Tag Archives: family bed

Coping with Midnight Bed Sneakers

I was asked a question by a working mom of three young school-age kids. She wanted to know how she could get her kids to stop “sneaking” into her bed at night. As she explained it, she is such a hard sleeper that when her kids come in, complaining of nightmares or other fears, she is not coherent enough to send them back to their own beds and often doesn’t even realize they are there until she wakes up in the morning. I could definitely relate as my son was one of those midnight sneakers—sometime in the dead of the … Continue reading →

Sharing Sleep with Your Baby

It might surprise you to know that putting your baby in a crib is a cultural idea. Families all over the world consider the best place for an infant to sleep, to be in the parents‘ bed. Co-sleeping with your infant does encourage breast feeding and it may buy you at least a few more hours of sleep. That can be a precious commodity in those early days. Many moms and dads report that they sleep more soundly with their babies in their bed through the night. Furthermore, sleep sharing is more common than you might think. An informal survey … Continue reading →

Co-sleeping Makes Me Happy

This is a really silly title for a pretty mushy blog entry. Recently I asked the question, on a local parenting loop I moderate: “What aspect of your parenting style has had the most positive effect on your family?” Although I asked the question, I didn’t immediately have an answer, myself. After much contemplation, I realized that my answer is co-sleeping, the practice of sharing a “family bed” during a child’s infancy to promote healthy attachment and to ease the stress of night waking and simplify breastfeeding. I’ve long been a supporter of co-sleeping although I’ve only recently expanded my … Continue reading →