0:40 - Con: the safety of your child
1:30 - Con: the amount of sleep that you are actually going to get
2:01 - Con: for the benefit of our significant other
2:30 - Pro: it is a bonding experience
2:56 - Pro: it easier to to feed the baby if the baby is co-sleeping with you
3:04 - Pro: you do have a better eye on your child
3:15 - Make sure that you really really weigh your options
3:39 - That decision does not of course have to be permanent
Hi everyone, my name is Harper Jones with Bow-Tiger and you're watching Saturdays with Harper. Now we've changed locations for today because my family is moving. In addition to that I thought that this topic may be better suitable to be talked about in the parent's bedroom which is where we're at now, in my bedroom. What I wanted to talk to you guys about today was the pros and cons of co-sleeping. There are several if not more than several pros and cons on this subject. So I just wanted to discuss some of the most popular ones and you guys of course can make your decision for yourself.
Let's start with the cons of co-sleeping. Now the first most significant con of co-sleeping is the safety of your child. It has been shown through a lot of testing and a lot of research that co-sleeping can be very dangerous for the child due to suffocation issues. The best way...the safest way for your baby to sleep is in a crib that is obviously guarded on four sides, that also does not have a lot of blankets, pillows, stuffed animals or anything else in it due to the fact that babies can suffocate very very easily if they have a lot around them. If they get a blanket over the top of their face and they are not able to get it off, this can cause suffocation. So, that's one of the cons of co-sleeping that we really really want to consider when we are considering whether or not we are going to do this.
Another reason you want to consider not co-sleeping would be the amount of sleep that you are actually going to get even though you will only have a couple of hours before your baby wakes up each night at the very beginning. You're going to get more peaceful less restless sleep if you're separated, if you're not co-sleeping with your child, if you don't have the anxiety of your child being directly next to you or beside you. So please consider that as well.
Another reason we want to consider not co-sleeping is for the benefit of our significant other. If we have the mother who wants to co-sleep but the father who does not want to co-sleep because he feels that it may affect the relationship between mother and father, please take that into consideration. Consider your significant other. Make sure that you allow them to be important and part of the decision of co-sleeping as well. Okay, so that would be the negative aspects. What are the positives? What are the pros to co-sleeping?
One, it is a bonding experience. Again we talked about bonding experiences last week with breastfeeding. This again develops a very close relationship with your child. So, that may be a pro for co-sleeping. In addition to that, when your baby is waking up every couple of hours maybe you don't want to have to go into the other room or go across the room. Maybe it's easier...you find it easier to breastfeed or to feed the baby at first if the baby is co-sleeping with you. You do have a better eye on your child of course and a lot of new parents are very very weary about letting their children out of their sight. So this would be another benefit to co-sleeping. But make sure that you really really weigh your options, the negatives against the pros to see what really works not just for you but for the safety of your child and best for your child as well.
If you yourself are a restless sleeper, that's also going to cause your child not to get as much sleep. So please make sure to kind of go back and forth, weigh the options before you make a decision. That decision does not of course have to be permanent. If you initially start co-sleeping and you decide you don't want to do that, your baby will be just fine if you decide to start putting he or she in the crib. The same vice versa. If you decide that you do not wanna try co-sleeping initially and you change your mind, you can switch it as well. But make sure that you take the safety precautions into consideration and make sure that you understand that you are possibly putting your baby at a higher risk with co-sleeping. This is of course an opinion. It is based on research but it is still an opinion. So it is up to you guys.
Now I hope to see you guys next week. Of course if you are watching this video on Facebook or YouTube, please be sure to check out our blog on bow-tiger.com and we'll see you next week. Thanks.
Thank you so much for sharing. Sleep training is so so hard sometimes and deciding if co-sleeping is best for your situation. I had a separate nursery and still ended up with her in the bed. These are great factors to consider.