The advantages and disadvantages of Cododo

What is Cododo?

Cododo is a practice that develops more and more in France.For several years, many mothers have made a Cosleeping a Legion.The principle is simple: sleeping baby with you, in the same room, even the same bed.This technique allows the mother to support baby feeding quickly, without getting out of her own bed.Breastfeeding would thus be facilitated.The mother can also watch over her child especially when she is very small.For some followers, Cosleeping would even avoid sudden infant death (MSN).But, nothing proves this hypothesis.

How does it work the cododo?

At some couples, the baby sleeps directly in the bed, between the parents or on one side of the bed.At others, a special cododo bed is fixed near the mother so that he sleeps "apart", while being close, very close to the parents.

The rules to be observed for the Cododo

So that there is no problem with baby, many rules are to be observed and they are essential!

The important thing is to always ensure that baby cannot fall from the bed or, find yourself stuck between the mattress and the bed, or the wall.Material level, your mattress must be firm and flat.Water mattress, very soft, or damaged are to be prohibited. Concerning the part, the temperature should not exceed 18 °, but not fall under the 16 °.Do not let pets sleep near you or your toddler.And, for smokers, avoid cigarettes in this room.Especially since smoking would increase the risk of MSN.

On the baby side, make sure it is not too covered.The rule is that it should not wear more clothes than you.For sheets and blankets: beware, nothing should cover her head.If your baby is born prematurely, if you are low, if it has a fever: avoid sharing your nights with your little details: drugs, medicines, alcohol, diseases, abnormal fatigue: becautious and avoid practicing cododo in these circumstances.

Remember that you should never leave your baby on your own in your big bed.

The advantages of Cododo

Cododo has a main advantage: promote breastfeeding.This is why Leche League (information and breastfeeding support association) defends this practice.The milk, made at night, would therefore be favored by the proximity of the mother.At the slightest request, the mother is ready and can - without getting out of bed - meet baby's needs and desires.Be careful still to be awake.Building with your baby on yourself increases the risk of suffocation.

For Cododo followers, another positive point exists: contact with the mother.Indeed, some mothers are reassured by being able to monitor baby constantly especially when they are very small.Most ?Strengthen the maternal link with your child.And the pediatrician Philippe Grandsenne confirms: "If the mother needs to be reassured, she can take her baby in the bed for a few days or a few weeks".

The defenders of Cosleeping also argues that baby's sleep would be better next to his mother and above all, that the practice of Cododo would considerably lower the risks of MSN.However, no study has ever proven the veracity of these claims.

There are cododo cradles to practice cododo safely.

Cododo's disadvantages

There are real dangers inherent in the practice of Cododo.The first and principal: child safety, with a risk that prevails: suffocation.Recall that when an adult sleeps, he enters a so -called "deep" sleep.During this phase, it is possible to forget the presence of baby in the bed.This is why Cosleeping can be problematic.The suffocation can also be caused by the environment.Pillows, sheets, duvets: present in the parents' bed, these objects can endanger the baby.

Regarding the sudden death of the infant, many studies have also shown the risks of this practice. Despite the contradictions with the research that values ​​the practice of Cododo, it is important to specify that other scientists warn against Cosleeping. Thus, a recent British study revealed that for babies under 3 months old, the risks of MSN are multiplied by 5 for those who share their parents' bed. A research carried out by Professor Robert Carpenter and his team from the London School of Hygiene and Topical Medicine. Published on the British Medical Journal website, this new study confirms the antis Cododo in their fight, since the results are alarming: 22% of sudden death cases occurred when the baby was sleeping with the parents. Among these deaths, 88% would probably not have happened if the children had slept in their cradle. The purpose of these experts is to prevent the dangers of Cosleeping. And their recommendations are simple: let baby sleep on the back, in a bed suitable for their age and alone.

A completely different subject is sensitive when talking about Cododo: the omnipresence of the child.And yes, with this practice: goodbye intimacy!The technique may be beneficial for the child, but far from being for the couple.And in the same vein, many denounce this fusional relationship between mother and child.A merger that can become problematic especially when baby will have to sleep alone in his bed.Codotor parents declare that the child leaves himself from the conjugal bed around the age of one year.False for many practitioners, such as Dr. Philippe Grandsenne who says it clearly: "The Cododo interviews the merger between the mother and the child, which does not encourage, in the long term, the necessary separation and excludes the father".

For this pediatrician and Dr. Jacky Israel, the Cododo would be more tiring for everyone: "I do not believe that a mother rests very well with her baby in bed," explains Dr. Grandsenne, supported by Dr Israel who, poses the problem from the child's point of view: "A baby needs to appropriate his sleep.Which is not the case when he is in total proximity to his mother and sleeps with her ”.Thus, this fatigue would ultimately be harmful to all!

However, the "co -producers" (often "..rier"), denounce and refute these disadvantages.

How is Cododo elsewhere?

In so-called "traditional" societies, that is to say living in small group without running water and electricity, babies are never placed in a room apart from the mother.This is also the case in Asian, African, or South America industrialized companies, where the baby remains near his mother at night.In China, 90% of 3 months old babies sleep in the parents' bed.In Japan also this practice is common and concerns more than 65% of babies at this age.In Norway and Sweden, a country that has been promoting breastfeeding for almost twenty years, more than half of babies sleep in their parents' bed.

The risk of sudden infants is very high until the age of 6 months, with a peak between 2 and 4 months.The Cododo is not recommended until the age of 3 months in many countries such as the Netherlands or the United States.In France, 10% of MSN cases are due to the Cododo.