Dr. Robert Needlman
Specialist in pediatric behavior and development.
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 Ask Dr. Needlman
The Family Bed | | | QUESTION | | | | What are the pros and cons regarding the family bed? — Debra-Lynn in Kent, Ohio | | | ANSWER |
June 10, 2000 | | | Some of the pros and cons of the family bed are discussed in our article on Co-sleeping. While many have strong feelings about the matter, my sense of it is that it really is a decision for the parents to make. Here are a few of the pros and cons:
Pro: Young children seem to like sleeping with their parents if they get a chance. Even premature infants in their incubators have been observed to gradually move next to a warm, soft, rhythmically moving object, as though following a natural urge to sleep next to another body. For breast-feeding mothers, having the infant in bed makes middle-of-the-night feeding much easier.
The practice of children sleeping apart from other children and from their parents is quite new, from the standpoint of human history. In many parts of the world, co-sleeping is still very much the norm. It is possible that co-sleeping promotes family togetherness, but there are certainly other ways to do that, too.
Con: Having a child in bed means that parents have to find a different time and place to have sex. So the family bed is inconvenient. If a child moves about a lot during sleep, it can also be uncomfortable for parents, who find little arms or legs poking them in the night.
Finally, once started, co-sleeping may be hard to stop, at least for several years. So the decision is one that needs to be made with the long term implications in mind.
There is some concern about "overlaying"--- parents rolling over on their infants and suffocating them. This is clearly a danger if parents drink alcohol, or take drugs or medications that make them sleep extra soundly, or I suppose if parents are exceptionally sound sleepers. Otherwise, I think the risk is very low. Of course, parents should take the usual precautions to minimize the risk of SIDS: place your child to sleep on his back, and avoid heavy blankets or bedding which could interfere with breathing.
Balancing these pros and cons, it seems to me that neither way is clearly superior, so each family has to decide for itself.
— by Robert Needlman, M.D., F.A.A.P. |
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