As a mum, we've all been there; exhausted, so worn from lack of sleep we could scream, but the baby just won't settle. So, we've given in to our resolve and let the baby sleep in our bed, so desperate are we for just an hour or two of shuteye.
Co-sleeping is something we hear a lot about. It can happen organically for some mums who might realise that the baby sleeps soundly when they do, simply because they are in close proximity to their mum or it can happen because you simply realise it's the only way to get your baby down - at all. Even Kourtney Kardashian recently spoke about the subject, saying that co-sleeping was virtually the only way she got any sleep herself when her children were young.
However, HSE guidelines for safe sleeping advise that you generally shouldn't co-sleep with your baby for safety reasons (advising that it could help prevent cot death), especially if the baby is premature or less than three months old. They recommend having a baby sleep in their own cot in your room while lying on their back.
"The safest place for your baby to sleep at night is in a cot in your room for the first 6 months. Bed-sharing can be dangerous especially if parents are smokers or if baby is premature or less than 3 months old," they advise on their website.
Parents are advised that if they do opt to co-sleep, this should also happen according to known safety guidelines, never falling asleep on a sofa, couch, armchair or beanbag.
A new controversial study is dismissing those claims though, saying babies should sleep in their mother’s bed until they are at least three years old.
Dr Nils Bergman, of the University of Cape Town, South Africa has claimed that for optimal development, healthy newborns should sleep on their mother’s chest for the first few weeks and that they should stay in the mother’s bed until they are three or even four years old.
Researchers claim that two-day-old babies who were placed in cots slept less well than those who dozed on their mother’s chest and that their hearts were under less stress. After monitoring sixteen babies, it was revealed that the baby’s heart to be under three times as much stress when he or she slept alone.
Commenting on current health and safety guidelines, he had this to say: "When babies are smothered and suffer cot deaths, it is not because their mother is present. It is because of other things: toxic fumes, cigarettes, alcohol, big pillows and dangerous toys."
What do you make of his comments, mums?
