Co-sleeping or family bed: fathers and mothers sleeping with babies

The fact that some people sleep next to their baby leads them to enjoy several benefits.

Throughout the history of the human race, it has been common for members of the same family, parents and children, to sleep in the same bed. members of the same family, parents and children, have slept in the same bed.. Either for reasons of space, economic reasons or simply out of habit.

This practice known as co-sleeping has developed a great fame in the last few years and is strongly defended by those who advocate attachment-based parenting. However, there is also a great deal of controversy surrounding this practice. Below we describe what it consists of, its pros and cons.

What is co-sleeping or family bed?

The practice of co-sleeping or family bed refers to the custom in which babies or young children sleep with their parents. This practice, which is very standardized in most parts of the world, has become one more means to develop affective and attachment dynamics within the family. developing the dynamics of affection and attachment within the family..

Although in many occasions or contexts, co-sleeping is only done to ensure that the child sleeps warm and well during the night, it is only recently that followers of attachment parenting styles have endowed this practice with benefits for the physical and mental health, as well as for the happiness of both parents and children.

There are several ways of practicing co-sleeping at homeThere are several ways to practice co-sleeping at home, from spending the whole family's nights in the same bed, to using continuous beds or cribs, or using specially designed cribs to be attached to the parents' bed.

Whichever option is chosen, the decision to practice co-sleeping should be made in a consensual manner between the parents and carried out responsibly, ensuring the safety of the baby.

The best option is for those parents who decide to start practicing co-sleeping a specialist doctor or a midwife to advise them on how to carry it out in the best way. the best way to do it.

However, the following are a series of points to take into account when practicing co-sleeping.

Tips for practicing it

There are a series of guidelines, tips and precautions developed by different organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) that parents should take into account before starting co-sleeping. These guidelines are as follows.

The baby should be lying on its back Use a firm, flat mattress. The use of water mattresses, sofas or small beds is totally contraindicated. Parents should make sure that there is no possibility of the baby falling out of the bed.

• Do not cover the baby's head.
• The use of pillows, fur blankets or stuffed animals is not recommended.
• Avoid overheating or excess heat in the bed.
• If either parent is a smoker, it is not recommended that they sleep in the same bed. As well as Smoking in the same room as the baby.
• Do not share a bed if any kind of sleeping pills, drugs or alcoholic beverages have been consumed.drugs or alcoholic beverages.
• If either parent suffers from any type of illness that decreases the level of response.
• Do not share a bed if either parent has a cold, flu, fever or infectious disease.
• Pets are discouraged from climbing or sleeping in the same bed as the baby. in which the baby sleeps.

In what situations is it useful?

Regardless of the advantages of co-sleeping, which we will describe below, there are a couple of situations in which co-sleeping is especially useful and parents may want to consider if they want to do it occasionally.

One of the situations in which "co-sleeping", or having the baby or child sleep next to the parents, is when the baby or child is especially nervous or restless. when the baby or child is particularly nervous or restless for whatever reason and it is practically impossible for them to sleep alone.

Also, if the parents are tired or exhausted and need to carry out the baby's nighttime care, with the minimum possible effort, as may be the case of breastfeeding, co-sleeping is an interesting practice to try.

What are the advantages of co-sleeping?

Several studies have been carried out on the practice of co-sleeping, which have reached a large number of conclusions and have established a series of advantages that this practice has in relation to the baby's health and well-being.

One of the most important psychological advantages that this practice or habit has is that it increases the baby's sense of protection and strengthens and reinforces the affective bond established between parents and child.

The list of advantages of co-sleeping includes the following:

• Co-sleeping helps establish and maintain breastfeeding and also facilitates night feedings.
• It increases REM sleep episodes, which reduces the occurrence of sleep apneas, extremely dangerous for the child.
• Decreases the risk of hypoglycemia.
• Decreases the frequency and duration of the baby's crying..
• It makes it easier for the baby to fall asleep earlier and reduces nighttime awakenings.
• Co-sleeping can synchronize sleep cycles between mother and baby..
• It considerably decreases Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Although this is still under investigation, there are indications that as sleep apnea decreases, the risk of SIDS also decreases..
• Finally, theories supporting the practice of co-sleeping claim that it favors optimal neural development of the baby, as well as the development of responsiveness, self-esteem and personal autonomy.

Controversies surrounding this way of sleeping

As is the case with practically all trends or theories on parenting or childcare, there are a number of controversies and criticisms about co-sleeping.

The detractors of this practice are based on a series of disadvantages or dangers that they relate to in the fact that fathers or mothers and children share a bed. These disadvantages are:

• Risk of suffocation for the baby.
• Not to be performed in premature babies or babies weighing less than 2.5 kg.
• The parents' state of alertness that may appear when sleeping with the baby may lead to a worse sleep or lack of rest.
• Lack of intimacy could be detrimental to the couple's relationship.
• Some studies indicate that practicing co-sleeping after the baby turns one year old may create dependency in the baby and develop a less mature personality.
• Contrary to studies that claim that co-sleeping reduces the risk of sudden infant death, there are a number of medical authorities who insist that co-sleeping may actually increase the risk of sudden infant death. However, if we take as an example countries such as Japan, which has the lowest rate of SIDS, co-sleeping is recommended.