Having a happy relationship with your newborn is essential for a strong relationship as a couple.
How you choose to raise your newborn child depends on personal preferences. From breastfeeding to bottle feeding, you have plenty of options to make as a new parent!
Are you aware of the several pros and cons to sleeping in bed with children?
Some people believe that co-sleeping develops a close bond between parent and child. Others believe that co-sleeping is an unsafe practice because it can lead to infant death.
It’s a personal decision whether or not to sleep next to your child from a young age. These are a few pros and cons to co-sleeping with your little ones.
1. Sleeping in Bed with Your Kids Can Negatively Affect Your Sex Life
One of the most damaging effects of co-sleeping involves the sex life between a married couple. Having a baby in the room will often lead to less sex.
It’s important to maintain a healthy relationship when a baby comes into the family picture. Maintaining this healthy relationship also includes having an active sex life. If you start to sleep with your children in bed with you, your sex life will dwindle.
The amount of intimate time you spend with your significant other must be discussed as a couple.
If you find that having your baby in the room with you limits the amount of sex the two of you are capable of having then it might be an important topic to bring up before it becomes a large issue.
2. Your Baby is at Risk for Developing SIDS
Another strong reason for sleeping in bed with your young children is SIDS. SIDS stands for Sudden Infant Death Syndrom. This is something you must be aware of before you start sleeping in the same bed as your newborn.
SIDS can occur if safety precautions are not set in place before you jump into bed with your tiny little one. Co-sleeping and SIDS are linked.
In fact, studies show that nearly 74% of child deaths are from bed sharing. This is a serious fact that you must think about and discuss further with your partner as you consider the pros and cons of co-sleeping.
Unfortunately, babies can face unexpected death if not placed in the right spots while sleeping with their parents. Additional pillows and blankets on the bed can often cause this problem to take place. Suffocation and entrapment can occur with newborns as young as a few months which ultimately lead to SIDS.
3. Sleeping Next to Your Child Can Create a Strong Bond
On the other side, co-sleeping can also create a strong bond between you and your young child. Sleeping next to one another is a great way to grow closer together as your child gets older.
Some people believe that sharing a bed with children can lead to a secure attachment style. Of course, all parents desire a secure attachment with their young ones.
Did you know that attachment style can affect your child’s future relationships with friends and lovers in their lives as they grow older? Attachment style develops in early childhood and will carry on with a child through all future stages of life, too.
4. Co-sleeping Helps the Mother Recover Faster After Childbirth
Another pro-reason to co-sleep with your little one includes how much it can help a mother feel better after childbirth.
Millions of women, no matter what their age is at the time of childbirth, face postnatal depression. Some of the symptoms include sadness, loss of interest in the world, trouble sleeping, and withdrawing from contact with others.
In fact, nearly 1 out of 10 women face this type of depression. Postnatal depression can affect women for a few days and even for years down the road.
It’s important to consider co-sleeping as a way for the mother to recover faster from the childrearing process. Your baby will feel comforted knowing you are close by.
If the mother is nursing, co-sleeping can be an excellent way to achieve successful feedings, too. Breastfeeding a child can become a complicated process if the child sleeps in another room far away from his mother.
Nighttime breastfeeding can also be easier when the baby sleeps in the parents’ bedroom, too. It’s true that breastfeeding can be a difficult task for women dealing with the symptoms of postnatal depression.
Bed sharing can give the new mom confidence if she is able to get her baby to latch on in no time from the comfort of her own bed.
5. Your Baby Cries Less When Co-sleeping
Yet another reason why people choose to co-sleep with their newborns is to limit the amount of crying heard from their baby.
Babies can feel the presence of their loving mother and father in the room with them which can instantly make them feel calm.
Keeping your baby healthy and relaxed can be no easy feat in the first few weeks, which is why a lot of new parents choose to co-sleep with their little ones to ensure their well-being.
Even if your baby wakes up from a nap, hearing your soothing voice can help him or her fall back asleep if you are near. Babies will get more nighttime sleep if you sleep next to them.
This can also mean more sleep for the parents! Getting rest can feel like an unattainable goal as a new mom and dad. However, sleeping next to your child can often give you the chance to fall asleep when your baby feels less anxious.
Want More Relationship Advice as a Married Couple with Children?
As a married couple with children, you must take into consideration these pros and cons to sleeping in bed with your little ones next to you.
Hopefully, now you see that your sex life may be affected by your decision to keep your kids close in bed. However, your relationship and bond with your child can also grow close if you choose to co-sleep. It’s up to you two as parents to make the final decision on co-sleeping or not.
Be sure to read our latest blog posts where we cover everything from how to keep your relationship alive to tips on surviving a long distance relationship.
