Hi Tinasan
I've read up ALLOT on co-sleeping since I started doing it regularly with my DS. From the many studies and insights by parents, doctors - even historians (people have co-slept for as long as they have been about) and doing it with my DS I am 100% convinced that it is 100% safe and has so many benefits. People have always co-slept and its only until very recently and in the west that we have stopped doing it. In countries like China, co-sleeping is taken for granted and they don't even have a word for cot death as it is so rare. Recently I read about a detailed study from a group of scientists and phsyicologists that were so impressed by the health benefits of co-sleeping and that it seems to preserve breastfeeding, that they beleive health visitors should be actively enchouraging it!
Nature didn't intended for us mums to have to get in and out of bed or night or for our babies to be away from us. Just think of women who have to survive with babies in much harsher circumstances than us. We get exhausted and our babies cry because they want to be close to us. The trick is to learn to breastfeed lying down. With some practice you can actually do this without rolling on to another side when you change breasts. In this position - lying on your side, you will be naturally curved around your baby and will protect her from sliding down the bed or getting in a funny position. Studies have shown that women and their babies 'tune' into each other while the co-sleep and are very aware of each others movements. Woman are designed by nature to feed and sleep like this and it works!!! Well it did for me anyway.
I didn't start co-sleeping with my DS until he was much older after months and months of sleep deprevation. I regret this so much because now I've read up on it - as opposed to just accepting the myth that babies should always sleep in cots/baskets - if I had done it when he was small in would have saved us both so much stress and axhaustion. I was a danger to him feeding him sat upright in a chair, totally exhausted and ready to slumpt on top of him.
I know its a big lifestyle choice but if your only isse is safety, the studies that link co-sleeping to cot death don't differentiate between habitual co-sleepers who do it SAFELY and desperate, exhausted parents who taken a baby in to be with them and don't follow the guidlines. This is when douvets, pillows, saggy mattresses and dad's arms flaling around in their sleep are a hazard.
You could always mix cot & co-sleeping. That's what we do
The no-cry sleep solution is an excellent sleep-related book and can give you some ideas to put good sleeping practices in place now. It also has good advice on co-sleeping. Three in a Bed is also a fantastic book on the benefits of co-sleeping.
Sorry for long post but so much to say about how great co-sleeping is!!!