Parents often wonder whether they want their precious newborn baby to sleep in their own room or with them. “But what if I never get my child out of my room?” is a question parents always ask. It is the fear of their children not wanting to sleep in their own beds that scares them off from co-sleeping. Don’t get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with letting your baby sleep on her own, but co-sleeping is very beneficial and I am going to share with you why.
Firstly, What Is Co-Sleeping?
Co-sleeping is when your baby or child is sleeping in the same bed or room as you. It means that you are sleeping closer to your child. For example, letting your baby sleep in your own bed or in a coflt or baby bed next to you.
1. Babies Sleep Better And For Longer Periods
It’s natural for a baby to want to be close to its mom consistently and at all times. Infants need their mothers and fathers to look after them and care for them and to help them grow into happy healthy adults. It is proven that co-sleeping babies sleep better at night. What is the reason for this?
Sleeping next to a loved one helps you relax. Nobody likes to be alone. Your presence in the room will help your baby to calm down. If an infant is alone at night and scared, her brain can become active and she can struggle to fall asleep again. With you next to her she is at ease and will fall asleep peacefully. Bonus you also get more sleep in and you don’t need to walk to another room at night especially when it’s cold.
2. The Risk Of Sids Is Reduced By About 50 Percent
Babies from the age of 0 to 12 months are very vulnerable for sudden infant death syndrome. There has been numerous cases and you want to avoid it as far as possible. I am not trying to scare you, but it is proven that co-sleeping reduces the risk of sids by 50 percent. Luckily by sharing a room with your baby you are nearby if anything should happen and also your motherly instinct will kick in.
3. Co-sleeping Reduces Stress
Sleeping next to a loved one has a very beneficial impact on babies as well as adults. In fact it co-sleeping reduces stress, depression and anxiety. If your child is sleeping next to you or close by you won’t constantly need to go and check up on her whether she is still breathing or if she is sleeping alright. Even though we have some of the best baby monitors it is completely natural for moms or parents to still worry over their children.
4. It’s Easier To Breastfeed Your Baby
When my daughter was younger she used to fall asleep on my breast at night. She slept between me and my husband. That is the only way we were able to get some rest at night. Honestly we were scared that one of us could role on her in our sleep, but we followed safety measures and placed pillows were needed.
Many babies want to nurse constantly. By co-sleeping your baby is nearby and you can nurse her whenever she wants to without having you walking to her room and she is crying after you. Did you know that when a baby nurses frequently it builds on breastmilk supply?
5. Parents Enjoy More Sleep
Yes the main bed or room can get overcrowded, but co-sleeping also helps parents enjoy more sleep. With your child next to you you automatically feel more relaxed and this will allow you to fall asleep faster and sleep much better at night. We all need plenty of sleep raising these incredible tiny humans that God blessed us with.
Mamas Blossom
xxx
these are indeed some great points in favor of co-sleeping, the child to parents bonding is definitely more if a child sleeps with parents. definitely feeding and taking care of a child is easier if you’re sleeping together rather than getting up in the night to go to nursery.
Hi Richa. It is very true however it doesn’t work for everyone, but it does for me
In India, we do prefer co-sleeping till the kids are at least 2 plus and sometimes even more. It truly helps for both the parents and the kid to sleep better and longer. And yes, there’s peace of mind too. A paranoid person like me would be spending the entire night checking on the baby if he was in his own room. 😀
Haha I feel you Shilpa. I will also be paranoid and for now co sleeping works for us😊
Oh yes, it is so much less stressful. And it gives both the parents a great opportunity to bond with the baby. Yes, the fear of SIDS hardly let me sleep. But by taking precautions it was easier to co-sleep. Now I have joined my baby’s cot right next to my bed so I can easily pick him up while feeding and he is also close by.
I’m glad to hear that. I also know that I will be restless with my daughter sleeping on her own, but she will get there when we all are ready😊
Fully agree about the co-sleeping. We had a huge cradle for my son when he was an infant and he would never fall asleep in it. The minute we put him on the bed, he’d settle down comfortably. So we simply decided to co-sleep. And yes, everyone slept better and it was definitely easier to feed.
Hello Vidya. I agree with you. We also tried the cot but Janelle didn’t like it so now she is still in our room.
Wonderful post, Leana! Yes, we went the co-sleeping route for 4 years and experienced all these benefits!
To make it easier for us, once baby started rolling, we moved our queen-sized mattress onto the floor and added two single bed mattresses on either side of it. Our room looked like one big camp-out. Sounds weird, I know, but it worked like a charm.
Hi Lauren. Nothing wrong with how it looks. As long as it worked for all of you that’s all that matters ❤️
I really love co-sleeping with my little pumpkin! He was a terrible sleeper at first, but with co-sleeping and some really helpful tips from Susan Urban (I got this book: http://parental-love.com/shop/baby-sleep-training) we managed to work out pretty good sleeping habits! And I believe if it feels safe – it is safe, right?
It works so well!