my daughter wants to know your views on co sleeping with 8 month old?

Answer 1

I would be against it, you could roll over and suffocate the infant.

To all who gave me a thumbs down, sure sleeping with a baby seems sweet and nice, ( I helped raise my two sons who are 16 and 19, both well adjusted young men and we didn't do that ) please read on.

A Separate Bed For Baby
The government weights in on dangers of sleeping with baby.

WebMD Feature As parents, Meg McLean and Lee Sherline of Baltimore are constantly discussing how to care for "Little Lee," the newest member of their family. Deciding where Little Lee sleeps, for example, is not as simple as it might seem.

"He sleeps in the crib next to the bed, but Meg brings him into bed to nurse him," Sherline explains. He suspects that, as with daughter Mara, the habit will eventually evolve into Little Lee sharing the bed with his parents. "Mara slept with us until she stopped nursing," says Sherline.

Study Discourages Bed-Sharing

But things have changed since two-year-old Mara was the baby of the house. Now the federal government is weighing in on the issue. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), any child under the age of two should not sleep in an adult bed. The result could be deadly, says a study published by CPSC researchers in the October 1999 issue of the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.

After looking at more than 500 infant deaths that took place over an eight-year period, the researchers concluded that placing children younger than two years to sleep in adult beds exposes them to the following potentially fatal hazards:


Overlaying by a parent, sibling or other adult sharing the bed
Entrapment or wedging between the mattress and another object
Head entrapment in bed railings
Suffocation on waterbeds

Answer 2

If co sleeping works for your daughter and her family, then she should do it and do it safely. Safely means no fluffy pillows or comforters around baby, possible moving the mattress to the floor, and never sleeping with baby if she is intoxicated or medicated with something that will sedate her.

It makes breastfeeding and meeting any other needs the baby might have in the middle of the night SOOO much easier, and people have been doing it since the beginning of time. It doesn't have to hinder anyone's "intimate" life.....for the record, if sex is the only "intimate" part of your daughter's relationship with her significant other, that means there are major problems as "intimacy" is about far more than just sex.

For those that complain about 4 year old still being in the bed with Mommy and Daddy....I'm not entirely sure what the big deal is. 4 isn't really all that old in the grand scheme of things, and with a bit of patience, kindness, and sustained effort a 4 year old can be transitioned to their own room within a few months time.

Really, people, children don't need to "learn" independance, they gain independance by having their needs met consistantly by their primary caregiver, which, hopefully is YOU, their parent. If I've said it once, I've said it a million times, there is NOTHING convenient about being a parent. The whole ordeal is about as INCONVENIENT as anything could possibly be. If you're looking for convenience, then please, do us all a favor and don't have children at all.

I know that baby and toddlerhood can seem like an eternity to a tired set of parents, but soon, your kids will be almost completely grown and all you'll have are those precious memories of their baby time. Make them happy memories.

Answer 3

i don't do it, not because i wouldnt love to snuggle up with her, but because im scared to smoosh her, or of her falling out of the bed.
she sleeps so well in her crib for naps and such, she gets too wound up when i try to lay her next to me, she knows the crib is where she sleeps, so anywhere else is like play time. plus she wakes herself often during sleep, when shes rolling over and such (in her crib she will go right back to sleep) so when she does this and sees me. no more sleeping.

i don't see a problem with it, if that is something you want to do. my girl is very well adjusted, and secure.

it may help her to know im in the same room, due to signing a lease, and not wanting to move pregnant, i am in a small home which did'nt allow for her own room.

i say whatever works for you, some people prefer it, especially if they are breastfeeding.

Answer 4

I think you stumbled onto a hot button issue in this area of YA, probably second only to breastfeeding vs bottle feeding. My view is that if she has been co sleeping with him/her up to this point and is happy with that descision that that is what she should continue doing. If she is no longer happy with the situation this is probably a good time to transition him to a crib. Sounds like maybe she's asking because she's been told he's too old? Haha well my brother co slept until he was atleast 5... and he's somewhat normal.... =)

Answer 5

I slept with my first daughter at that age, but only because if she woke up, I was so tired that I couldn't make it to work if I tried to get her to go back to sleep in her crib.

I will never, ever, ever in a million years do it with my second daughter because #1 slept in my bed until she was a little over four years old.

But, my crib was like brand new for baby #2.

Answer 6

If your daughter is a hard, hard sleeper, I would be against it.
I did this all the time with my son--his dad was never allowed to do this because of other reasons than being a hard sleeper.

She'll know when the baby moves, basically, she'll know!! There are few men out there that have the feeling of a mom that would know when their baby moved during a nap.

Answer 7

I personally wouldn't do it. Even though I am a light sleeper, I am still afraid of rolling on him, even covering his face with my blanket, or my hand. We put his crib in our room right next to my side of the bed. I can still see him and touch him, but I know he is safe in his crib. I take short naps with him on the couch during the day though.

Answer 8

I co-slept with my daughter from the day she was born until she was 4, when she decided to move to her own bed. I also nursed, rocked, walked, or otherwise soothed her to sleep for as long as she needed me to.

I now have a happy, secure, independent 5 year old, who falls asleep easily, by herself, in her own bed. No crying it out, no sleep training, no trauma.

Tell your daughter I'm all for it.

Answer 9

In the old days beds were very expensive. It wasn't all that unusual for an entire family to sleep together in one.

The only bad thing about sleeping with a small child is that you might roll ontop of it. Not good.

Answer 10

I co-slept with my son until he was 4 months and that was only because we were running out of room in the bed and I thought he deserved more room. :( I would have loved to continue to sleep with him.

Answer 11

I do it. I don't see a problem I am a light sleeper and I wake up about hourly on my own anyway, I always know where he is and when my husband is home(he's in Iraq) he also is aware of where the baby is. I feel like I get more sleep this way.