Co-sleeping Survey

We interrupt this blog to bring you the following public service announcement:

Many families around the world have allowed their children to sleep in the same bed as the parents. My family is no different. Currently, there is a movement by some government organizations (and some private ones) to label co-sleeping as a habit of neglect and abuse towards children. I think this is outrageous and that the exact opposite is true. What they call co-sleeping is actually exhausted parents falling asleep with a baby on the couch. This is not the same thing as what my family does.

Co-sleeping has allowed my family to maintain its sanity. Had I not been able to sleep in the same bed as Charlotte I would have far fewer hours of sleep and most likely would have given up breastfeeding in favor of a bottle in hopes of putting Charlotte into a formula coma each night.

If you did or are co-sleeping with your children, please take a minute (quite literally) to click over and take this survey. "By answering this short survey you can help give respect and recognition to yourself and the many families who co-sleep safely."

Comments

  1. OK, so here's my opinion. I've learned not to judge since every family is different, but here's really what I think. I posted this comment on the survey, but I'm not sure that this was what they were looking for...

    I feel that cosleeping is somewhat irresponsible as the child will at some point need to learn to sleep is his/her own bed. Cosleeping only delays this resonsibility and makes the transition more difficult for both child and parent.

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  2. Michelle, thanks for the not judging part. I like to believe myself that all parents do what is best for their children and while I definitely advocate co-sleeping and breastfeeding, I wasn't posting this survey info to judge anyone. Only people who choose to remain uneducated about the benefits of all of the above are open to being judged in my book.

    I don't think co-sleeping makes the transition MORE difficult. The transition has to happen at some point, either immediately out of the womb or later, and it will never be easy. Rare is the baby who is born and immediately content to sleep alone. After 9 months in the womb, being alone is pretty high on the "ways to irritate baby" list.

    For a baby that wakes a few times a night, co-sleeping allows the baby and the mother to get back to sleep faster... which makes most people happy.

    I will say... the best sleep arrangement for any family is the one where everyone in THAT family is getting the sleep, love, nourishment, and attention they need. (I stole that from Dr. Sears.)

    Thanks for commenting.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have to agree with Michelle here that co-sleeping simply delays the responsibility kids need to take for their own sleep habits. After all, good parenting is about developing babies into responsible adults, right? To that end, I say we also quit delaying their responsibilities in other areas, too.

    It's time little Charlotte got a job and started paying some rent around here. If we don't want her mooching off of us forever, she needs to eventually become a productive member of society. So, why wait?

    And I am, quite frankly, tired of diapers. I say we sit her on the toilet and tell her to take care of herself. She'll either succeed or fall in; sink or swim. She needs to take some responsibility and how much more basic does it get than using a toilet?

    And why should I read her stories at night? We want her to read for herself one day. So, if I read to her, aren't I simply delaying the responsibility to read for herself? Who wouldn't want someone else to do the reading for them? Heck, there's an entire industry of audiobooks. But I don't want Charlotte doomed to a life of telling people she hasn't read something because it isn't out on audiobook yet.

    Thanks Michelle for helping me realize that my job as a parent is to quit allowing my 9-month old to be so dependent on me.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Jennifer I found your blog through Rick. I co-slept with all my kids and I am all for it especially if your breastfeeding and I truly believe that people that dont believe in co-sleeping are people that bottle feed their babies.
    I went and did the survey as I am sure alot of people have. If I had my way I would still be co-sleeping with my youngest whom is 4.5 yrs old as it is nice to watch them sleep, when I was a single parent it was alot easier to co-sleep with them but since meeting my husband we enjoy not having any kids in bed with us.
    Mind you when one of them are sick we put them into our bed to keep an eye on them or we sleep in their bed.
    As you said though it is up to the parent as to what they do with their child but as you said they have been attached to us for 9 months so to then put them in a room on their own and expect them to handle that is ridiculous

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