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Sleeping with Your Baby - by Dr. James McKenna - A Book Review

About.com Rating 5

By Robin Elise Weiss, LCCE, About.com

Sleeping with BabyPhoto (c) Price Grabber
The Bottom Line
This book is an instant infant sleep classic. The knowledge and tone are perfect for parents who wish to be informed about sharing sleep with their baby in the safest manner possible. The helpful hints are easy to follow and promote satisfaction.
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Pros
  • Easy to understand information.
  • Reviews of current medical literature.
  • Includes easy to follow instructions.
  • Reviews current products to help with co-sleeping.
Cons
  • More family examples would be nice.
Description
  • There is a detailed list of safety tips for all co-sleeping families.
  • A great list of products he recommends to help with family bed safety.
  • A lengthy discussion of breastfeeding and co-sleeping and how breastfeeding benefits from sleep sharing.
  • A discussion of co-sleeping for formula feeding mothers and babies is also included.
  • I love the lengthy section of frequently asked questions including topics like adoption, unrelated adults and more.
Guide Review - Sleeping with Your Baby - by Dr. James McKenna - A Book Review
Dr. James McKenna knows sleep. He's a sleep researcher at Notre Dame and has been studying infant sleep and the family bed for years. His work has been extensively published and he speaks around the country on the topic of co-sleeping safety.

The book delves right into the topic of the safety of sleeping with your baby in your bed versus a crib. He discusses not only why it is safe, but the benefits to the baby and the mother of co-sleeping. He also gives a very detailed instructions list on co-sleeping safely. The diagrams are also helpful in devising a safe sleep environment for everyone.

He does include a list of reasons you should no sleep with your baby. This list is clear cut and yet he offers ways to share sleep in the same room with your baby safely, even if not on the same surface. This is inline with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)'s sleep position statement.

There is also a lengthy section of questions and answers including topics of adoption, how long to share sleep, sexual relations in the family bed, how to co-sleep while traveling, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and many more hot topics.

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