Co-sleeping: Are You For It or Against It?

So my title is misleading. What if I told you…. you don’t have to be for or against co-sleeping.

You read that right. YOU get to choose where your baby sleeps. Maybe you’re totally fine with your baby sleeping in their bassinet or crib. Maybe your baby actually loves having their own space. Or maybe your baby despises the bassinet/crib. Let me tell you…. my son HATED his bassinet. And as far as his crib, we’ve only used that a handful of times.

Co-sleeping is biologically natural. Now I know this is a controversial topic and many people will disagree with me but that’s ok. So let give me you a little back story. The very first night in the hospital, my son slept next to me in the bassinet. He did great! I thought, wow this is pretty easy. The 2nd & 3rd night didn’t go quite like the first. Which honestly I expected that. I mean he was just born a few days ago.

So let’s fast forward to going home. I had a bassinet set up right next to my bed. I did breastfeed (and I still do- check out this post). He would wake up very frequently through the night to nurse. He was on the smaller side so I was actually told to wake him up and nurse him but I never even had to wake him up. I would nurse him until he was done and then I’d lay him down in his bassinet. No sooner than my head hit my pillow, he was back up. I’m thinking this can’t be right, I just nursed him.

This would go on all night, multiple times a night. I’d lay him down in his bassinet and bam 5-10 minutes later he’s back up. Well one night I was so tired I feel asleep holding him. I woke up hours later and freaked out that I actually did that. But guess what? It had been HOURS.

My son slept for hours straight laying on me.

If you’ve ever researched infant sleep then you know basically every article ever created says co-sleeping is a no no. I was TERRIFIED to co-sleep with my son. So you could imagine the panic I was in when I woke up and realized I fell asleep with him.

This wasn’t the last time I’d accidentally fall asleep with him in bed. And the same thing happened. He would sleep for hours straight. So this made me start to think, maybe he doesn’t like his bassinet because it’s cold and hard. Maybe he’s more comfy sleeping with me and feels safe. I mean think about it… our babies our so warm and cuddled in our bellies. Then we give birth and they’re expected to sleep in a hard, cold area? It doesn’t make much sense to me.

I decided to co-sleep.

I found the “The Safe Sleep Seven”. This is honestly life saving. All the articles that are against co-sleeping basically make you feel like you’re the worst mother ever if you decide to co-sleep with your child or accidentally fall asleep with them. Doctors do not provide any information on co-sleeping and highly suggest you NOT do it.

The problem with doctors and providers being against co-sleeping is they don’t give you the information you need if you accidentally fall asleep with your child. It’s totally fine if you don’t want to co-sleep. But chances are, you’re probably going to fall asleep with your child at least once. Wouldn’t you want the right information on how to make the area safe rather then just being told under no circumstances can you sleep with your child?

“Safe Sleep Seven” provides you with all the information you need to know about co-sleeping safely.

It can be done and you shouldn’t feel bad about doing something that is biologically natural. Ever since my son and I have co-slept, life has been so much easier. I truly enjoy co-sleeping. I get to cuddle my baby. What’s better then that? Don’t get me wrong. Some nights suck because my body is stiff from laying in the same spot all night.

I know there have been unfortunate situations regarding co-sleeping and I’m not dismissing this fact. However, I want to give momma’s the correct information on how to SAFELY co-sleep.