If there are two facts that new mothers hear more than anything, it’s that folate vitamins are good and co-sleeping is bad. Well, recent studies have questioned those words of wisdom and will perhaps correct long held assumptions from parents and mainstream parenting authorities.
The folate study looked at the Norwegian mother-child cohort study that follows 32,000 children born between 2000 and 2005. The researchers noticed that mothers who took folate in the first three months of their pregnancy were more likely to have children who wheezed and had lung problems. One thing that has been pointed out is that folate alters the process of methylation and therefore alters genetic activity. Folate has been shown in mice studies to increase allergic reaction in offspring, so this look at the cohort study confirms previous research. Folate’s better qualities (helping baby’s growth) surely outweigh the risks discovered in this latest study, but pregnant mothers may want to wait until after the 1st trimester to start popping those vitamins.
Co-sleeping causes much angst and debate, and I’m not eager to start a war here. I’ll just come out and say that my personal opinion is that co-sleeping is safe unless parents are morbidly obese, extremely deep sleepers, or addicts. In this latest study, researchers showed that co-sleeping in and of itself is not a risk to the child because when you eliminate all other factors, the risk of SIDS goes away. The risk factors that make co-sleeping dangerous are parents who drink or smoke and/or have too much soft and pillowy bedding. My advice is to go with a co-sleeper that attaches to the bed, that way you have the convenience of co-sleeping without any of the potential risks.
I welcome comments on the two topics, as I have not had time to completely investigate the scientific literature.
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Chris
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It’s great to see this support for co-sleeping. We have a family bed that we enjoy immensely (most of the time
Family cuddle time as we drift off to sleep is a very special part of our day. I think that a lot of backlash against it is cultural and that westerners, in particular, are just biased against it; it seem to be perceived as “primitive” or “backwards”. Whatever. It’s nice to see more scientific support as far as the potential risk factors go.
By: cyberlizard on December 4, 2008
at 12:34 pm
We coslept for the first four months and then used a cosleeper for a few months after that. I’m reckless though: I coslept with my daughter on her first night in the hospital while my wife slept in her bed. I was easily woken, and never drank alcohol if I was cosleeping. It isn’t for everyone, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t for everyone. My father is dead against it because he sees too many cases come through the criminal courts involving mothers or fathers smothering the baby while they’re dead drunk. But as you remark, that’s not a cosleeping issue. That’s a drinking or addiction issue.
By: Backpacking Dad on December 4, 2008
at 12:49 pm
I am not sure, but I think that the importance of taking folic acid early in pregnancy is to prevent neural tube defects. http://www.marchofdimes.com/pnhec/887.asp
By: Momtotwo on December 4, 2008
at 1:54 pm
We have a family bed, too. It has been one of the most joyous parts of parenting for us.
I do have a huge interest in the whole prenatal vitamin thing. My baby was HUGE at birth, and I was not gestationally diabetic, nor in any other risk-bracket for macrosomia. I had always kinda thought my prenatal vitamins (which I started taking at some hyper-early stage, like 3 weeks into pregnancy, I believe) might have played a role in my growing a huge baby, but all I can do to find out is wait for evidence in the literature.
By: The Perky Skeptic on December 4, 2008
at 3:49 pm
We have a co-sleeper which is like a mini-crib that straps to the side of the bed. It is convenient for Mom, since she doesn’t have to go far to nurse the baby. But this Dad finds that the “gruntings” of the baby disturb my sleep often, so I have taken to sleeping in the den.
P.S. a quick toddler sleep tip is to keep their feet warm. either tuck in the blankets, and or put in socks under the footed pajamas.
By: Mark on December 7, 2008
at 3:52 am
I was a bit worried about co-sleeping when I first brought my son home. I read so much about SIDS and all the arguments not to sleep with the baby. I’ve always been a bad sleeper – I thrash around and I throw pillows of the bed sometimes. Then I got so tired that I fell asleep nursing my son one night. The funny thing was that I seemed to be aware of him next to me and when he moved, I would wake up ever so briefly. It was as if I’d developed this whole new sensitivity to him. Ever since then we’ve co-slept and I haven’t had a problem with it at all. In fact, I think it’s been the best thing ever – I get more sleep and so does my son.
Momtotwo – that’s what I learned in school, too. Folate is to prevent neural tube defects. The recommendation is that any mother who is actively planning a baby should make sure she’s taking supplements before she conceives and if she’s already pregnant, to immediately start taking it up until the end of the first trimester when the neural tube closes. This is to prevent anencephaly and spina bifida. So waiting until the end of the first trimester doesn’t seem to be a good idea. So perhaps this is a case of the benefits outweigh the side effects? It’s an interesting thought, though. I’m planning my second baby and I’d really like to know.
The Perky Skeptic – You might be onto something there… I was also on prenatal vitamins and my son was pretty big, too – 4kgs at birth (if that’s considered big).
By: Shen-Li on December 7, 2008
at 2:46 pm
[...] was just reading a very interesting post over at the Skeptic Dad’s Blog about folate in early pregnancy possibly being linked to [...]
By: The Truth About Folate and Pregnancy | Babylicious on December 8, 2008
at 1:44 pm
I’mbecoming increasingly worried about the recent trend of scientists to run to the press with their studies in advance of their being published (if they are good enough to get published, that is) and peer-reviewed. The study may be a model of perfection, or it may be utter crap (like the baby buggy study published recently). But there’s no way we can know this until we see the actual study, and preferably, until the researcher’s colleagues review it. It’s a cheap way of scoring points with the clueless public, – “See?! It’s proven!” – and should be discouraged.
By: estherar on December 9, 2008
at 1:17 am
[...] over at Science-based Parenting has a post up regarding a study about cosleeping reported in the British Telegraph titled “Sharing a bed [...]
By: ‘Scientific Yediot Aharonot’ « Mainstream Parenting Resources on December 9, 2008
at 4:07 am