Sleeping with the baby in the same bed, or what is the same, collecting with him, is something that is still highly criticized in some sectors of the population because it is considered dangerous in the short term (risk of crushing or death, they say) and Long-term counterproductive (risk of the child getting used to and then never leaving the parents' bed).
Other sectors, on the other hand, defend it as another option when sleeping with the baby, more respectful if we take into account that most babies sleep better as well and beneficial for the baby's nutrition as they are children who tend to do more you take chest
In the city of Milwaukee, USA, they are part of the first group because a while ago they published an awareness campaign in which they came to say graphically that schooling with a baby is like putting him to sleep next to a knife.
The reason to get to do something so striking is that in that city it is estimated that they die, from sleeping with their parents, 10.4 babies per 1,000 live births, and want the number to decrease avoiding, for example, deaths per colecho. For this, the Department of Health decided to offer images, rather than words, to ensure that the parents of their city did not sleep with their children.
The reason is that they associate the school with risks of falling from the bed, suffocation and sudden death. However, as we have been able to read other times, there are also studies that show that the colecho protects from sudden death, allows the baby to sleep less stressed and favors the creation of a better emotional bond between the child and the parents, to spend more time together.
The truth is that sleeping with the baby in bed can be very dangerous because a bed is not a place designed for a baby to sleep. However, if the bed is made in a responsible manner and all possible precautions are taken into account, the risks are greatly minimized, so much so that it can be as or more safe than having the baby sleeping in the crib.
I say this because the usual thing is that studies that conclude that the colecho is dangerous include the cases of parents who sleep with their children without preventing possible complications, and that those who talk about sleeping with the baby protects from sudden death have performed with parents who sleep with their babies doing it safely.
In any case, when in doubt, there is always the possibility of using the so-called baby cribs with which babies can sleep with their children but on a different surface (which for security must be at the same level as the bed). This is precisely the solution they promoted in Milwaukee, where after publishing this campaign they made a phone number available to parents so that request a completely free folding cot.
Personally, I always position myself in the second group of those explained at the beginning, basically because I have been with my children for six years. However, whenever I comment that it is one more option or whenever I recommend it, I explain that it is risky and that we have to do it knowing what is done. There are many studies about colecho, for and against, and that is why the parents must make the final decision.
In reference to the campaign, it is clear that with such numbers something had to be done, but I would say that they have spent a little because the risk is not sleeping with babies, but doing it wrong. In fact, looking at the photos, I see more risks than the knife.
The blond boy in the image that heads this entrance is sleeping with a pillow (they don't need it so small and only serves to increase the risk of suffocation), the sheets are tremendously loose (more risk of suffocation because wrinkles occur) and the mattress looks like very soft, because the child seems to be sunk, and if a baby sinks imagine how much his parents will do.
In the other photo, that of the black child, the exact same thing happens but with an aggravating factor: the child is also sleeping prone, that is, face down, something that as you know is totally discouraged in small babies.
Have they had all this in mind when making the campaign or is that Milwaukee babies really do pigtails in such conditions? Because then we already have the cause (and it is not the knife).
