Sleeping like a baby: attitudes and experiences of bedsharing in northeast England
Open accessAbstract
This paper reports findings from a study that investigated infant care practices in a small population of Northeast England in order to determine whether parent-infant bedsharing is common parenting behavior. In a year-long prospective study we examined the opinions and practices of parents with regard to their infants' nighttime sleeping strategies before and after the birth of their babies. Results confirm that parents pursue a heterogeneous array of nighttime parenting strategies and that 65 percent of the sample had actually bedshared. Parents with no previous intention to do so slept with their babies for a variety of reasons. One of this study's most important findings is that babies were being brought into bed with both parents. Ninety five percent of the bedsharing infants slept with both mother and father. This study has shown that bedsharing is a relatively common parenting practice. Despite initial worries and fears, mainly concerning overlaying, some parents found bedsharing an effective option yet were covert in their practices, fearing the disapproval of health professionals and relatives.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Across segments of society, sleep practices and beliefs can vary to a great extent.
“Across segments of society, sleep practices and beliefs can vary to a great extent.”
From Sleep, Health, and Society (2017) · cites this paper as [106]
Cites
Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics
Brown, G. W. (1980) · Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics · doi:10.1097/00004703-198003000-00002 · Cited by 349 · see citing works
Blair, P. S., Fleming, P. J., Smith, I. J., Platt, M. W., Young, J., Nadin, P. S., Berry, P. J., Golding, J., & Mitchell, E. (1999) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.319.7223.1457 · Cited by 328 · see citing works
Infancy and Early Childhood: Cross-Cultural Codes 2
Barry, H., & Paxson, L. M. (1971) · Ethnology · doi:10.2307/3773177 · Cited by 282 · see citing works
Cultural variation in infants' sleeping arrangements: Questions of independence.
Morelli, G. A., Rogoff, B., Oppenheim, D., & Goldsmith, D. F. (1992) · Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1037/0012-1649.28.4.604 · Cited by 249 · see citing works
Bedsharing Promotes Breastfeeding
McKenna, J. J., Mosko, S. S., & Richard, C. A. (1997) · PEDIATRICS · doi:10.1542/peds.100.2.214 · Cited by 244 · see citing works
McKenna, J. J., Thoman, E. B., Anders, T. F., Sadeh, A., Schechtman, V. L., & Glotzbach, S. F. (1993) · SLEEP · doi:10.1093/sleep/16.3.263 · Cited by 202 · see citing works
Cosleeping in Urban Families with Young Children in the United States
Lozoff, B., Wolf, A. W., & Davis, N. S. (1984) · PEDIATRICS · doi:10.1542/peds.74.2.171 · Cited by 198 · see citing works
Mosko, S. S., Richard, C. A., & McKenna, J. J. (1997) · PEDIATRICS · doi:10.1542/peds.100.5.841 · Cited by 166 · see citing works
Help me make it through the night: behavioral entrainment of breast-fed infants' sleep patterns.
Pinilla, T., & Birch, L. L. (1993) · PubMed · Cited by 162 · see citing works
Johnson, C. M. (1991) · Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics · doi:10.1097/00004703-199104000-00007 · Cited by 154 · see citing works
Sleep/Wake Patterns of Breast-Fed Infants in the First 2 Years of Life
Elias, M. F., Nicolson, N. A., Bora, C., & Johnston, J. (1986) · PEDIATRICS · doi:10.1542/peds.77.3.322 · Cited by 135 · see citing works
McKenna, J. J., Mosko, S. S., Dungy, C. I., & McAninch, J. (1990) · American Journal of Physical Anthropology · doi:10.1002/ajpa.1330830307 · Cited by 127 · see citing works
Maternal Sleep and Arousals During Bedsharing With Infants
Mosko, S. S., Richard, C. A., & McKenna, J. (1997) · SLEEP · doi:10.1093/sleep/20.2.142 · Cited by 126 · see citing works
Ball, H. L., Hooker, E., & Kelly, P. J. (1999) · American Anthropologist · doi:10.1525/aa.1999.101.1.143 · Cited by 99 · see citing works
Self-citationInfant Sleep Architecture During Bedsharing and Possible Implications for SIDS
Mosko, S. S., Richard, C. A., McKenna, J. J., & Drummond, S. P. A. (1996) · SLEEP · doi:10.1093/sleep/19.9.677 · Cited by 98 · see citing works
Dr Spock's Baby and Child Care
Loder, E. (2009) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.b2839 · Cited by 97 · see citing works
Sudden infant death syndrome: links with infant care practices.
Gantley, M., Davies, D. P., & Murcott, A. (1993) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.306.6869.16 · Cited by 89 · see citing works
Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care
Spock, B., & Rothenberg, M. B. (1992) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 79 · see citing works
McKenna, J. J., Mosko, S. S., Richard, C. A., Drummond, S. P. A., Hunt, L. E., Cetel, M. B., & Arpaia, J. (1994) · Early Human Development · doi:10.1016/0378-3782(94)90211-9 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
Patterns of Infant Care in an Urban Community
Nass, G. D., Newson, E., & Newson, J. (1966) · Journal of Marriage and the Family · doi:10.2307/349293 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Patterns of Infant Care in an Urban Community
(1966) · The Medical Journal of Australia · doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.1966.tb19437.x · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Kelly, J. F., Morisset, C. E., Barnard, K. E., Hammond, M. A., & Booth, C. L. (1996) · Infant Mental Health Journal · doi:10.1002/(sici)1097-0355(199624)17:4 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
Evolution and the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
McKenna, J. J., & Mosko, S. S. (1990) · Human Nature · doi:10.1007/bf02733987 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Liedloff, J. (1975) · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Mosko, S. S., McKenna, J. J., Dickel, M. J., & Hunt, L. E. (1993) · Journal of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1007/bf00844721 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
McKenna, J. J., & Mosko, S. S. (1993) · Acta Paediatrica · doi:10.1111/j.1651-2227.1993.tb12871.x · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Evolution and the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
McKenna, J. J. (1990) · Human Nature · doi:10.1007/bf02692151 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Evolution and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
McKenna, J. J. (1990) · Human Nature · doi:10.1007/bf02692150 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Parents and children sleeping together: Cosleeping prevalence and concerns.
Rath, F. H., & Okum, M. E. (1995) · American Journal of Orthopsychiatry · doi:10.1037/h0079654 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Nighttime Parenting: How to Get Your Baby and Child to Sleep
Sears, W. M. D. (1986) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Are Infants Sharing a Bed With Another Person at Increased Risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome?
Mitchell, E. A., & Scragg, R. (1993) · SLEEP · doi:10.1093/sleep/16.4.387 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
A Community-based Survey of Infant Sleep Position
Chessare, J. B., Hunt, C. E., & Bourguignon, C. M. (1995) · PEDIATRICS · doi:10.1542/peds.96.5.893 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
McKenna, J., & Mosko, S. S. (1990) · Human Nature · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Ethnicity and SIDS: what have we learnt?
Davies, D. P. (1994) · Early Human Development · doi:10.1016/0378-3782(94)90214-3 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Wright, E., & Pett, P. (1972) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Jackson, D. (1990) · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Grandner, M. A. (2017) · Sleep Medicine Clinics · doi:10.1016/j.jsmc.2016.10.012 · Cited by 720 · see citing works
Sleep disparity, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic position
Grandner, M. A., Williams, N. J., Knutson, K. L., Roberts, D., & Jean-Louis, G. (2016) · Sleep Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2015.01.020 · Cited by 481 · see citing works
- Authors
- Hooker, E., Ball, H. L., & Kelly, P. J.
- Affiliations
- Durham University (GB)
- Teesside University (GB)
- ORCID
- Ball, Helen L.
- Venue
- Medical Anthropology
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2001-01
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 203-222
- ISSN
- 0145-9740 (ISSN-L)
- 1545-5882
- OpenAlex
- W1971709701
- Cited by
- 49
- References
- 36
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 4 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 5.10
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Medical Anthropology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Durham Research Online (Durham University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Infant Health and Development
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Infant Development and Preterm Care
- Social Sciences › Demography › Family Dynamics and Relationships
- Keywords
- bed-sharing, infant sleep, infant care practices, parental attitudes, co-sleeping, North East England
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Anthropology, Cultural, Attitude, England, Female, Humans, Infant, Infant Care, Infant, Newborn, Male, Prospective Studies, Sleep, Parenting
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
