Babies 'should sleep in mother's bed until age three' (Telegraph)

[Teaandcakeplease]

Admittedly its the Torygraph but what do you ladies make of this? Interesting.

www.telegraph.co.uk/health/children_shealth/8854674/Babies-should-sleep-in-mothers-bed-until-age-three.html

If you don't sleep very deeply for 3 years would then not have an effect on other areas of your life though - such as driving?

Dialsmavis - I had no intention of co-sleeping when DS was born. None. I was firmly convinced he was going straight into his cot in the next room (despite the advice that he should be in my room - there wasn't room in my room for a cot). Had the nursery all set up ready to go.

Then he was born at 2am, and he was given to me to cuddle - couldn't put him down. Went down to the maternity ward at about 5:30am, just as the ward started to wake up so got no sleep - kept him with me. Nightmare day trying to feed him (tonguetied baby), culminating in a migraine, me trying to discharge us both and them offering me a private room. So I stayed - and they brought a hospital plastic bassinet in for DS but he didn't like it, so he wailed - and he stopped wailing when I picked him up - so I kept him in with me. And that set the scene for when we went home. Plus I was feeding for up to 2h at a time, mostly lying in bed (only way he could get a decent latch) - so he just stayed in my bed. DH couldn't stay, he "needed his sleep" so absconded to the spare room, which made it safer - I slept in the middle of the double bed and could move DS from side to side for feeding. I am a very still sleeper but slept with my arm out above his head anyway, so I couldn't have rolled on him without breaking my shoulder.
That way we got far more sleep, I believe.
When DS was 5.5m, we started to disturb each other's sleep and that's when I moved him into a cot - but if during a night feed in his room, I started to nod off, I brought him back to my bed again - much safer than risking falling asleep in the chair with him.

My second DD loved co-sleeping with us until she was 15 months, then moved into her own room and slept through from the first night. But when she moved into a bad at 2.5, she naturally migrated back to us from 5am ish and it's been that way every other night or so (maybe 3x a week?) ever since. I don't mind. It gives her comfort. Don't think she'll still be doing it when she's a teenager and it's a lovely compromise.

First DD co-slept for 6 months and has been in her own room ever since and even now she can't stand the idea of coming in with us for a cuddle when she wakes up in the hols. She would not have liked it at three years old!!

Children in their parents bed is normal imo. Nowt wrong with it and probably lots of things right with it. As long as you're not forcing a much older child against their inclination, it's fine.

Of course it won't damage their health Leonie. You do talk a lot of bullshit sometimes.

What the ped is saying is partly tosh, babies have been crushed in beds sometimes, SIDS not all down to lurking toxic fumes and dangerous toys [hhmm].

I coslept because it suited me & don't care what choices others made. I'm just glad it's in the Torygraph because that's MIL's paper and she'll read it and maybe stop reacting like we're crazy to ever bedshare with DC.

We all do what works for us. I couldn't have co-slept with my newborn, would have been totally scared of squashing him & wouldn't have rested well myself. Now he's older & more robust I'm happy to haul him into bed if he's restless in the night - he gets back to sleep & so do I.

So nearly all babies born in the 50's - 80's have turned into babies with behavioural problems and have difficulty forming relationships?!
Give over.

Lack of sleep not sleeping in a cot seems to also be to blame. So if baby is happy to sleep in a cot (i.e. sleeps) then there is no issue?

These are lazy, lazy reports of a small study.

I hate people who come out with these statements as if there is such a thing as the way. Everyone is different and so are babies. It is just another thing to make mother's feel guilty about.

The conclusions about relationships and behaviour are utter tosh!
People shouldn't listen to officials-go with their own instincts. I was a much better mother with proper sleep in my own space in bed-not worried about smothering small bodies.

May I also point out that an average newborn sleeps quite a few more hours per day than the average adult.
Logically, even if it is in your bed not a cot, about half of the sleep a baby has it will be alone.

16 babies is not enough for a study.

Just let people get on with what works best for them.

Look, I can see you like cosleeping and it works for you. Great. Not everyone feels the same way. It doesn't mean they were harming their babies.
I slept in a cot and I am fine. I can think of about 15 other people I know that slept in cots and are fine. I don't think it is realistic for a baby to have all of its sleep on your chest when they sleep for so many hours per day. What when you have other kids to take care of at the same time?

He might have studied more babies in his life, but the data for this study was only taken from 16 children so is not statistically significant.

I have nothing against co-sleeping. I'm sure it suits some people just fine. But I have quite a lot against unfounded claims about not having your baby glued to you all day long being harmful for their long term health.

2 day old!!! That's totally different to what the newspapers report. Tosh, tosh, tosh.

Tosh as in the reporting not the study.

I'm sure the study is right - 2 day old babies are better off being hold, ffs.

2 days old doesn't prove anything about long term health!! If he had repeated the studies from birth and carried on up until the age of three it might be more credible.

This just tells you that brand new babies like to be with their mother. We all knew that already! It doesn't tell you that they need to cosleep for the next three years.

it is a bit university of the bleeding obvious to say that very new babies are comforted by being close to their mother!!

I want to know whether he has personally shared a bed with a newborn, an 18 month old and a 34 month old (but I'd settle for just a newborn and a 2 year old who sleeps perpendicular to the adults). I can't help noticing that fathers' heartbeats do not appear to have protective powers.

I also want to know what happens to the one year old between their bedtime and their parents' bedtime. Do you have to go to sleep at 7pm for five years or more (yes I know some co-sleepers do do this) in order to safeguard your children's future health.

Journalists reporting on studies related to mothering need monitoring because it is not fair the amount of crap we have to read in the papers. The studies are useful, often sensible. Newspapers less so.

Reminds me of the bf/early weaning one a while ago. Some babies need more than milk before 6 months turns into 'bm bad for babies after 4 months' in newspaper land..

Grrrr.