Parent–infant co‐sleeping: why the interest and concern?

Abstract

The practice of parents and their young children co‐sleeping is a topic of ongoing controversy and debate. Both physical and psychosocial risks and benefits have been attached to this practice. In this introduction to the special issue, we present the prevailing views about early sleep arrangements. We then discuss the organization of the special issue and highlight the contributions of each article. Together, this collection of original articles comprises a body of research that advances our understanding of co‐sleeping in the context of social and physical environments. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

X. Marital and Emotional Adjustment in Mothers and Infant Sleep Arrangements During the First Six Months

“…The Sleep Practices Questionnaire (SPQ) (Goldberg & Keller, ), a measure of parental perceptions about their infants' sleep behavior, obtained information about infant sleep arrangements and the degree to which the current infant sleep arrangement was preferred. Mothers completed the SPQ at both the 1 and 6 month age points.…”

Sleep arrangements and maternal adaptation in infancy

“…The body of research examining sleep arrangements, sleep disruption, and child outcomes is growing (for comprehensive reviews, see Goldberg & Keller, 2007;Middlemiss, 2004), but it is complicated by definitional issues and inconsistent terminology. Although solitary sleepers have been consistently defined as infants who sleep alone in their own room (Ball, 2003;Javo, Ronning, & Heyerdahl, 2004;Keller & Goldberg, 2004;Rothrauff, Middlemiss, & Jacobson, 2004), shared sleep can exist along a wide spectrum in terms of duration, degree of proximity, and degree of physical contact between parent and infant (Goldberg & Keller, 2007;McKenna & Volpe, 2007).…”

“…Although solitary sleepers have been consistently defined as infants who sleep alone in their own room (Ball, 2003;Javo, Ronning, & Heyerdahl, 2004;Keller & Goldberg, 2004;Rothrauff, Middlemiss, & Jacobson, 2004), shared sleep can exist along a wide spectrum in terms of duration, degree of proximity, and degree of physical contact between parent and infant (Goldberg & Keller, 2007;McKenna & Volpe, 2007). This article uses the term shared sleep to describe any sleep arrangement in which the parent and infant sleep in the same room, irrespective of whether they are in physical contact during sleep.…”

Risks and benefits of parent/child bed sharing

“…Although there are claims that co-sleeping increases the risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), Hauck et al (2003) discovered that this risk was not statistically significant; however, co-sleeping between an infant and other children was a significant risk factor for SIDS. In fact, notable pediatric sleep expert Richard Ferber has recently changed his long-standing position and now views bed sharing to be suitable for some families when adhering to safety precautions (Goldberg & Keller, 2007a, 2007b. In fact, notable pediatric sleep expert Richard Ferber has recently changed his long-standing position and now views bed sharing to be suitable for some families when adhering to safety precautions (Goldberg & Keller, 2007a, 2007b.…”

“…It is important for nurse practitioners (NPs) to understand whether co-sleeping is reactive or whether parents plan and choose to co-sleep (Goldberg & Keller, 2007b). Reactive co-sleeping refers to one of the following: (a) the child begins to co-sleep as a toddler after an extended solitary sleep arrangement, (b) the child who co-sleeps due to difficulty sleeping alone, despite parental preference of solitary sleeping, or (c) the arrangement of moving to and from solitary and co-sleeping patterns (Goldberg & Keller, 2007b). Early, planned co-sleeping refers to the agreed upon and desired arrangement of parent/child bed sharing (Goldberg & Keller, 2007a).…”