Enter your search terms Submit search form

Co-Sleeping

The way it is for a good-night sleep

Co-sleeping, or bed-sharing, or the family bed, is to let our babies or young kids sleep with us...the parents, not necessary must it be in the same bed but the same room.

It's our tradition and culture for babies to sleep together with parents, either in the same bed or different beds in the same room.

I moved to my own room only when I was, mind you...12! It was not that we had limited space in my father's house. There were 4 bedrooms and yet only one was occupied...with 2 adults and 4 kids!

No-one really raised an eye-brow on this for almost all families had had this kind of bed-sharing practice. As kids, we felt secured with our parents around, and yes....we did feel warm!

Sweet dream, baby...good night...

We had prepared the baby's room before Adriel was born. There was a beautiful white baby cot, a changing table, clothes cabinet and a single-sized bed for anyone who just wanted to lie down with the baby.

Overall, the room was cozy and I couldn't wait for Adriel to sleep in the room.

The day arrived when we finally took the baby home and put him in his cot in the beautiful room.

And since I was breastfeeding, I decided to stay with the baby, me in the bed and baby in the cot, and proud (poor) papa slept alone in the master bed room.

The arrangement was good, it seemed, and went well for the first 2 months...but how long can it last?

A Better Solution

It seemed odd that after having baby dear hubby and I had to sleep in separate rooms. The question we asked ourselves was, "should the baby stay in his room while I move back to my room?" Well, the conclusion was made almost as soon as the question was raised: one room for all...papa, mama and baby!

And the arrangement of sleeping together continues even after Jeriel was born and up till today! All 4 in one king-sized bed...papa clinging on the far right, mama clinging far left, and across the bed big brother next to papa and young baby next to mama.

And so the family bed in our room can never be neatly done!

Why are we letting the kids to co-sleep with us?
There're various reasons why we let our kids share the bed with us...without consulting any sleep expert! The reasons are just very simple and plain...without even thinking twice why and how!

Advantages Of Co-Sleeping (Part 1),
(Part 2)
I'm pro-co-sleeping and support it fully. Sharing bed with my kids has surely made the night easier for both my kids and myself (including dear papa as well).

Disadvantages Of Co-Sleeping
What are the disadvantages of co-sleeping? Well, I would say it's "inconveniences" instead of "disadvantages". No doubt sleeping together will cause some inconveniences to the parents, usually they can be overcome quickly without causing much time and effort.

Weaning - Moving From The Family Bed
You can gradually wean your child from the family bed. There's no hard and fast rule on when and how you should wean him from sleeping with you. The process could be long and not as easy, but many children, as they get older, will eventually leave the parents' room for a more "kiddy" room of their own.

Sleep Smart...Sleep Safe
Whether or not we share sleep with our kids, it's necessary to make sure that the kids are always in good hands. As parents, we need to take necessary precautions to ensure that our kids are not harmed in anyway in their sleep.

At the moment, the bed-sharing arrangement is by far the best for us.

What I especially like it is that, in most mornings during weekends (as I can sleep late on weekends), Jeriel will wait for me to wake up, then, in his cutest look and sweetest voice, look at me and say "good morning, mommy".

At that very instance, it really doesn’t matter how hard he had jumped on the bed the previous night!!