In recognition of his work in he was admitted as a Fellow into the select body of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world's most prestigious scientific society. After teaching anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley as a Visiting Assistant Professor for two years, he accepted a tenure track position in anthropology at Pomona College in Claremont, California, where he was awarded an Endowed Chair and received numerous teaching awards, and remained an active member of the faculty for twenty years.
Initially Professor McKenna specialized in studying the social behavior of monkeys and apes but following the birth of his son in he began to apply the principles of human behavioral evolution to the understanding of human infancy. At the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, Department of Neurology his research team pioneered the first studies of the physiology and behavior of mothers and infant sleeping together and apart, using physiological and behavioral recording devices.
Surely mothers should not be stigmatized or considered irresponsible for bed sharing. In fact, 90 percent of all human beings sleep with their babies in some form or another! You have been quoted saying that humans are really bi-phasic sleepers, saying "In America, you are expected to go to bed at 11 o'clock and basically die until 7 a.
The human metabolism seems to slow down in the afternoon, and, in all probability, our biology is inclined toward some form of bi-phasic sleep. The fact that across diverse cultures most people are able to accommodate this biology no doubt reflects our evolutionary past, having evolved in the tropics where there was a need to get out of the intense heat of the day.
Cultural values underlie, if not regulate, how and when we sleep. In the U. Other cultures, however, favor naps or siestas during the day. The evolutionary need to be vigilant during sleep and awaken quickly permitted early humans to adapt to changing social, psychological and emotional environmental challenges. It is therefore important to respect individual variability and consider overall health from multiple perspectives. I become uncomfortable when I read these headlines with sweeping statements, which can cause people with more variable sleep patterns to become anxious, especially when they feel great and well-rested during the day.
And when all illnesses and syndromes are explained in terms of chronic sleep deprivation, we need to recognize that assessing cause and effect here is very difficult. As an expert in infant sleep, what tips would you give to new parents to help their child and themselves sleep?
Do what works for your family and trust yourself to know your baby better than any external authority. You are spending the most time with your baby, and every baby is different. Infants, children, and their parents intersect in all kinds of diverse ways. Indeed, there is no template for any relationship we develop.
When it comes to sleeping arrangements, many families develop and exhibit very fluid notions of where their baby "should" sleep. Parents with less rigid ideas about how and where their babies should sleep are generally much happier and far less likely to be disappointed when their children cannot perform the way they are "supposed to" -- i. Above all else, keep in mind that babies have no agendas; they are not trying to make it hard on you, or manipulate you.
With such an undeveloped little brain, they are about as close to their genes as any human will ever get and have little control over their behavior. In their first six to seven months of life, babies have no "wants," only needs.
Keep in mind that babies are as much "victims" of their behavior as you might be. The key to parents being satisfied is not accepting what others say you must do. Rather, be open to how the constellations of relationships that comprise your family intersect and roll with what solutions seem to work. For example, animal studies found that when baby monkeys were separated from their mothers, their bodies went into severe stress.
When adults and babies sleep together, McKenna and his colleagues found, they do sleep more lightly and rouse more often. For an added benefit, that lighter sleep, or REM Rapid Eye Movement sleep, is also important for synaptogenesis , the rapid growth of connections between neurons, in newborns. And that longer sleep has implications for parent-child interactions in the daytime.
Research suggests that more well-rested parents make better decisions and, importantly, have better emotion regulation. Sleep deprivation also raises the risk of postpartum depression. Fathers who bedshare benefit in other ways, too: One study found that when fathers slept close to their babies, their testosterone dropped more compared to fathers who slept separately. Men with lower testosterone tend to engage in more sensitive and responsive parenting, which means that bedsharing may make for better fathering.
Families who choose to cosleep beyond infancy but worry it makes children overly dependent can relax. On average, children who bedshare do tend to transition to sleeping independently about a year later than other children, but they may be more independent, self-reliant, and confident in their daily lives than children who did not bedshare.
A small study of 83 preschoolers found that children who slept alone from an early age fell asleep more on their own and slept more through the night, but the preschoolers who coslept from an early age were more likely to dress themselves, entertain themselves, and work out problems with peers on their own.
Another study of families showed that by age 18, children who bedshared did not differ from solitary sleepers in their sleep problems or mental health.
In other words, as children grow, many different factors contribute to their well-being. Most parents have a natural inclination to sleep protectively near their babies, and data suggest that cosleeping is on the increase. In , a U. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey found that more than half 61 percent of American babies bedshare at least some of the time.
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