Co-Sleeping: Advantages & Disadvantages

Ever since my daughter was born, she loved to sleep on her own in her crib. Even when we tried to get her sleep in our bed, she refused.

Recently, little princess started to like the idea of co-sleeping and is joining us for some nights. Both my husband and I are enjoying it, no matter which body part hurts every morning 😀 it still feels priceless. Once you realize how fast these little creatures are growing, you’ll cherish every moment to hold them tight no matter what.

Last night, our daughter joined us for a full night sleep and since it’s getting a bit more often these days, I thought of looking up the positive and negative aspects of co-sleeping and share my findings with you.

I’ll start with the positive ones first:

• Advantages of Co- Sleeping:

1. Co- sleeping enhance trust and independence. Researches have found that solo-sleepers tend to be more dependent than those who share a bed with their parents. Also, kids who slept in their parents’ bed, are more likely to accept separation from one or  both parents than those who didn’t. In addition, you’re teaching your baby about trust as he/she knows you’ll be there whenever they needed it.
2. Welcoming your baby in your bed, improves family relationships and intimacy. Think about it, how would it feel to fall asleep looking to an angel and wake up holding them so tight; not to mention the cuddles, hugs, kisses and conversations that happen in between <3.
3. Guess what!! Co-sleeping helps with tantrums as well :o. In a recent research, psychologists found that toddlers who share their parents’ bed have less tantrums than those who don’t. It also revealed that those kids are easier to control, live happier, and are able to deal with stress much better than those who don’t co-sleep.
4. Co-sleeping encourages breastfeeding and makes it much easier. Moms who breastfeed, will find it easier to stay in their bed and feed their baby instead of leaving the bed to a different room and come back again after a while which will make them fully awake.
5. Bringing your baby to sleep with you will reduce any night time danger your little one might be exposed to, as parents will be more attentive and will wake up in case they felt anything wrong.

• Disadvantages of Co-Sleeping:

1. Wave goodbye for a good night sleep. Let’s face it; if you share your bed with an infant, you will not go into deep doze as you’ll always be afraid to roll over your baby or do something that hurts him/her without knowing it. When they’re bigger babies, you might get into a deep sleep but not for long as they tend to move, kick, turn around, talk, sometimes walk 😀 … and all will make you wake up at night and will for sure have something that hurts you in the morning :).
2. Higher choking hazards. Some opinions say that due to lack of enough space or overheating under the duvet cover, a child may have a higher chance to choke especially if they are 6 months or younger.
3. Losing intimacy between couples.
4. Do not welcome your baby in your bed if you or your partner have been smoking, drinking alcohol, taking drugs or heavy medication or feeling tired. You will probably be unable to respond to your baby easily.
5. Transition to their solo beds may take time and lots of patience when you decide to do so depending on their age and the duration they’ve been co-sleeping with you.

Above are not all but only the ones that I thought makes sense to me. It might be a different list to another mom, some might add on it and others may just agree. It’s all about perspective and how parents feel about it.

Like any other thing in parenting, co-sleeping may work perfectly for some families and won’t fit to others. If you feel it works for you and your baby then do it but if it’s not then let go, but most importantly, NEVER let anyone affect the decisions you take.

Parenting has no how-to-do manual; follow your heart and I’m sure you’ll do a great job <3.

P.S.: Above Advantages & Disadvantages were taken from different websites and blogs:

• Natural Parents Network
• The Natural Child Project
• Baby Care Advice
• Study Village
• Baby Center