Co-sleeping is one of the character traits of attachment parenting. If you’ve followed me along on my journey through motherhood, you would know that I practice this parenting lifestyle.
To make things clear, co-sleeping is just another word for bed sharing.
Related: The B’s of Attachment Parenting.
In the beginning of his bed-sharing/co-sleeping stage I wrote a piece about it, which you can read here. We are now almost approaching our 3 year mark and I thought his subject needed an update.
From birth to about 4 months of age my son would sleep in his bassinet next to me. Easier for night-time feeding. When the time came where he was getting too big for his bassinet I hesitantly tried moving him into his crib in his room.
Any time I would try to put him down he would cry his little eyes out, and this mama wasn’t having it. I don’t do “cry it out” so moving him to our bed was the best option.
(If you want to know more about the dangers of the “cry it out” method, read this piece from psychology today.)
My son will be turning 3 in the beginning of next year. We started putting him in his bedroom to see how he would react. I’m there till he falls asleep, it’s something I have always done as part of our bedtime routine.
We had a few days here and there that he slept alone in his own bed till about 5 a.m., but every other time he’s usually in our bed by midnight. Granted he still has an early bedtime (between 6:30-7:30 p.m.) and wakes up around (6:30-7:00 a.m.)
Now that I’ve explained our sleeping arrangements I’m going to divide it into my pros and cons list.
PROS OF CO-SLEEPING
♦ Easy access to night-time feeding (infancy).
♦ Child is always with you, important in case of an emergency/health issue.
♦ Ease of falling asleep. Happy bedtimes.
♦ Psychological benefits for baby/child & parents.
♦ Decreased risk of SIDS (Sudden infant death syndrome).
♦ Bonding, especially for a parent that works outside of the house. Extra hours with your little one.
♦ Sleeping next to a parent improves baby’s heart rate, rhythm and blood pressure.
♦ Happy Mornings, my son always wakes up smiling at me.
♦ Stimulates independence, you would think otherwise but when a child’s emotional, physical and mental needs are met they tend to be less demanding.
CONS OF CO-SLEEPING
♦ Less privacy in the bedroom, although easily fixed by going to another room.
♦ There might be a series of kicks to the face and stomach area, kids are known to move around constantly in their sleep.
♦ Less bed space, if you have a queen bed like we do, you’ll have to get used to the lack of bed space
♦ Somehow my toddler always ends up glued to me, so if you’re someone who needs space to sleep, co-sleeping might be sleep disruptive.
Photo Credit: How to be a Dad. com
As you can see there are pros and cons to co-sleeping. What works for me might not work for you, every family’s dynamic is different.
Although I’ve listed cons above, they are cons I’ve learned to deal with and treat them as natural occurrences. Just comes with the territory but for me it has been far more beneficial keeping our little in bed with us and will probably be for years to come.
I do miss having our bed to ourselves, but as with anything in parenting you get used to it. I couldn’t begin to tell you how it was before our kiddo came in the picture.
Thanks for reading!
If you want to know more about co-sleeping and co-sleeping safety visit this website.
If you enjoyed this post, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & Pinterest for more goodies.
We were very unwilling cosleepers. My son was two when he was adopted and he’d been cosleeping with his foster mother, so he expected it. We eventually gave in in the interest of getting some sleep and I haven’t really regretted it…except for all of the kicks in the stomach. Ha!
Great post. My LO is almost 3 months old and we have a great bedtime routine. To get her ready for bed, I put her on the bed in between my husband and myself. Once she is in a deep sleep I transfer her to her Halo bassinet beside the bed. A couple times, Ihave fallen asleep with my LO in the bed and woken up afraid I have suffocated her. I am not against co sleeping, just afraid she will suffocate against me. She has rolled over with her face against my side which concerns me. What are your thoughts on a baby co sleeping who tends to roll against you?
I am a newbie on top mom blogs. Follow me at http://www.joysofbeingamom.com
This is definitely something every parent needs to decide for themselves what works for their family. It sounds like you’ve given this a lot of thought. Good luck with whatever you decide!
Love this list of pros and cons. We have accidentally stubbled into the world of cosleeping as thats what my son prefers and my theory is if it works roll with it. <3
Exactly! Anything to make life a little easier.
I love those post! I have shared my bed with my youngest since she was 4 months old. Same story with not letting her cry it out. She will be two in a few weeks and I still love co-sleeping. I feel like she’s my security blanket. We both sleep great so why change it right now.