The advice against co-sleeping is a typical simplification of advice, where nuance is removed and all parents should receive the same, simple advice. Peter Bla

The advice against co-sleeping is a typical simplification of advice, where nuance is removed and all parents should receive the same, simple advice. Peter Blair, based at the University of Bristol, has done some great work studying deaths caused by co-sleeping and found some very important factors, mainly the health of the child, any modifiers of the parent's sleep and the sleeping position. For example, drug use by the parents (including alcohol, cigarettes, over the counter & prescription medicine), making them sleep heavier. Also falling asleep on the sofa or a pillow near the child. So much parenting advice is one-size-fits-none and it takes quite a bit of effort to work out the reality. Luckily, with a baby in arms there's often a lot of time available for reading the many opinions out there. ;)