You and your baby, with or without your partner, share an adult bed and sleep together on the same sleeping surface. Bed-sharing with parents is the most common sleeping arrangement worldwide and families may choose to bed-share because of cultural, parenting, or family beliefs. Some experts advocate bed-sharing if done in a ‘safe way’ for several reasons. Bed-sharing will encourage ease of breast-feeding, which has important benefits not only for your baby, but also for you. But there are also risks to be considered, including overheating and overlying.

• Bed-sharing may improve breast-feeding due to the convenience of sleeping next to your baby.
• Babies who breast-feed and bed-share have more arousals, as do their mothers. When your child wakes, you will be more likely to wake also and able to respond easily to his needs.
• If you are breast-feeding your baby in bed and fall asleep, this is a safer place for your baby than if you fall asleep while feeding him in a chair or sofa.

Lauren and Kyle are expecting their first child. Lauren is in her third trimester. They came to our clinic to discuss issues about caring for their newborn, including breast-feeding and co-sleeping. Lauren is hoping to breast-feed her baby. She has researched the pros and cons of breast-feeding and bottle-feeding, and feels that breast-feeding is the healthiest option. However, Lauren and Kyle are confused about whether it is safe or not to co-sleep with the baby in their bed. They want to know what the risks and benefits are of this arrangement.

We reinforced Lauren’s decision to breast-feed as the best way to feed her baby. Breast-feeding has many benefits, both for mothers and babies. We also presented Lauren and Kyle with some of the key information about keeping their baby safe while sleeping, especially what the American and Canadian pediatric societies recommend, based on the evidence about SIDS. We advised them to sleep in the same room as their baby, with the baby in a separate sleeping space but close-by, in a crib or bassinet.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 1st, 2010 at 9:35 am and is filed under Sleep Apnea. 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.