James J. McKenna

This book contains a lot of useful information on why cosleeping is valuable to both infants and parents. It also clearly differentiates different types of cosleeping -- bed sharing vs sidecar style vs room sharing -- and their varied risks.

I think that understanding the risks of cosleeping and how to avoid them is important for any family. As is noted often, not just in this book, most parents end up sharing a bed with their infant at least some of the time. Knowing how to do so safely is thus an important part of keeping baby safe.

However, I am giving the book a fairly low rating because it it was short on the practical details. Part II, on how to safely cosleep, takes up only a handful of pages in this already short book, and most of the material is rehashing the safety information that follows directly from the discussion in the first part of this book. I think the general pregnancy books I read which reference this one go into more practical details than this book.

Now, that may be the degree of relevant detail. Safe cosleeping -- even of the bedshare variety -- isn't terribly complex, and if this had been called, "Sleeping with Your Baby: A Call for Safe Cosleeping" then I could forgive it for spending a lot of time on background and little on practice. But I expect a guide to be a bit more practical.… (mehr)