
You’ve grown a tiny human inside of you for nine months and went through hours of active labor to meet your baby.
But the hard part isn’t over. You still have many years of obstacles and hard decisions ahead of you.
One of them is figuring out where your baby will sleep. Many expecting parents figure this out before the baby even comes home, but many aspects of parenting are easier said than done.
Determining the baby’s sleeping arrangement brings up many questions: Will baby sleep in a crib or bassinet?
Will she sleep in a nursery or your bedroom? Perhaps she will even share your bed?
One common question about baby sleeping in her parents’ bed is whether the benefits of co-sleeping outweigh the risks.
Sleeping in the same bed as your baby can be both comforting and nerve-wracking.
Safety comes first, so here’s what you need to know to reap the benefits of co-sleeping in the safest way possible.
What is Co-Sleeping?



Co-sleeping describes several sleeping arrangements where parents and children sleep in close proximity to each other.
This can mean sharing the same room or even the same bed.
Human babies require a lot of attention, and they often depend on sensory experiences for their development.
When babies sleep in separate rooms, they can develop anxiety from not being able to hear, see, smell, or touch their parents. Sleeping together eliminates those barriers.
Co-sleeping is one way to remain close to your baby, monitor her, and make her feel protected throughout the night.
Co-Sleeping Arrangements
When you hear the word “co-sleeping,” you may automatically assume this means baby is wedged between you and your partner.
This isn’t the case. One of the other types of co-sleeping arrangements may work better for you and your baby.
Bed-sharing
Baby and parents share the same bed. This allows baby easy access to breastfeeding sessions without much sleep disturbance.
Bed-sharing is not recommended for premature or low-weight babies, though it can be very beneficial for healthy-weight babies.
Sidecar arrangement
A crib, bassinet, or co-sleeping product is attached to or placed within arm’s reach of the parents’ bed, usually next to the mother.
This arrangement may be preferable for parents who are deep sleepers or babies who are too small to share a bed with.
Room-sharing
Baby has her own bed or crib in the same room as parents within walking distance.
This can be a cost-effective way to co-sleep with your baby.
Open door policy
Older children can co-sleep with parents as needed.
It’s important to note that older siblings shouldn’t co-sleep with small babies as they may not be able to practice proper safety.
Which co-sleeping arrangement is best for you? This can depend on the age of your baby, your personal preferences, and co-sleeping safety guidelines.
10 Benefits of Co-Sleeping
Though co-sleeping remains controversial, the benefits can’t be ignored.
Co-sleeping makes nighttime breastfeeding easier



If you plan on breastfeeding your baby, co-sleeping may appeal to you for obvious reasons.
Sharing the same room or bed as your baby gives her the easiest access to breastfeeding sessions while causing the least amount of disturbance to your sleep.
Studies have even shown that co-sleeping babies get nearly twice the amount of breast milk as babies who sleep in separate rooms.
Some researchers suggest that co-sleeping babies get three times the amount of feedings.
James McKenna, PhD. is an expert and researcher on the benefits of co-sleeping. His 2011 study confirmed that the frequency of feedings is much higher for co-sleeping babies, while babies who sleep in separate rooms receive significantly fewer feedings.
Babies don’t wait until morning for breakfast like children and adults do. It’s to be expected that nursing mothers will have to wake up in the middle of the night to feed her baby.
When a baby has a separate room like a nursery, the mother must wake up fully to breastfeed her crying baby or one parent will bottle feed the baby.
Co-sleeping eliminates some of this hassle. It also decreases the time in-between feedings, which is important because new babies must eat every 2-3 hours.
One of the greatest benefits of co-sleeping for nursing mothers is that nighttime feedings are much easier.
Tired parents get more sleep
When you announce that you’re going to be a new parent, people often make jokes about how much you’re going to miss sleeping through the night.
They’re not wrong, though.
A 2019 study on parental sleep found that parents not only get less sleep, but their sleep is less satisfying overall.
The fact that new parents aren’t sleeping well is no surprise—waking up to a crying baby every couple of hours is part of the job description.
What is surprising, however, is that the study found that parents continue to have lower-quality sleep for up to six years after the baby is born.
One of the benefits of co-sleeping is better sleep for parents, both in quality and quantity. Now, co-sleeping doesn’t mean baby won’t wake you up.
It just means you’re closer to your baby in need and can tend to her needs easier and quicker.
Babies sleep better



Babies need a lot of sleep. In fact, infants need up to 17 hours of sleep per day. A tired baby means a fussy baby, so it’s important to make sure both you and baby are getting proper sleep.
One way to achieve this is by co-sleeping. Research on infant sleep experience suggests that co-sleeping babies spend more time in the same stages of sleep and wakefulness as their mothers.
It’s not just your baby waking you up. Parents also wake babies up throughout the night.
Co-sleeping encourages both parents and babies to fall into a routine, so both parties are awake and sleeping at the same time.
When baby sleeps better, so do you. It’s a win-win.
Room-sharing babies are at lower risk of SIDS
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is when babies less than a year old die unexpectedly.
Because SIDS usually happens during sleep, many people are concerned that co-sleeping may increase the risk of SIDS. However, it’s the opposite.
The latest American Academy of Pediatrics sleep recommendations includes room-sharing as a way to reduce the risk of SIDS.
According to the AAP, room-sharing decreases the risk of SIDS by up to 50%.
However, they advise against bed-sharing. A 2014 study found that bed-sharing increases the risk of SIDS, though it didn’t take other factors into account.
Does this mean you should write off bed-sharing altogether? Not exactly.
A 2009 study reinforces the factors that increase the risk of SIDS while co-sleeping:
- Use of alcohol or drugs
- Co-sleeping on a sofa or chair
- Swaddling babies before bedtime
- Mothers who smoked during pregnancy
- Preterm or poor health babies
- Babies sleeping on their side instead of back
- Objects such as pillows or bumpers surrounding babies
The bottom line on co-sleeping and SIDS
At the very least, babies should sleep in the same room as their parents. If parents decide to bed-share, they should practice the utmost safety and take the above risk factors into account.
While room-sharing decreases the risk of SIDS, unsafe bed-sharing increases the risk. More studies need to be done on the correlation between safe bed-sharing and SIDS.
Decreases nighttime separation anxiety
It’s not a coincidence that babies start crying as soon as their parents put them down for a nap or bedtime.
It’s actually separation anxiety.
Babies under 2 years old experience separation anxiety but can’t communicate how they feel, so their natural responses include:
- Crying when you leave the room
- Increased clinginess
- Resistance to naptime and bedtime
- Waking up more frequently during the night
- Resistance to strangers
This results in another difficult question all parents will face:
Do I let the baby cry or do I comfort the crying baby?
Co-sleeping can help alleviate separation anxiety before it’s even a problem. Having parents in the same room or near the same sleep surface is comforting and reassuring for babies.
Since babies internalize their environment, it’s easy to see why they feel less anxiety sleeping near parents compared to being alone in their own room.
More research is needed on the long-term effects of co-sleeping during infancy, but a 2002 study had promising results.
The long-term effects in 18-year-olds who co-slept as infants were not significant, but there was a positive association between bed-sharing and cognitive competence in 6-year-olds.
Increases intimacy between parents and babies



One of the many benefits of co-sleeping is that it allows the family to bond even further.
Many working parents love that co-sleeping allows them to spend extra time with their baby in the early hours of the morning and late hours of the night.
Parents and babies have a strong bond as it is, but co-sleeping strengthens that bond.
It allows parents to cherish moments they otherwise wouldn’t have with their baby if she slept in her own room.
Some co-sleeping mothers report feeling more fulfilled as mothers having their babies so close to them in the night. It also gives parents peace of mind knowing their baby is within arm’s reach.
Co-sleeping is a method used in attachment parenting, which encourages both physical and emotional closeness between parents and babies.
In this parenting style, it’s believed that co-sleeping nurtures baby in her infancy, encouraging secure relationships later in life.
Babies feel safe and secure
Life from a baby’s perspective is much different from our own.
We can understand our surroundings, social situations, and emotions. Even better—we can communicate how we’re feeling.
The world can be a scary and confusing place for a baby. The one place where she feels safest? With her parents.
Much like the correlation between separate sleep and separation anxiety, there’s a positive correlation between co-sleeping and security.
This can be explained by the sensory experiences of babies sleeping with their mothers—touch, smells, sounds, and even parents’ body heat—which are all comforting to the baby.
Reduces the risk of crib-related infant fatalities



A lot of time and effort goes into selecting safe products for your baby: car seat, high chair, crib, etc.
It’s heartbreaking to find out later on that some of these products aren’t actually safe, especially when tragedies could have been avoided.
A 2017 study found that cribs are a leading cause of infant deaths in nursery-related products.
When babies sleep in separate rooms, cribs are the second most common source of injury and the primary source of fatalities.
The study calls for safe sleeping procedures for infants. Parents are advised against placing hazardous materials—such as pillows, blankets, bumpers, and toys—in the crib alongside their baby.
These objects can lead to suffocation, strangulation, and entrapment.
One of the benefits of co-sleeping is that it puts babies at lower risk of crib-related injuries and fatalities.
Bed-sharing families don’t run the risk of crib-related accidents because babies sleep alongside their parents.
Should an accident occur, co-sleeping families are more likely to become aware due to the close proximity to their babies.
Co-sleeping doesn't eliminate the risk entirely, however. Parents using the sidecar or room-sharing arrangements should still adhere to the safe sleeping guidelines outlined above.
Co-sleeping allows fathers to bond with their babies



The mother-child bond is like no other. Mothers carry the baby, deliver the baby, and breastfeed the baby.
This isn’t to say that fathers don’t play an important role, but the bond is different.
Co-sleeping encourages fathers to play the role of caretaker during the night.
Newborns are continuously building a relationship with their parents. Co-sleeping is one way to positively reinforce those relationships while including the father.
It’s not unusual for mothers to be the primary caretaker of the baby. When fathers are away for long periods of time or spend less time with their babies, nighttime becomes the only time for bonding.
Sleeping separately may take away bonding opportunities, while co-sleeping fosters bonding opportunities.
Co-sleeping is beneficial for babies’ development
There are physical and psychological benefits of co-sleeping for babies.
James McKenna, PhD. points out that co-sleeping is biologically normal and that separate sleeping is a recent Western behavior.
Some of the benefits of co-sleeping for babies include:
- Co-sleeping babies release less of the stress hormone, cortisol. Since chronic exposure to cortisol can affect immunity, co-sleeping babies may have better immune functioning.
- Co-sleeping babies receive significantly more breast milk, which is associated with lower risk of SIDS and a boosted immune system. Research has proven the many health benefits of breastfeeding.
- Several of Dr. McKenna’s studies suggest that co-sleeping children grow up to be less anxious, better adjusted, and greater self-esteem.
Safety of Co-Sleeping and Bed-Sharing
Safe is the number one concern when it comes to co-sleeping. Without safety, the benefits of co-sleeping are irrelevant.
Many of the safety guidelines for co-sleeping overlap with those of separate sleeping. Many of the guidelines relate to the sleep surface:
- Infants should always sleep on their backs, not on their stomachs or sides.
- The sleep surface should be firm and clean. All sheets must be pulled taut.
- Babies’ heads should never be covered.
- There should be no gaps between the mattress and bed frame.
- Couches, sofas, and chairs are not safe sleep surfaces. Co-sleeping should be done in a bed.
- Parents should not smoke, drink alcohol, or take drugs before co-sleeping.
- Infants should not co-sleep with older siblings.
- Long hair should be tied up.
Top 3 Best Co-Sleepers for Better Sleep
ComfyBumpy Bedside Crib
For parents who want to sleep next to their babies without the worry of rolling on top of them, this is the perfect compromise.
This bedside crib is adjustable to the height of your bed. The fourth wall also comes down so you can see and touch your baby from your bed.
It also functions as a standalone crib.
Should You Practice Co-Sleeping?



There’s very rarely an easy answer when it comes to parenting questions. In the case of co-sleeping, the decision is ultimately yours.
Many professionals continue to recommend room-sharing for babies until they are at least 6 months old.
This is a safe and rewarding way to experience the benefits of co-sleeping without committing to bed-sharing.
While bed-sharing remains controversial, there is research that shows both the benefits of co-sleeping and the risks.
If you plan on bed-sharing, always implement all safety guidelines to reduce the risk of SIDS.
What is your take on the benefits of co-sleeping? We’d love to hear your experience practicing safe sleeping arrangements.
My grandson has been a bed sharing baby from day one. He has never liked being by himself. He is now old enough he follows us everywhere. He is a very Happy baby! It’s quite funny at nap time or bed time he has to have his little arms wrapped around one of ours. He will go to sleep that way. All close and cuddley. I love my boy and love having him next to me. If he wakes up through the night now all you have to do is touch him and say it’s ok I’m right here and back to sleep he goes. The thought of having to go to a different room, calm him down, get him back to sleep then getting myself back to sleep is overwhelming. That would take at 30-45 mins. With him right beside me it’s not even a full wake up. I love it. And so does he.
Hi Mamaw,
Your sweet comment warms my heart! Bed-sharing can definitely be beneficial for both kiddos and parents (grandparents, too!). Thank you for sharing your positive experience with co-sleeping. As long as baby is safe, co-sleeping is encouraged by many professionals.
xo,
Lacey