As for the rollover issue, many folks co-sleep with their babies. We did it with all 3 of ours. Apparently babies really really like your breath - the CO2 helps them develop their lung motion.
The key is to not be inebriated or taking sleeping meds while doing so.
There are also co-sleeper attachments that make cribs accessible to mommy without having the baby sleep on the bed and thus not ever in danger of rollover.
Dr McKenna at Notre Dame does research in this area [1].
Apparently the biggest risks (from what I recall) is the typical 'western' bed contains a lot of obstructions and places to get trapped: headboards, blankets and sheets, etc. Japan has one of the lower SIDS rates, and co-sleeping is very common there -- but beds are low to the ground, and I guess heavy bedding is uncommon.
Comments
As for the rollover issue, many folks co-sleep with their babies. We did it with all 3 of ours. Apparently babies really really like your breath - the CO2 helps them develop their lung motion.
The key is to not be inebriated or taking sleeping meds while doing so.
There are also co-sleeper attachments that make cribs accessible to mommy without having the baby sleep on the bed and thus not ever in danger of rollover.
Dr McKenna at Notre Dame does research in this area [1].
Apparently the biggest risks (from what I recall) is the typical 'western' bed contains a lot of obstructions and places to get trapped: headboards, blankets and sheets, etc. Japan has one of the lower SIDS rates, and co-sleeping is very common there -- but beds are low to the ground, and I guess heavy bedding is uncommon.
http://cosleeping.nd.edu
Are SIDS and co-sleeping linked? It appears that SIDS is actually reduced by properly co-sleeping (non-smoking, non-drug-impaired parent) [1]
[1] http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/health-concerns/sleep-probl...