The Basics About Co-Sleeping

I’ll be honest, when I first heard about co-sleeping, I was a little weary. Personally, my sleep is so important to me, and I feel as if co-sleeping would be an invasion. Granted, I am aware that as a new mom you get little to no sleep, but my room is sort of my safe haven. As with most things, I wanted to look more into it. So in this blog, I’m going to share with you the rundown on co-sleeping.

What is co-sleeping

The act of co-sleeping is to allow your child to sleep alongside, in the same bed, or room as you. 

It’s not uncommon for all newborns to sleep in the same room as the parents for the first few months of their life as all parties get adjusted. This blog post more so refers to the months after the “newborn” stage when infants can sleep on their own.

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Why People Choose to Co-sleep

It’s said that often times the parent and child are able to get more sleep. Because the child is near the parent, they feel safer and it is quick to coax them to sleep if they awake during the night. Speaking of waking during the night, as a result of the child being in the same bed, the parents are able to take care of the child’s needs faster than migrating to another room. This allows for the parent to quickly return to sleep as well.

As with everything, there are people on both sides of the fence when it comes to co-sleeping. We’re going to talk about some of the reasons people decide to co-sleep with their child.

Some people feel as if it is just the most natural and biological thing to do. If we were all living in the wild, it would be unnatural for us to allow our children to sleep out of our proximity, especially for safety.

Parents who choose to co-sleep believe that they are able to build a stronger bond with their child by remaining present, or easily accessible while they sleep.

     Benefits

• Bonding
• Less disturbed sleep
• Easier transition

Recommended items for co-sleeping:

Why some Refrain From Co-sleeping

Some people choose not to allow their child to co-sleep with them because they would much rather the child get used to sleeping alone from the beginning. When it comes to co-sleeping, I think the decision remains with the parents but I would advise against bed-sharing. Bed-sharing is when the child shares the same bed as the parents and this could increase the risk of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome).

Another potential disadvantage to co-sleeping is its interference with you and your partners’ intimacy. It might prove challenging to have adult time when your newborn is present.

If you decide to co-sleep with your child for an extended period of time it might be a difficult transition whenever you decide that they should have their own room.

     Disadvantages

• • Less intimacy with your partner
  • Tougher transition
  • Increased risk of SIDS (if bedsharing)

 

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