Sleeping With Your Baby - The Benefits

There are a lot of debates on whether we should let our babies sleep with us. I have tried different sleeping arrangements for each of our children, from sleeping in the crib in our room, to letting her sleep in her own room; to sleeping with me in our bed. We found out (through the hard way) that it is very important that a baby should not sleep by himself, until at least about 2 years of age. Below are some of the reasons.

1. For mothers who breastfeed, it is less tiring and taxing to breastfeed if she sleeps with her baby. She can breastfeed even if she is half asleep. She doesn't have to spend half the night walking to and fro her child's room. I think this is a real benefit, because as mothers, we need to grab as much opportunities to sleep as possible, since the baby wakes up a few times a night.
2. Some parents find that they can't sleep with their babies in their bed, because they are afraid of sids (sudden infant death syndrome) due to cosleeping. I bought a small little cosleeper bed that can be secured on our queen size bed to prevent this from happening. This bed is designed specifically for this purpose, and is quite convenient, especially if we need to travel.
3. If the parent is still not comfortable with the baby in the bed, because they feel that they have less space to sleep, they should at least put the baby in cot bed or baby crib in their room. In this way, they can sleep comfortably while still have the baby with them.
4. An infant will know if he is alone even when he is sleeping. He can sense it. He may feel that he is abandoned, and unloved. This will cause him to feel insecure and he might develop bad habits like thumb-sucking, etc. You can read my blog where I described my traumatic experiences of trying to remove my 2nd child's thumb sucking problem, who slept alone since she was born. We decided to sleep with her when she was 10 months old after realizing that her sleeping alone could have been the root cause of her thumb sucking problem. We also surveyed around and found out that most children that sucked their thumbs slept alone when they were infants. Also, studies have shown that Asian children (in the past) tend to have less thumb sucking problem, because, in the past, most Asian children sleep with their parents until preschool age or more.
5. Another benefit of having the baby in the same room as the parents is so that the parents can know what is happening to their baby at every instant, throughout the night. There were two occasions where my 2nd child slept in her vomit until morning, and I didn't even realize it, even though I came to her room and breastfed her twice during the night. I feel so sorry for her.

Through my own painful experience, I will always advice parents to have their baby sleep in their room. My 3rd baby slept with me in our bed, and she is a very secure and happy child. However, my 2nd child who slept alone is still slightly insecure, even though I have tried very hard to give her more attention and express my love to her. Sometimes, these decisions that we make when they were young will affect their entire life. So, a little inconvenience on our part to have them sleep with us when they are infants can make a lot of difference in the future.

Ruth Bonnemare is a very experienced mother who enjoys counselling and training young families. A renowned cook in her hometown, she loves to research into healthy living and healing foods from around the world. She has also consulted on breast feeding and supports young mothers on breast feeding while working. She maintains a website at http://www.allteachingparentingskills.com/

travel cot - baby travel crib