labor is having a child before week 37 during the pregnancy. She has a history of maternal problems such as stroke, Diabetes Mellitus, and Hypertension. Although Erica’s boyfriend, Jayce, supports her, she has a lack of support from her immediate family. She appears not to have a close-knit to her two siblings. Who are 17 and 21 years old and are pregnant now as well. Even though she carried her first son to full term, he only weighed 4 pounds and 8 ounces. This concerns the high-risk
Beginning in the 80s, divorce rates began to skyrocket and parenting itself started to become hands off. On top of all this, there were a few people who gave advice on baby care. This being the hot topic of these decades (BBC). One of these people, Nancy Kohner wrote, "For the first two months or so, the safest way for babies to sleep is on their fronts, head to one side, or else curled up on one side. Then if they are sick there is no chance that they will choke." This was horrible advice from the child rearing "experts" at the time because they hadn't realized the baby would suffocate if placed face down (Gil, Ali, Jenny). For older children disciplining had transferred into the reasoning and praising of good behavior. The 1990s saw the continued rising of divorce rates and an increase in close parenting. This close parenting was known as “helicopter parenting". This form of parenting created antisocial behavior from children, yet children were increasingly independent
their own healthy child in their arms for the first time. Why then, when they know they
Parents have always known about obesity and what the affects obesity has on people. Although parents have known about this preventable disease, they are just now becoming more aware about what is happening to their own children. Now they want to start pointing fingers as to why these young children are becoming obese; nobody wants to take the blame for putting these young lives at risk. “Greenbalt states in his article that obesity is becoming an epidemic that there is about 300,000 children each year that die because they are overweight....
Babies often wake up at night when they are hungry or uncomfortable. Parents usually help them get back to sleep and train them to stay asleep throughout the night. This process of sleep training helps babies develop a regular routine for sleeping. Although some babies quickly learn, other have trouble settling back to sleep.
"Common Sleep Problems." KidsHealth - the Web's Most Visited Site about Children's Health. Ed. Mary L. Gavin. The Nemours Foundation, 01 Jan. 2011. Web. 08 Mar. 2014.
Sleep and Sleep Disorders. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 July 2013. Web. 7 May 2014. .