GatorKid117

Hi, just finished my research paper for English 2 and turned it in. But I feel strangely unfullfilled for working on it for so long and having only one person read it so I figure I'd look around. As a result, here I am, haha. Anyways, I'm arguing that there is a cosleeping stigma in America (obviously) and that it should be removed. I come off really strong just because that was the main point of the assignment, to persuade. Personally, whatever fits your family is fine by me. There are a couple mistakes I know and I had to end it at 9 pages so it may seem a little short at the end but I hope you enjoy it and maybe learn something too. Respect for all of you parents, I'm dreading that time in my life.

Wow you cant upload any attachment that is longer than a page. Lame...

Christian D.





Robert Lawrence wrote:







Waking up and experiencing what this mother just witnessed is one of the many joys that cosleeping has to offer. To see all of your loved ones sleeping next to one another just seems so natural, so special. But why then in America is there such a large stigma placed upon this practice? The answer lies within our history. For generations, pediatricians, the media and even our parents have been reinforcing this idea that cosleeping is harmful to the well-being of both the parents and the child. Individualism and independence which are seen as major commodities in the eyes of many Americans will supposedly never develop within the child. Parents will suffer sleep-deprivation and will no longer be able to express themselves sexually in the bed (Powers). The list of concerns goes on and on. But contrary to popular belief, these problems are actually opposite of what is really true. Not only does cosleeping promote more sleep for the parents and the child but children who coslept are actually more independent and self-confident than those who do not (Coburn). And yet, the brave souls in the minority who do decide to cosleep are often chastised and ridiculed by their physicians for supposedly endangering their child with this horrible practice. Parents often resort to hiding the fact that they cosleep just to feel supported by their physicians (McKenna: 3). It’s truly a shame what some people have to face just because they decide to embrace this practice. As a result, this cosleeping stigma in America resulting from the ignorant and selfish opinions of pediatricians and the media needs to be removed as cosleeping is not only something that humans were evolutionary inclined to do, but it benefits both the child and the parents physically and emotionally.

In order to understand how this cosleeping stigma spread through America, we must first divulge into the history of its origins. Up until the civil war, cosleeping was considered the standard practice in all American homes. “In western cultures, bed sharing between mother and nursing baby (usually up to two) was standard practice up until around 150 years ago. Older children would cosleep with siblings, with a member of the extended family or, for the upper classes, with a servant or nurse-maid” (Buckley). During this time period, cosleeping as considered normal and people were accustomed to doing it without hesitation. This mindset began to change though as child-rearing experts began to emerge with their own opinions about normal sleep habits. They believed that childhood independence should be promoted through family members sleeping apart. “The 1800s saw the rise of the child-rearing expert - usually male - who emphasized self-reliance from an early age, with strict guidelines for breastfeeding, toilet training and sleep. Newborns were expected to sleep with their mother, but they were to be removed to an unshared room before the age of one” (Buckley). Although cosleeping was still seen as acceptable, the idea that it was detrimental to the child was starting to develop. Parents were beginning to wonder if their children should be more independent. They did not want their children to grow up being totally dependent on them; they wanted their children to be individuals.

Further ideas perpetuated the idea that children should sleep alone ranging from germ theory (people should not breathe in the air of another) to the growing size of the family home which gave children a room all to themselves. This made it seem necessary for children to sleep in their rooms because the room was there and was available. Finally, the idea of cot-death came about which further terrified parents into not cosleeping. Parents believed they would roll over and smother their babies if they ever coslept which solidified the idea that cosleeping was harmful (Buckley). It was the combined efforts of all of these factors, including the views of Dr. Ferber which will be discussed later, that resulted in this large stigma being placed upon cosleeping in America. All of these new technologies and theories made cosleeping seem dangerous and impractical to parents when in all actuality these dangers were nothing more than fabrications of the truth.

Now that we understand where this cosleeping stigma came from, we can now look deeper into the issue at hand to realize how absurd it really is. How can cosleeping be dangerous when we were evolutionary predisposed to do it? Since human existence, cosleeping has been apart of our life. “Nighttime parent-infant co-sleeping during at least the first year of life is the universal, species-wide normative context for infant sleep, to which both parents and infants are biologically and psychosocially adapted... Solitary infant sleep is an exceedingly recent, novel and alien experience for the human infant” (Granju). Infants need their mothers to be there for them because that is how we evolved. But, American parents today believe that independence is far more important to the healthy maturation of the child even though cosleeping is what we were destined to do. Instead of the essential parental contact that cosleeping provides, families have chosen to resort to technology to replace their presence with the child. Baby monitors and cribs have replaced the presence of parents which is unnatural and harmful to the child. “Recent child care innovations practiced in Western societies often substitute for protective maternal contributions… This, however, does not alter the human infant’s extreme developmental immaturity at birth and a baby’s ability or need to respond to a mother’s night-time touches, smells, sound, and movements. These sensory experiences were designed by evolution throughout hundreds of thousands of years before technology supplanted the mother’s night-time nurturing” (McKenna: 3). Babies need this contact with their mother at night to help them mature. Technology should not be used as a means to deter away from this fact. It is our human nature to have the child in the same proximity as the parent and recent innovations should not change that fact. We were born to cosleep!

GatorKid117

Continuing....

Clearly, if humans were evolutionary inclined to cosleep then there must be many benefits associated with this arrangement. One of the biggest physical advantages of cosleeping is the fact that parents could save their infant’s life! “It has been suggested that babies benefit from the stimulus to breathing that comes from exhaled carbon dioxide—something they get only if they are close to other people, and that some crib deaths occur because babies sleeping alone don’t have this chemical respiratory response” (Kitzinger: 44). This crib death, also known as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), results in over 2,000 American infant deaths ever year (Palmer). Research has clearly shown that if done correctly, cosleeping can significantly decrease the chances of SIDS by facilitating the paralleled breathing between mother and child. Infants need to “learn safe sleep habits, such as moving through varying sleep-states and breathing patterns, or they risk falling into a period of heavy, uninterrupted slumber from which they might not awaken” (Granju). By cosleeping, these infants are able to model their parents breathing and stay away from the dangerous, heavy sleep that could kill them.
Moreover, one look at the American infant survival rate can tell you right away how important cosleeping is; the United States is ranked forty-second in the world! (Palmer). Even though the United States is the number one ranked country in medical intervention, American infants still die twice as much compared to Singaporean infants, the number one ranked country in infant survival rates. How can this be? This all goes back to the stigma surrounding cosleeping. Americans are so obsessed with promoting independence and being self-sufficient that they are allowing the opportunity for SIDS to occur by placing their children in cribs. Over 90% of the world cosleeps and Americans still believe that it’s harmful even after all of these infant deaths (Berk). They need to understand that cosleeping will help save lives and that it is a perfectly natural thing to do. How can several billion people be wrong about cosleeping? The facts do not like, Americans need to change their view on cosleeping.
Now comes one of the biggest reasons why most Americans believed that cosleeping was wrong, the influence of the media. Certain media corporations over the past fifty years have been trying to further stigmatize cosleeping for their own selfish reasons. The most influential industry out of this bunch is the crib industry. Teaming up with the Consumer Product Safety Committee (CPSC), the crib industry reported that 60 American babies die per year from adult beds (Palmer). They failed to mention though that most of these deaths were from babies left unattended on adult beds. They also never mentioned how cosleeping can reduce the risk of SIDS if done safely. On the contrary, the crib industry and the CPSC announced that “no baby should ever be placed into an adult bed” (Palmer). They did not want the public to know how safe cosleeping was if done correctly. As a result, they funded their own studies to show how dangerous it was in order to scare people away from the idea. The crib industry knew if Americans realized that they did not need cribs, then it would lead to huge financial losses from a lack of consumers. Today, the crib industry is still living on this fabricated stigma to make money. Americans need to realize that what they were taught about cosleeping was nothing more than a pack of lies. There is no truth to this stigma, why should it continue to influence American lives?

GatorKid117

Finally....

In addition to helping save lives, cosleeping also results in more sleep for both parent and child contrary to popular belief. “The 4-month-old Latino infants we studied spent more time asleep while bedsharing than they did when sleeping in separate rooms, and their mothers also slept as much if not more, contrary to popular understandings!” (McKenna: 4). This is because mothers do not have to fully awaken to feed their child. The mother can still be half-asleep while the child breastfeeds. American parents on the other hand believe that once they put their infant into the crib for the night then he should be fine and be able to take care of himself. On the contrary, children do not turn off at night and still require constant attention in order to mature (Palmer). By cosleeping, you provide this attention essential to the development of the child. He will be able to breastfeed whenever he needs to and will be able to drift back to sleep without waking up his parents. However, if the child is stuck in his crib he is going to cry every couple hours because he is hungry and needs attention. By cosleeping, this habit of waking up in the middle of the night to feed the child is significantly reduced as mothers no longer have to get out of bed. “Breastfeeding is a demanding activity in the first months of life; the mother must feed as often as 8 to 12 times every 24 hours. Bedsharing allows the mother to feed without fully awakening, contributing to her total sleep” (Powers: 5). If the child is hungry, he can nuzzle over and begin to feed without any conscious effort on the part of the mother. This results in more sleep for both child and parent which results in a happier family. For those unhappy families, many complain about the lack of sleep that their infant causes them but in all reality it is their own fault. Americans need to realize that they are wrong for condemning cosleeping and understand that it can make their lives much easier and happier if they removed this stigma.
Despite all of this evidence proving that cosleeping is beneficial, some experts still believe that cosleeping is detrimental to the child. One of the main issues that has been brought up is that cosleeping will bring about an unhealthy attachment between mother and child. This belief was advocated by one of the most influential pediatric doctors of this century, Dr. Richard Ferber. In his book, Solving Your Child’s Sleep Problems, he explained, “Sleeping alone is an important part of [your child's] learning to be able to separate from you without anxiety and to see himself as an independent individual” (Brant & Kuchment). In essence, if children are constantly around their parents then they will never be able to accomplish this separation. When this book came out in 1985, Americans quickly followed his opinion and started incorporating his views into their lives. Parents started “ferberizing” their children which is the process of training a child to sleep through the night with incremental bouts of crying (Brant & Kuchment). Parents wanted their children to be independent and have the ability to self-soothe, or comfort themselves without the presence of a parent.
What parents failed to realize was that infants needed this contact to promote healthy emotional ties between the mother and infant, even at night.“Responsive and contingent caregiving promotes the development of trust and fosters security in young children” (Powers: 5). An infant depends on their parents for food, comfort, changing, bathing, and everything in between. He needs to know that he can count on his parents to provide him with comfort and nourishment or emotional consequences could ensure. “A child who does not receive warmth and reassurance when she asks for it can develop a range of attachment and trust disorders, whether the parents' failure to respond comes at noon or midnight” (Granju). By cosleeping, parents can respond to the child’s needs more effectively and solidify these parent/infant ties. “A mother who sleeps with her infant has been shown to be keenly aware of her child's breathing and temperature throughout the night, and is thus able to quickly respond to any significant changes” (Granju). This allows for a better relationship between the child and the parent as the parent is able to help the child in anyway possible throughout the night. Undoubtedly, this tight bond between parent and child should not be compromised by separating the two. If the child were to awaken alone in his crib, not only would the child feel scared but he would lose trust in the parent being there for him in times of need (Palmer). Cosleeping does not prevent independence; it creates stronger bonds between parent and child. The idea that their independence is compromised is just the experts grasping for straws.
This however does not mean that all infants who do not cosleep will end up detached from their parents. Many American children do not cosleep and most of them are all fine. But research has shown contrary to popular belief that children who do cosleep are far better off than those who do not. “Children who share sleep with their parents are actually more independent than their peers. They perform better in school, have higher self esteem, and fewer health problems” (Coburn). This is just another reason why Americans need to remove this stigma. The benefits are far too great to ignore.
Lastly, keep in mind that you must cosleep safely in order to protect your infant. As a parent one should never: smoke, drink, take any sleeping pills or take any other drugs before going to bed with their child. This will inhibit your senses which could lead you to roll over and smother your child (McKenna: 4). Additionally, soft mattresses and blankets covering the baby’s head should not be used to protect the infant from suffocation. Finally, make sure your baby is securely in the middle of the bed and has no possibility of falling out. If Americans keep these ideas in mind then we can remove this stigma and save lives.
In conclusion, Americans need to realize that we were adapted to cosleep. Cosleeping promotes better sleeping habits, creates tighter bonds and helps save lives all contrary to popular belief. This stigma which has been perpetuated by constant media and expert opinion is a fabrication of the truth and needs to be removed. Children as well as parents strongly benefit from the togetherness and contact that cosleeping has to offer. Only through uniting as a positive front can cosleeping truly become accepted into our society. Americans, I challenge you to make a difference and help fight the cosleeping stigma.

Btw, if you coslept, I was kinda curious if you found any of this to be true. My sources were credible but I didn't have a real life account, just statistics. O ya, go Gators!

Kaytee

I have only read the first thread so far but it seems to be well done. What grade did you get on? Did the teacher leave any comments for you?

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GatorKid117

Na, the semester just ended so I think I'm only going to get the final grade in the class, which stinks. But I figure if I get an A in the class than I must have gotten an A on the paper since its worth so much. *Hopes for an A*

Mom2jak

Wow! Great paper. Well done.

No need to persuade me, though. We are a co-sleeping family and love it!

GatorKid117

Why thank you! I read over the topic in Developmental Psychology and it really interested me. It's funny how I had never heard of it, most of my friends and even my parents had never heard of it either. It's really shunned in America.

O ya, I got an A in English so I got an A on the paper. Hurray!

Trina

Great paper, but despite all the pros, co-sleeping isn't for everyone. I co-slept with my kids as infants when nursing, or when they were sick, but I preferred them to sleep in their own bed if at all possible. Bottom line, *I* never slept well with them in bed with me. I was on full mommy alert, for fear of squishing them, and just couldn't relax. As a sleep deprived parent as it was, the little sleep I did get needed to be good! LOL! Also, I would think it wouldn't be safe for people who are very heavy sleepers or who are on medications that cause them to be less alert or for people who have been drinking. Don't get me wrong. I'm for co-sleeping, but there are instances when it's not the best option.