The Taboo of Talking About Co-Sleeping

Co-sleeping, or bed sharing, is in the news again. This short article seems to just want to create controversy — but the blog post by Sara that is mentioned in the embedded news clip is refreshingly honest.

Sara is sick of keeping it a secret that her little son sleeps in her bed: Coming Out of the Co-Sleeping Closet.

I wrote a similar post a year ago for New York City Moms Blog: Yes, We Co-Sleep. There, the Secret is Out.

Many parents all over the world share their bed or co-sleep with their children, because it works best for them.

Co-sleeping and bed sharing can be done safely with simple precautions. Yet many parents seem to be ashamed to talk about their co-sleeping arrangement. Why?

Jennifer Coburn poses this question:

“Every scientific study of infant sleep confirms that babies benefit from co- sleeping.  Not one shred of evidence exists to support the widely-held notion that co-sleep is detrimental to the psychological or physical health of infants.

If science consistently provides evidence that the American social norm of isolating babies for sleep can have deleterious effects, why do we continue the 150-year crib culture in the United States?”

If co-sleeping works for your family, why not inform other parents about it?

I created a discussion about this in the Savvy Living community:

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