Sleep

Night-time parenting or responding to your baby’s needs at night is as important as your day-time parenting. Babies need help going to sleep and need to be “parented to sleep” using gentle methods, not just put to sleep. Some babies can be put down while drowsy yet still awake and drift. Other babies need parental help by being held and rocked or breastfed to sleep. Attachment parenting does not involve leaving your baby to cry alone in order to teach your baby how to “self-settle”.

Sleeping close to your baby creates a secure and nurturing environment for your baby. This reduces your baby’s anxiety about separation from you. It also means that you can respond more quickly to your baby’s needs and minimise sleep disruption for you and your baby. Co-sleeping helps you get to know your baby. It also assists breastfeeding and helps you to develop a strong bond with your baby. It is common for babies to co-sleep with their parents for the first few years of their life. Babies who co-sleep with their parents do not have a higher risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) or “cot-death”. In fact, when done safely, co-sleeping reduces the risk of SIDS.

Recommended Websites:

Infant Sleep Safety Resources from Attachment Parenting International

Professor James McKenna is the director of the Mother-Baby Behavioural Sleep Lab at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana. Professor McKenna is an acclaimed expert in the areas of infant sleep, breast feeding and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). This site contains safe sleeping guidelines, studies on the benefits of cosleeping, and articles by Dr. McKenna.

Ask Dr Sears Attachment Parenting paediatrician William Sears and his sons – also paediatricians. A very informative site offering evidence based information about all aspects of parenting, including co-sleeping. Includes information on sleep safety and SIDS.

UNICEF leaflet and joint statement on mother-infant bedsharing. Information on the benefits and risks of bed sharing, designed to help parents make informed decisions about safely sharing a bed with their babies.

Dr Jay Gordon, an American paediatrician supportive of Attachment Parenting.

The Natural Child Project Collection of articles on sleep.

Kellymom - Evidence-based and practical answers to questions on sleep, co-sleeping, nursing to sleep information about what is normal for infant sleep, and night weaning.

Pinky McKay on Co-sleeping

Recommended Books:
Good Nights: The Happy Parents' Guide to the Family Bed (and a Peaceful Night's Sleep!) by Dr. Jay Gordon (link to review)
Helping Your Baby to Sleep by Anni Gethin & Beth MacGregror
The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night, by Elizabeth Pantley
The No-Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers: gentle ways to stop bedtime battles and improve your child's sleep, by Elizabeth Pantley
The No-Cry Nap Solution by Elizabeth Pantley
Sleeping with Your Baby: A Parent's Guide to Cosleeping by James McKenna
The Family Bed by Tine Thevenin
Sleeping Like a Baby, by Pinky McKay
Three in a Bed – the Benefits of Sharing Your Bed with Your Baby, by Deborah Jackson
Biggest Bed In The World by Lindsay Camp (Children's)
Fleiss P. Sweet Dreams. Los Angeles, CA: Lowell House, 2000.
Sears W. Nighttime Parenting: How to get your baby and child to sleep. Franklin Park, IL: La Leche League International, 1985.
Trevathan WR, Smith EO, McKenna JJ, ed. Evolutionary Medicine. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.