Cosleeping and Biological Imperatives: Why Human Babies Do Not and Should Not Sleep Alone
http://neuroanthropology.net/2008/12/21/cosleeping-and-biological-imperatives-why-human-babies-do-not-and-should-not-sleep-alone/
Personally, I can’t understand how cribs ever “caught on”. It is unthinkable for me to put my baby anywhere else at night. Every night, she sleeps next to me, or cradled in my arms, or on my chest.
For more on this topic, choose from the following:
Essay ~ Bible Verses ~ Quotes ~ Blog Posts ~ Books
This entry was posted by Carol
on Monday, November 8th, 2010 at 11:09 PM and is filed under Parenting Attachment, Parenting Sleep Sharing.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
About The Author
Welcome to PARENTING FREEDOM.com, a unique website with information based on research, experience, intuition, and Christianity. "O teach me, Lord, that I may teach the precious things Thou dost impart; And wing my words, that they may reach the hidden depths of many a heart." I encourage you to read my parenting essays linked in the left sidebar. Each topic has Scripture verses and quotes that are particularly moving. Thanks for visiting my website, and come back soon!
I loved having my babies sleep next to me…I slept better and so did they. It just seems
like the natural thing to do…
When my son (now 15 months old) was born, I had every intention of putting him in a bassinet to sleep. But for the first few days after he was born, I was so nervous and jittery all night long, every time he made a sound (or didn’t make enough sounds
) I would be up and over at the bassinet, with my finger under his nose to make sure he was still breathing. It was torturous.
When he was a week old, I just gave up trying to sleep separately and took him into bed with me. It was the best decision I could have made! We both slept so soundly, and even during feedings I barely had to wake up. He would grunt a little, and I would nurse him, all without opening my eyes.
He shared our bed exclusively until he was about 6 months old, when he started to get mobile and had some close calls almost falling off the bed. It was too scary for me, so I started putting him in his crib, since he was sleeping through the night without nursing anymore, anyway.
But even though he’s in his own room the majority of the night, I still cuddle him and rock him gently to sleep every night, and he usually comes to bed with us in the early morning hours when the sunlight wakes him.
Any other children we have, we will definitely be co-sleeping with them, too. We got berated for it a little by some of Ty’s family members, but I really don’t care! They can do whatever they like with their own babies, we’ll do what we feel is natural with ours.
I think sharing a bed is just fine but it didn’t work quite well for me. During the first couple of months or so (maybe more) I would nurse in bed and fall asleep with the baby beside me. But as the baby grew and started to take up more space I ended up balancing on one side of the bed and my husband on the other wih the baby comfortably in the middle. When the baby stirred or made those small noises in the sleep I would hear it so my sleep wasn’t deep and restful. Same with my husband. Mybe it’s a queen bed that we have or our personal sleep patterns, I don’t know. I had to transfer the baby to a nearby crib and neither of my four kids seemed to mind.
Same with babywearing. I LOVED the idea but somehow it didn’t work out quite as I hoped it would. No doubt, it’s MUCH better than carrying a baby on one arm and doing the chores with the other! My baby started to dislike both hug-a-monkey sling and moby wrap at some point and I was getting tired quickly so we had to fold them and put them away.
In a word, these are great ideas but we managed without them. Love and peace is more important for the family. That said, if you can do it, it’s great. God bless!