Societal Influences on Sleep Research
by Barbara Nicholson, Attachment Parenting International
In July 1994, James McKenna, Ph.D., spoke at the International Lactation Consultants Association conference in Atlanta, Georgia about his research involving infant-parent co-sleeping. His anthropological research at Pomona College in Claremont, California has led him to many astounding conclusions.
In his talk, Dr. McKenna stressed the importance of the way in which cultural ideology affects scientific research. Cultural perceptions of how infants should sleep determine how infant sleep is studied. Then, the results of these studies serve as the model and the foundation for issues involving infant sleep. Therefore, when scientists begin with a model that is convenient for parents in our culture, sleep research is based on a false model that is not true to an infant's needs.
Dr. McKenna also pointed out that in our culture it is hard for people to realize that for almost 90 percent of the world, co-sleeping and breastfeeding practices are inseparable. Looking at underlying physiological systems aids in understanding social behavior. First, human infants are different from other mammals. They only have 25 percent of their brain volume at birth (the closest primate, the chimpanzee, has 45 percent). This demonstrates the immaturity of the infant's central nervous system. Human milk is digested quickly and easily due to its unique composition. Because of this uniquely human design breastfed babies will need to feed frequently, day and night, requiring mothers to stay close to their babies. Peruvian mothers with slings remind us of the need to keep babies physically close so the milk supply is always available. McKenna's research shows that on a minute to minute basis, this contact is necessary for the regulation of fundamental systems in the infant. These include breathing, body temperature, and growth rates (which are greater for infants that are held a lot).
McKenna stated that several factors have influenced the Western practice of forcing babies to sleep separately from their parents. One historical factor that has influenced western sleep practices is the common myth that "overlying" or accidental suffocation was a common cause of infant deaths in Europe in the past (it was for this reason that same bed or co-sleeping was banned for a time in Paris, Munich, and London. McKenna stated that we now have evidence that in extremely poverty stricken areas, women confessed that these deaths by suffocation were not accidents, but purposeful acts committed out of desperation. Evidently some overwhelmed mothers were having babies so close together that they feared they would not be able to feed the children they already had.
A modern version of how these co-sleeping myths get started is a study on SIDS that was done in New Zealand. Researchers found that mothers who smoke increased their babies susceptibility to SIDS. As co-sleeping was a common practice in that culture, the New Zealand government responded to this study by banning co-sleeping (what they determined to be an additional risk factor for the baby subjected to continual cigarette smoke) because they felt that it would be easier to make a policy banning co-sleeping than to try and ban mothers from smoking.
Another example of research misleading Western sleep practices in a potentially dangerous way involves a study conducted about twenty years ago. Researchers found that babies arouse more often if they sleep on their backs because it inhibits deep sleep. Because of a parental desire for babies to sleep through the night, pediatricians told mothers to put their babies to sleep on their stomachs. However research has since shown a strong correlation between SIDS and stomach sleeping.
McKenna believes that the early development of deep stages of sleep, encouraged by solitary sleep and placing babies on their stomachs, may not be in the best biological interest of all infants, as it can be difficult for an infant to arouse from this deep stage. Arousal is a basic defense mechanism for babies that are not yet able to deal with deep sleep, "Based on these findings." McKenna stated, "those babies that protest the most vigorously to separation are actually well-adapted compared to babies that passively acquiesce to their isolation." McKenna stated that babies should nap in the midst of normal family activity to prevent what he has termed "sensorial deprivation," rather than apart in a quiet room. He feels that even though we have tremendous advantages with modern technology, we must have equal respect for our uniquely human biology and physiology. As with so many issues, when we stray too far from what nature intended, the price we pay can be disastrous.
