Throughout most of the world, mom and baby bed down together at night. But not in Western cultures, where babies sleep in cribs, often in their own rooms. For the last 50 years, most child development specialists thought that sharing a bed with your infant could make him overly dependent, and unable to function as an individual later in life. But studies have shown that co-sleeping children turn out better-adjusted sexually and less likely to have psychiatric disorders. Further, if proper precautions are taken, sleeping in the same bed as your infant may decrease, not increase, the risk of SIDS. A pair of experts weigh in on the issue.
Should you allow your baby into your bed?
YES: It's probably as natural as giving birth and breastfeeding, and the only way our species would ever have survived; the rich sensory environment of a baby sleeping with its mother—her smell, her sound, her touch—provides a catalyst for brain development. It's possible for mothers to share the bed safely, if they have knowledge of bed-sharing safety issues. —James McKenna is a professor of psychiatry at Notre Dame and author of Sleeping with Your Baby.
