Mothers have always had a special connection with their newborn babies. New studies show that the baby can benefit greatly from sleeping with the mother. It’s actually recommended that the baby sleeps with the mother until age three!
People are more commonly warned not to sleep with a newborn baby because of the risks it poses for accidental suffocation. While this is true, many people believe that the pros of doing this extremely outweigh the negatives. However, you should always be extremely careful when doing this. Be sure to have minimal blankets and pillows on the bed and be sure that the baby is secured on the bed and there is little chances of him/her falling off.
Sleeping with your newborn baby is referred to as co-sleeping, and is most commonly frowned upon. However, Dr. Nils Bergman of the University of Cape town in South Africa begs to differ. He says that newborns should be sleeping with their mothers until they are at least three years of age! He says that babies who sleep separated away from the mother experience more stress and do not sleep as well. Babies who do sleep with their mothers show to behave better when they grow up, according to the Daily Mail UK.
Benefits of Co-Sleeping Include:
- Baby sleeps more peacefully
- They experience stable physiology
- Decreased risk of SIDS
- Long term emotional health
- Safer than crib sleeping