Though many health professionals advise against it, some parents choose co-sleeping due to perceived benefits like bonding and easier nighttime nursing. When co-sleeping safely it’s important to follow certain precautions to prevent your baby from being smothered or overheated during sleep.
An optimal sleep environment involves placing your infant in a cot or bassinet next to your bed for co-sleeping, the most common method.
1. It Helps You Get a Better Night’s Sleep
Parenting often depends on co-sleeping with their baby for restful restful nights of restful rest; co-sleeping makes falling asleep much simpler! Co-sleeping allows parents and babies to stay close during sleeptime and this makes settling down much simpler.
Co-sleeping should only ever be attempted if your child is sleeping safely in their crib or bassinet. If you do bring your infant into your bed, be wary of pillows, comforters and quilts which could pose suffocation and/or entrapment risks for their safety.
Remember that babies can still form attachment and love relationships with their parent regardless of whether they co-sleep at night. This can be accomplished through bonding activities, physical closeness and skin-to-skin contact.
2. It Helps You Monitor Your Baby
An infant sleeping close to its parent can easily monitor his or her breathing and movement throughout the night, making breastfeeding mothers’ nights easier when waking up in need of feedings during the night.
Though experts and health organizations advise against it, some parents do choose co-sleeping with their babies for perceived benefits such as bonding or convenience. If this is your choice too, make sure that it remains smoke-free, room is dark enough, your head uncovered so as to not raise his or her body temperature excessively, pillows/blankets etc should remain away from their head as many SIDS deaths result from suffocation of some kind, plus regular feeding schedule to maintain his body temperature.
3. It Helps You Breastfeed
Bed-sharing allows breastfeeding parents to keep their infant close, making it easier to respond quickly if there are any hunger pangs during the night.
Note that for optimal co-sleeping safety, mothers should sleep separately from their infant. A bassinet or baby bed may also help, along with tying long hair back so as to reduce sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI) risk and other sleep-related complications. Finally, co-sleeping allows mothers to remain asleep and get the rest they require.
4. It Helps You Bond with Your Baby
Co sleeping promotes bonding because you stay close to your infant, which releases the love hormone oxytocin and promotes breastfeeding. Furthermore, it allows you to respond swiftly and quickly to their needs – further aiding attachment formation.
Experts agree that co-sleeping is safe if parents keep their babies within reach in a bassinet or crib next to their bed and do not smoke, drink, take drugs or have pets in the room. Co-sleeping may also be safer for older babies.
However, co-sleeping with young babies poses certain dangers that should not be ignored by experts; particularly with regards to being suffocated or injured from pillows or blankets that roll onto them while sleeping. Because of this risk, experts advise against co-sleeping with infants under one year of age; though sleep-sharing may still be realistic for some families when breastfeeding mothers are breastfeeding their infants.
5. It Helps You Spend Time Together
Many parents find the close contact between themselves and their baby soothing and relaxing – this is particularly true of breastfeeding mothers.
Co-sleeping can be an integral way for families to bond together. Inviting their baby into bed in the evening or after feeding can provide a wonderful chance for bonding and may make bedtime much simpler for new parents who struggle to sleep at night and who require constant supervision by one parent all night long.
Co-sleeping with your infant should be avoided if you smoke, drink alcohol, or have medical conditions that could negatively impact sleep quality. Furthermore, co-sleeping increases their risk of SIDS when their birth was premature or with low birth weight.https://www.youtube.com/embed/eULF0IKawYA