Gina Johnson
Co-sleeping with your baby can be a rewarding experience for parents, offering increased bonding and comfort for the infant. However, it is important to understand the risks and take precautions to ensure your baby's safety. While co-sleeping can provide benefits such as easier breastfeeding and reduced separation anxiety, it is crucial to create a safe sleep environment. This includes ensuring your baby sleeps on their back, using a firm and flat mattress, and avoiding co-sleeping if you smoke, consume alcohol, or take certain medications. By following safety guidelines and staying informed, you can make co-sleeping a positive and secure experience for both you and your 8-month-old child.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Baby's sleeping position | On their back |
| Baby's sleeping space | Away from the edge of the bed, next to one parent |
| Baby's bedding | No pillows, adult bedding, toys, or blankets |
| Mattress | Firm, flat, and level |
| Sleeping space | Big enough with a clear space around the baby |
| Sleeping space location | Not between parents, next to other children or pets |
| Sleeping environment | Smoke-free, not too hot |
| Parent's habits | No alcohol, drugs, or smoking |
| Parent's health | Not extremely tired or unwell |
| Baby's health | Not premature or small for their gestational age, not unwell |
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What You'll Learn
Avoid sofas, chairs, and smoking
Sofas, recliners, and armchairs are risky places to sleep with a baby. The risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is 50 times higher for babies when they sleep on a sofa or armchair with an adult. They are also at risk of accidental death as they can easily slip into a position where they are trapped and can't breathe.
If you think you might fall asleep on a sofa or armchair, put the baby down in a safer place to sleep, such as a cot or Moses basket. Couches and chairs are always unsafe because they can obstruct the baby's airways and lead to suffocation.
Babies should sleep in the same room as their parents for at least the first six months. However, co-sleeping on an adult bed is not recommended. Adult beds have not been designed or safety-tested for infant sleep in the same way as a cot or Moses basket.
If you choose to co-sleep, it is important to make your bed as safe as possible. Keep pillows, adult bedding, and other items that could cover the baby's head away from them. Make sure there is nowhere the baby could get trapped, such as between the mattress and the wall.
Additionally, it is recommended to avoid co-sleeping if anyone in the bed smokes or has smoked during the pregnancy. Exposure to second-hand and third-hand smoke harms babies, and adult smoking increases the risk of Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy (SUDI).
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Breastfeeding and bedsharing
Breastfeeding mothers comprise the largest group of bed sharers. Sleep contact between mother and infant facilitates nighttime breastfeeding, with multiple studies demonstrating that bedsharing is associated with more frequent nighttime feeds, promoting milk production and more months of breastfeeding. Mothers who sleep away from their babies rouse less often but are awake for longer and get less sleep overall. In contrast, bedsharing mothers wake frequently to feed but are awake for shorter periods and fall back to sleep more rapidly, achieving greater sleep duration.
However, it is important to consider the risks before bedsharing. If you are unwell or have consumed alcohol, your baby will be safest in a separate sleep space such as a cot or Moses basket. Babies should always be in the same room as you for every sleep, day and night, for at least the first six months. If you are breastfeeding most of the time but give occasional bottles of pumped milk, you will probably still sleep in a breastfeeding cuddle curl, and your baby will most likely stay at chest level. However, if either of you sees a bottle as the more important food source, your bedsharing risk may increase.
If you do choose to co-sleep, there are things you can do to make it safer. Keep pillows and adult bedding away from the baby, along with any other items that could cover their head or cause them to overheat. Make sure your mattress is firm enough that your baby doesn't roll into your back and get stuck. If your bed is close to a wall, you can move the bed further away or put yourself between the baby and the gap so your baby can't become wedged.
Exclusive formula-feeding increases the risk of SIDS; partial formula-feeding is a smaller risk. By about four months, any responsible adult can bedshare as safely as a responsible breastfeeding mother.
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Safe sleep environment
If you're co-sleeping with your eight-month-old, it's important to create a safe sleep environment. The safest place for a baby to sleep is in their own separate sleep space, such as a cot or Moses basket, free from toys, blankets, and pillows. This helps lower the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
However, if you do co-sleep, there are some things you can do to make it safer. Firstly, always place your baby on their back to sleep, never on their tummy or side. This helps to protect their airways. Keep your baby's head and face uncovered by keeping pillows and adult bedding away from them. Use a safe sleeping bag with no hood and make sure your baby's arms are out. Do not wrap or swaddle your baby when bed-sharing or co-sleeping.
Make sure the mattress is firm, flat, and level. Consider whether the sleep space is big enough. It needs to fit everyone who sleeps there, with a clear space around your baby. Move the mattress or bed away from the wall, so your baby can't get trapped between the bed or mattress and the wall. Consider putting the mattress on the floor if there's a chance your baby will roll off the bed.
Avoid co-sleeping if you or your partner smokes, uses alcohol or other drugs, or takes any medicine that causes heavy sleep or makes you less aware and able to respond to your baby. This includes prescription medication. Do not co-sleep if you are extremely tired or unwell, or if your baby was born prematurely or with a low birth weight.
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Reduce SIDS risk
The safest place for a baby to sleep is in their own separate sleep space, such as a cot or Moses basket, free from toys, blankets, and pillows. This helps lower the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). However, many parents find themselves co-sleeping, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
If you do choose to co-sleep, there are things you can do to make it safer and reduce the risk of SIDS:
- Ensure your baby sleeps on their back, not their front or side. This helps to protect their airways.
- Keep your baby's head and face uncovered by keeping pillows, blankets, and adult bedding away from them.
- Use a safe sleeping bag with no hood and with your baby's arms out. Do not wrap or swaddle your baby when bed-sharing or co-sleeping.
- Place your baby on the side of the bed, away from the edge, and next to only one parent. Avoid placing your baby between parents or next to other children or pets. This reduces the chance of people, pets, or bedding items covering your baby's head and face.
- Make sure the mattress is firm, flat, and level.
- Consider whether the sleep space is big enough. It needs to fit everyone who sleeps there, with room for a clear space around your baby. If the sleep space isn't big enough, consider alternatives.
- Move the mattress or bed away from the wall, so your baby doesn't get trapped between the bed or mattress and the wall. Consider putting the mattress on the floor if there's a chance your baby will roll off the bed.
- Avoid co-sleeping if you or your partner smokes, consumes alcohol or drugs, or takes any medicine that causes heavy sleep or makes you less aware and responsive to your baby.
- Avoid co-sleeping if your baby was born prematurely or with a low birth weight.
- Avoid co-sleeping on a sofa or armchair. The risk of SIDS is much higher in these locations.
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Benefits of co-sleeping
Co-sleeping with your 8-month-old can have several benefits, including:
Bonding and Attachment
Co-sleeping can promote a close bond between parent and baby, which can lead to a stronger attachment. The release of the love hormone oxytocin during co-sleeping plays a vital role in this process. As you spend the night within sensory range of each other, you can quickly respond to your baby's needs, helping them understand that you are always there for them. This sense of security leads to minimal distress when you leave and happiness when you return.
Breastfeeding
Co-sleeping makes it easier to breastfeed frequently during the night without having to get up. Nursing often helps babies learn to latch better, making them confident feeders. It also helps maintain a healthy milk supply for mothers, especially if they are working and away from their babies during the day. The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine supports bed-sharing when it comes to breastfeeding. A study published in JAMA Pediatrics also suggested that mothers who regularly bed-share with their infants are more likely to breastfeed for longer.
Sleep Patterns
By watching your sleep cycle, babies naturally fall into an appropriate daytime and nighttime pattern faster. When babies sleep closer to their parents, they are in lighter sleep cycles, which helps them rouse easily if something is wrong. This lighter sleep, or REM sleep, is also important for synaptogenesis, the rapid growth of connections between neurons in newborns.
Safety and Supervision
During the vulnerable age of two to three months when voluntary breathing comes online, the close supervision and presence of an adult may be especially important if the baby has a glitch in the development of their breathing mechanics. Co-sleeping can also help parents quickly attend to their baby's other needs during the night.
Independence
While some argue that co-sleeping can hinder a child's ability to become a confident, independent sleeper, others suggest that the quality of the parent-child relationship, not where it plays out, matters most to a child's development. In fact, the older a child gets, the less risky co-sleeping becomes, as they can more readily move, roll over, and free themselves from restraint.
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Frequently asked questions
The safest place for a baby to sleep is in their own separate sleep space, such as a cot or Moses basket, free from toys, blankets and pillows. However, co-sleeping is a common practice and can be made safer by following certain guidelines.
If you choose to co-sleep, it is important to keep your baby's head and face uncovered by keeping pillows and adult bedding away from them. Make sure the mattress is firm, flat, and level, and place your baby on their back to sleep, away from the edge of the bed and next to only one parent. Avoid co-sleeping if you or your partner smoke, consume alcohol or drugs, or if your baby was born prematurely or with a low birth weight.
Co-sleeping can help reduce nighttime separation anxiety, resulting in an easier bedtime and fewer wake-ups throughout the night. It also promotes mother-infant bonding and can help with breastfeeding, as it is much easier to dream feed throughout the night when your baby is right next to you. This promotes milk production and a positive breastfeeding relationship.
The main risk associated with co-sleeping is Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). The risk of SIDS is increased if the baby sleeps on their stomach or side, or if they are sleeping with an adult who smokes, consumes alcohol or drugs, or is excessively tired or unwell.
