The founder of the Mama Kangaroo movement supported the unpopular opinion among parents that there is no need to rush to move the baby out of the parental bed. A study that goes against all accepted theories says that a child’s heart is more stressed when left to sleep alone.
Pediatrician Niels Bergman of the University of Cape Town in South Africa argues that babies who sleep on their mothers form a closer bond with her and get better sleep than those who are left alone in the cradle. This nighttime separation of baby and mother can negatively affect brain development, he says, and later manifests itself as behavioral problems. .
However, until now, pediatricians have always warned parents to put their children in a crib for the night. This is primarily due to the fact that the sleeping mother can accidentally injure or strangle the child. After all, sleeping together is a big risk to “sleep” a child.
A recent study of sudden infant mortality in the UK found that almost two-thirds of unexpected deaths occurred in cases where parents slept with their newborn.
While the national Childbirth Trust advocates for babies to sleep with their mothers, the Child Mortality Research Foundation is strongly opposed. According to his recommendation, the safest place for a child is his own crib, which is in the parents’ room, but not their bed.
Dr. Bergman, however, insists that the deaths and other injuries in the cradle were not caused by the mother’s presence. “They are caused by toxic fumes, cigarettes, alcohol, large pillows and dangerous toys.”
The scientist founded a movement called Kangaroo Moms, which focuses on tactile contact between mother and newborn and its benefits. The researcher studied the behavior of 16 infants. Only six of them slept peacefully on their own. The hearts of the children experienced three times more stress if they were in the crib, and not on their mother’s chest. It has also been shown to interrupt the sleep cycle, which is vital for proper brain development, in children who slept separately.
Dr. Bergman warns that a lack of sleep at this stage can lead to behavioral problems in a child as he gets older. Interrupted sleep and cardiac stress will make it difficult for them to form relationships in adulthood, he says. The doctor made an unambiguous and categorical conclusion: children should sleep next to their mother until they are three years old. And no separate sleep training from infancy.