How to Safely Practice Co-sleeping with Your Baby – The Five Do and Don’t

Co-sleeping is proven to bring both the mothers and their children with many benefits. Despite the fact that many people believe that co-sleeping makes the newborns not be independent, infants who stay alone in the nursery rooms often feel insecure and uncertainty. In the long run, that can lead to stress and constant fears.

Besides, when the children can deeply sleep in warm and safe places with their parents, they tend to be more emotionally stable and intelligent. Studies have shown that they are more independent and confident than babies who have to sleep separately from their mommies.

Regardless of many advantages of co-sleeping with the newborns, many related problems may happen if you do not practice it in the right way. Therefore, in this post today, I want to share with you the five most important things that you should and should not do concerning co-sleeping issues.

Do

#1 Do practice co-sleeping with your baby

It is common that people often mistake the term “co-sleeping” with “bed-sharing.” The former is a broader range of practices, including “bed-sharing.” It means babies and parents sleep together in the same place such as in the same rooms, or sofas, while the latter should be interpreted as children and adults share the same bed.

Many researchers have confirmed that “co-sleeping” brings many values for parents and children regarding reducing the risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), enabling breastfeeding, improving sleep quality and enhancing babies and mommies emotional and physical health. Whereas, “bed-sharing” can create potential problems that harm both the newborns and their parents.

Therefore, do co-sleep with you babies but do not share the same bed.

#2 Do create a protective environment

There are two reasons behind this suggestion. Firstly, the newborns are used to with the environment of the internal temperature which is warm and comfortable. Therefore, they will not soundly sleep if you cannot provide them with their familiar surroundings.

Secondly, babies are very sensitive when they are sleeping. That is one of the reason lead to the typical baby sleeping problem, called sleep regression. If the children feel insecure and unprotected, they are more likely to experience that kind of sleeping issues. So, do offer your babies with a safe environment to enhance their sleep’s quality.

#3 Do use a co-sleepers and a baby sleeping bag

Another important thing is to provide children with a favorable temperature since it is essential for their sleep’s quality. Infants need a warm place. However, thick blankets are cumbersome, and it is not comfortable for the children to deeply fall asleep. Therefore, many suggest that to use a sleep sack that not only brings your babies with the right temperature but also a comfortable sleep.

#4 Play peaceful music and read book before bed-time

Scientists have indicated that playing good music and reading books for babies before they fall asleep can make them sleep sounder. On the other hand, certain kind of music such as Mozart can enhance the newborns’ intelligence.

#5 Mommy should be close to the baby

I am pretty sure that most of the mothers have seen their kids not sleeping on the back. Notably, if that situation prolongs, it can harm the babies’ health. Therefore, the proximity of the mothers will ensure that their newborns are sleeping in the right posture with the right temperature. That will reduce the chance of SIDS.

For that reason, I recommend you to have a co-sleeper. It will for sure benefits you and your lovely newborn.

Don’t

#1 Don’t practice bed-sharing with your baby

As I mentioned above, distinguishing between bed-sharing and co-sleeping is very important. Medical authorities recommend parents to co-sleep with their newborns but not share the bed with them. These are many issues might happen, involving in increasing the risk of SIDS, decreasing the infants’ health.

#2 Don’t smoke when your baby is sleeping nearby

I know many parents have the smoking habits. However, it seriously harms your children’s health if you smoke around them. The reason is maternal smoking can both, directly and indirectly, has negative impacts on the newborns by the harmful carbon monoxide.

#3 Don’t consume alcohol or drugs when co-sleep with your baby

Similar to the smoking issue, use too much alcohol or abuse drugs will negatively affect the maternal health and as well as the infants’. If the parents do not have a stable metal situation, which will be more likely to cause unwanted influences to your babies. Consequently, the risk of SIDS is likely to be higher.

#4 Don’t allow other children or person to co-sleep with your baby

This is another important issue. To avoid any possible adverse circumstance, I recommend you not to let anybody but you your partner to co-sleep with your children. That is not to mention the newborns are very sensitive to their maternal smell and certain patterns. So, when staying with a stranger, they might not have a good sleep.

#5 Don’t overdress up your baby

Experts suggest sustaining the room in slightly cold temperature that is around 65 to 68 degree. That is the favorable environment, ensuring the infants not to suffer from SIDS concerning the temperature issues. As a result, do not overdress your children while they are sleeping. I recommend a suitable sleeping sack should be enough.

That was pretty much all of the most important issues that I think you should seriously take into account when considering practicing co-sleep with your newborns. I hope you can get some useful information after reading my post.

Please let me know your opinions in the comments below!

Author bio:

Emma is the founder of ShrewdMommy, where she and associates blog about pregnancy advice, parenting insights, tips for mommy. Those experiences will somehow help you in your search for questions about pregnancy and baby tips. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook!