Where your baby sleeps is up to you. Some parents feel very strongly that their baby should sleep in a cot in his own room, others prefer the baby to be in a cot but close by in the same room, while others decide they want their baby tucked up in bed with them. There are benefits in having your own space and benefits in cuddling up together at night.
Advantages of separate beds
- Your baby wakes and feeds less frequently
- More chance for adult intimacy
- No disturbance from your baby’s small movements or his habit of lying across the
bed, or on top of you - You feel you’ve had a break
Advantages of sharing your bed with your baby
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Is sharing a bed safe for your baby?
Experts are divided over the safety issues of sharing a bed. Recent research suggests
that babies’ bodies are designed for close proximity or contact with their parents
throughout the day and night until at least six months, and that babies regulate their
temperature and breathing better when they are side-by-side with their parents.
It may be that sleeping and waking within sight and sound of you helps your baby to
adapt to life more smoothly. In many societies it is usual for a baby to sleep with his
parents and even in Western society, many parents choose to have their baby sleeping with
them.
However, there are experts who are still concerned about the possibility of babies
overheating when sharing their parents’ bed. Modern central heating combined with the
use of a duvet, for example, could mean that a baby becomes too hot, and this has led some
expert bodies, such as the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths, to recommend that
the baby sleeps in a cot next to the parents’ bed, until he is six months old. The
idea is that he is close enough for you to hear him at night but without the risk of
overheating under your duvet.
If you feel this would be a good compromise, you may want to invest in a bed-side-bed -
a cot with one removable side which can be fixed to the side of your bed. This way your
baby is right there next to you all night, within arm’s reach of a feed, but under
his own bedding.
If you decide to keep your baby in bed with you, remember that he shouldn’t share your
bed if either of you have been drinking heavily or taken recreational drugs, as there is a
danger that you could roll on to him without waking. (Normally, parents instinctively know
where their baby is, and don’t roll on to him, just as they instinctively know where the
edge of the bed is, and don’t fall out!)
