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Photo Credits:-
Baby & Father in a Bed
(PublicDomain
Pictures, Pixabay)
Baby & Father in a Bed
(PublicDomain
Pictures, Pixabay)
Three in a Bed
(smpratt90, Pixabay)
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 Co-Sleeping
Cosleeping is natural and instinctual.
James McKenna PhD, who has been studying it for 25 years, says:
"Sleeping alone [for a baby] is not biologically
correct. Human infants are born more neurologically immature than any other
species (excluding marsupials.)
Our central nervous systems depend on a
microenvironment that is like the in-utero environment, full of sensory
stimulation. Babies need the warmth, stimulation and monitoring that comes with
sleeping next to a caregiver.
Almost all, fully 95 percent, of the world
sleeps with their baby, and there are only very few cultures in the world for
which babies sleeping alone is even thought to be acceptable or desirable.
In
many Asian cultures where cosleeping is the norm, including China, Vietnam,
Cambodia and Thailand, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is either unheard of
or rare. In Hong Kong and Japan, which have almost universal cosleeping, SIDS
rates are among the lowest in the world.
The vast majority of scientific
studies on infant behavior and development conducted in diverse fields during
the last 100 years suggests that the question placed before us should not be
“Is it safe to sleep with my baby?” but rather, “Is it safe not to do so?”
Some Advantages of Cosleeping:-
- Easy to respond to baby’s
cues, thereby facilitating attachment parenting.
- A key element in mother-child
bonding.
- It facilitates the transition from the comfort and security of the
womb and mother’s heartbeat and voice, to independence and security in a
strange and often frightening world. This is done gradually and compassionately
by attachment parenting and co-sleeping. The modern misconception of the need
to rush the child to independence by hurrying baby onto solids, into its own
bed, to be potty trained, etc. - otherwise the result is supposed dependency
and neediness - is both unnatural and cruel.
- Creates a family intimacy. This is
through caring touch, which is linked to love, stability, non-violence, no
emotional neediness.
- Mothers respond more quickly to babies in the bed than to
babies in a crib (even when it is in the same room).
- The battleground of
sleep-training and cribs is avoided. In this way, you are avoiding serious
long-lasting psychological trauma to your child. Leaving an adult alone to cry
is bad - so, how much worse for a child?
- Easy to breastfeed on cue.
- Failure to
breastfeed at night (such as recommended by sleep-training) can lead to painful
engorgement or even breast infection. This is avoided. Human breastmilk is thin
and watery, typical of a species that nurses frequently.
- Babies are more likely
to overheat in their own bed than when bed-sharing, and that even with a
feverish skin temperature, co-sleeping babies demonstrate a cooler core body
temperature than that of their lone-sleeping counterparts.
- Can give crucial
catch-up time for a working mother separate from her children during working
hours.
- It can be very enjoyable.
- Less likely to be sexual taboos or hang-ups in
the child.
- There are a variety of ways to cosleep, e.g. father moves out,
partners swap throughout the night, a bedside crib. There are creative
solutions to any or many of the aspects of cosleeping that do not suit you. In
this way, you can reap the definite advantages of cosleeping without upsetting
yourself in the process.
- Possibly more
sleep is gotten, and certainly more quality
sleep is gotten (versus crib). This is important because a rested parent is
less likely to abuse/neglect their child.
- Safety of baby/child is greatly
increased (e.g. safer from fire, earthquake, other natural disaster, sexual
abuse, abduction, harm from intruders, attacks by pets/animals, suffocation
after vomiting, asthmatic attacks, strangling by bedwear, other injuries and
death possibilities).
- Research shows that mothers who cosleep are not only more
aware of and responsive to their infant’s needs, but also that babies who have
coslept regularly have the greatest levels of self-reliance and social independence.
(Lauren Lindsey Porter in Mothering Magazine
#154 p.54).
- Contributes to world peace as the child is likely to be emotionally
stable and fulfilled, and non-violent (yet strong).
Cosleeping Vigilance
- Dangerous if practised
carelessly, irresponsibly. Examples include: drunk, drugged,
smoking. Also be careful if you are obese.
- Water beds are not suited to cosleeping.
Sources & Resources:-
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Also see:-
Attachment Parenting
Natural Family Living
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Co-Sleeping