Co-sleeping or bed sharing is a practice in which babies and young children sleep close to one or both parents, as opposed to in a separate room.
Bed-sharing, a practice in which babies and young children sleep in the same bed with one or both parents, is a subset of co-sleeping.
Bed-sharing among married couples is standard practice in many parts of the world outside of North America, Europe and Australia, and even in the latter areas a significant minority of children have shared a bed with their parents at some point in childhood.
[4] Bed-sharing was widely practiced in all areas up to the 19th century, until the advent of giving the child his or her own room and the crib.
In many parts of the world, bed-sharing simply has the practical benefit of keeping the child warm at night.
Proponents hold that bed-sharing saves babies' lives (especially in conjunction with nursing), [5][6] promotes bonding, enables the parents to get more sleep and facilitates breastfeeding.
[12] In addition some parents pose threats to infants due to their behaviors and conditions, such as smoking or drinking heavily, taking drugs, a history of skin infections, obesity, or any other specific risk-increasing traits.
[9] Some experts, then, recommend that the bed should be firm, and should not be a waterbed or couch; and that heavy quilts, comforters, and pillows should not be used.
[13] Parents who roll over during their sleep could inadvertently crush and/or suffocate their child, especially if they are heavy sleepers, over-tired or over-exhausted and/or obese.
Most relationships between parental behavior and sleeping trouble were not statistically significant when controlled for those preexisting conditions.
[15] Co-sleeping can often be regarded as an unnecessary practice that can be associated with issues such as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
The study reported that some of the parents found bedsharing effective, yet were covert in their practices, fearing disapproval of health professionals and relatives.