Beware of the risks involved in sharing a bed with your baby
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Loading... - Abel Okello
- 15 Jun 2022
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Peter is a close friend from our university days. With him, no topic is off limits for discussion. He visited me recently and after him greeting my two-year old daughter, I somehow remarked that we (my wife and I) share a bed with her. “What?” He almost jumped out of his skin.
“Yes, we have bed-shared with all our three children,” I said as if to intentionally make it sound worse. “Why? He asked.
“But why not?” I said, trying to calm him down. “For Sarah and I, we do not share a bed but room with a child and as soon as the child makes three months, they are off to their room.
“That is selfish,” my wife, who was in ear-shot distance trying to fix us lunch, bluntly put it to him. “We bed-share until the child is three years.” She added, with an air of rightness.
In an attempt to cool the emotions the subject had stirred, he explained to us that Sarah was born and raised in Europe, where infants sleep in their own bed. In Uganda, however, that would be considered selfish, uncaring and even negligent. Here, infants share beds with their parents or grandparents, or whoever breastfeeds them.A close study of bed-sharing or sharing another sleeping surface, has pros and cons.
Let us begin with the pros: Comfort ,safety & longer sleep
The body-to-body contact between mother and child is good for stabilising a baby’s body temperature and regulate breathing because it is still immature and lowering their stress levels.
Research suggests that mothers and children who bed-share, sleep longer and faster because they are in close proximity with each other. The mother releases oxytocin- a hormone that plays a role in social bonding, reproduction, and the period after childbirth, and the baby’s needs are met conveniently when they arise, giving both mother and child quality time to sleep.
Eases breastfeeding
Co-sleeping helps a mother protect and attend quickly to the child who wants to feed, or is uneasy, unwell, or awake; Rashida Namiiro, a mother of three who has co-slept with all her children says, “I sleep with my babies to feel, feed and monitor them at any time of the night. It is just a matter of turning to the baby. It is easy and convenient.”
Bonding
Some Parents feel that close body contact gives them feelings of attachment to their little ones now and later when they are adults. Dr. Moses Mulyowa, a pediatrician at St Ruth Medical Centre, Kireka, says “Research suggests that children who bed-share develop stronger emotional bonding with their parents.” A child who bed shares is likely to become more independent, confident, and attach more securely later in life than the one who did not. Read More…
