co-sleeping?

Question

what are your thoughts on this controversial topic?

Answer 1

I have no idea how parents manage things if they're not co-sleeping. Babies actually wake up at night (several times!), and I couldn't imaging having to get out of bed, walk down the hall, pick up the baby (who is now fully awake and screaming), spend a half-hour (or more) getting her calmed down, fed, and back to sleep, and then get myself back to sleep. In contrast, when my co-sleeping baby started to wake, I'd get her latched on, nurse for a few minutes and we'd both drift right back to sleep without ever fully waking up.

Answer 2

I have co-slept with my son since he was two months old. We both get more sleep, and I feel more relaxed knowing he is right next to me and I can feel him breathing. We're currently working on getting him into his crib, which I admit is difficult for both of us.

I think if you are a non-smoker who doesn't drink, do drugs or take heavy medication then co-sleeping is a safe and often practical option. It's a personal choice, much like breastfeeding or using cloth diapers. To each his own.

Answer 3

I love it, but it's not for everyone. I have done it with all 3 kids and never had a problem with anyone getting hurt. It's the only way I would ever get sleep with a newborn I think, and then a baby. So much easier for breastfeeding.

Answer 4

I completely agree with co-sleeping! My boy has colic and sometimes the only way he will go to sleep is if I am holding him, if I put him down, he screams. Thus, no rest for either of us. It all depends on the situation, but I don't know what I would do without it!

Answer 5

Its what humans are designed for.

http://www.kathydettwyler.org/detsleepthrough.html
The same is true of sleeping. Human children are designed to be sleeping with their parents. The sense of touch is the most important sense to primates, along with sight. Young primates are carried on their mother's body and sleep with her for years after birth, often until well after weaning. The expected pattern is for mother and child to sleep together, and for child to be able to nurse whenever they want during the night. Normal, healthy, breastfed and co-sleeping children do not sleep "through the night" (say 7-9 hours at a stretch) until they are 3-4 years old, and no longer need night nursing. I repeat -- this is NORMAL and HEALTHY. Dr. James McKenna's research on co-sleeping clearly shows the dangers of solitary sleeping in young infants, who slip into abnormal patterns of very deep sleep from which it is very difficult for them to rouse themselves when they experience an episode of apnea (stop breathing). When co-sleeping, the mother is monitoring the baby's sleep and breathing patterns, even though she herself is asleep. When the baby has an episode of apnea, she rouses the baby by her movements and touch. This is thought to be the primary mechanism by which co-sleeping protects children from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. In other words, many cases of SIDS in solitary sleeping children are thought to be due to them having learned to sleep for long stretches at a time at a very early age, so they find themselves in these deep troughs of sleep, then they may experience an episode of apnea, and no one is there to notice or rouse them from it, so they just never start breathing again. Co-sleeping also allows a mother to monitor the baby's temperature during the night, to be there if they spit up and start to choke, and just to provide the normal, safe environment that the baby/child has been designed to expect.

Answer 6

This is fine and helps Mom and Dad get sleep! I did this with all 3 of mine and YES they will sleep on their own and in their own rooms when they get older, so don't listen to those who say they won't! I had no problems.

Answer 7

I am the Mom of 4 and I have co-slept with all of them. It's not for everyone, but I love it.

Answer 8

It's really all up to you. My son sleeps with me and my husband for a morning nap, but sleeps in his bed at night. I would recomend some sort of infant bed made to go in your bed to prevent accidental smothering.

Answer 9

Well...for the most part my wife and I get along pretty well. But there are those times when I'm sent to the sofa for the night.

Answer 10

I did it for 3 months, then put her in a crib for 2 months, then put the crib in her own room at 6 months.