How the bednest helps your baby
There is convincing research to support bednesting:
- closeness and touch - which is vital for attachment, bonding and development (1)
- successfully breast feed (2) due to ease and convenience at night
- develop better sleep patterns (2)
- easily attract mother’s attention (3)
- greater interaction (3) with mother
- frequent attempted breast feeds (3)
- more frequent successful feeds (3)
- most effective and safest means of maintaining extended mother-infant contact for the duration of the postpartum hospital stay (4).
1. http://www.naturalchild.com/james_mckenna/babies_need.html
2. Ball H.L. (2003) Breastfeeding, Bed-Sharing, and Infant Sleep. Birth. 30:3, September. 181-188.
3. Ball H.L. (2006) Bedding-in, Rooming-in & Breastfeeding on the Postnatal Ward. Unicef BFI Conference
4. Ball, H. L., Ward-Platt, M. P., Heslop E., Leech S. J., and Brown K. 2006. Randomised trial of mother-infant sleep proximity on the post-natal ward: Implications for breastfeeding initiation and infant safety. Arch. Dis. Child. 91:1005
By using the bednest in its three-sided mode rather than you or your clients sleeping with baby you may be reducing the reported risks associated with bed sharing. The closeness allowed by bednesting may reduce the reported risk of cot death.
Additional References and Information
NCT (2009) Night Vision. Newgen Magazine. Winter: 14-16.
Ball H.K. (2009) Bed-sharing and co-sleeping. NCT New Digest. 48 October. 22-27
There are a number of articles from the Parent Infant Sleep Lab & Infant and Child Research Centre, Department of Anthropology, University of Durham supporting the use of a side-car crib such as the Bednest.
We would recommend this definitive article McKenna, J. J., Ball, H. L., and Gettler, L. T. Mother-Infant Cosleeping, Breastfeeding and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: What Biological Anthropology Has Discovered About Normal Infant Sleep and Pediatric Sleep Medicine. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology. 50:133-161 (2007)
UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative & FSID joint leaflet published a joint leaflet clarifying when to and when not to have baby in mother’s bed. (SharingBedLeaflet.pdf)
RCM guidance paper and position statement on Bed Sharing and Co-sleeping.
(1_Bed_Sharing.pdf)
(PS_Bed_Sharing.pdf)
RCM A Report of the findings of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) United Kingdom (UK) National Bed Sharing Audit. (RCM_Bed_Sharing.pdf)
La Leche League has some excellent resources at www.lllgbbooks.co.uk. We would recommend in particular their 2 sided tear-off pad information sheet ‘Safe Sleep and the Breastfed Baby’/’Sleep Safely & Comfortably’.