I love the PhD in Parenting Blog - It may actually be my favorite blog out there. She makes sense, backs up her points with references, great data, and doesn't attack anyone that is not like minded.
Her most recent blog post is about CoSleeping, and you can find it here
http://phdinparenting.com/2009/01/09/cosleeping-benefits/
Synopsis: Contrary to what is touted by Consumer Product Safety Commission, and other government/medical boards, cosleeping can reduce both infant and mother stress, increase nursing, and lead to greater bonding of the family. Cosleeping is not for everyone, but those who practice it safely can reap great rewards.
Good Statistics: Bed sharing infants breastfeed about twice as often as regular solitary sleepers, with the total duration of nightly nursing episodes amounting to almost three times of what is observed in lone sleep conditions.
Memorable Quotes:
"research by M.D. Gordon and S.L. Hill in 2008 that found that co-sleeping families were less likely to believe their infant’s sleep was problematic than non-co-sleeping families. Those with the greatest levels of stress/concern were non-c0-sleepers that don’t practice cry it out, suggesting that responding to your baby when you do not sleep with your baby can be very stressful."Conclusion: Cosleeping is GOOD, not only for the baby, but for the mommy as well. As a cosleeping family, I can personally attest to all of the wonderful aspects of cosleeping that this blog post mentions. This is just scratching the surface of why cosleeping is so great, but for Mommies-to-be who are thinking about this wonderful practice, this blog post and it's linked research is a great place to start.
As it relates to bed sharing specifically, one study (reported on p.141 of Natural Parenting - Back to Basics in Infant Care) found that “routinely sharing the parents’ bed in infancy has been associated with greater self-reliance and social independence at preschool age than a history of solitary sleeping (Keller, M. A., and Goldberg, 2004).“
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