There Were Three in Bed...

There were three in the bed and the little one said, “I’m happy…”

My baby is three months old and not only do we still co-sleep, we also bed share. Just yesterday we even went so far as to upgrade our double bed to a Queen. I wanted a bigger bed anyways and now the little Princess has even more room to stretch out her arms (and so do her parents.)

I haven’t been too upfront about our bed sharing up to now, mostly because I’m sick of defending every choice I make as a mother (aren’t we all?) and bedsharing is a topic that seems to be a sore spot for a lot of people who know nothing about it.

But this morning when an old treeplanting buddy who is expecting asked what I knew about co-sleeping, I decided it was time to tell the world.

Bed sharing is one of the best things we have done for this family.

And hey, I haven’t suffocated her yet, so I think we’re doing all right. There are way too many myths surrounding bed sharing. There are so many benefits to bed sharing and co-sleeping, and there are few (if any benefits) to putting a baby in her own bed in her own bedroom to sleep in isolation. (Not only my opinion, but a researched fact.)

Actually, maybe one benefit is that new parents can feel like they have a bit of their “old” life back. That’s of no benefit to the baby though. And my baby is my priority now. And forever.

Our babies need us. They cry when they need our attention. If they can’t talk yet, how else are they supposed to let us know something is wrong? It seems like everywhere I turn these days a friend’s doctor is advising her to put her baby in her own room and let her cry herself to sleep at night.

I thought we were done with this “cry it out” insanity?

I try to do the live and let live thing. I really do, but when I think of a little baby alone in the dark crying for some reassurance and being deliberately ignored by her parents, it makes me sad and a little sick.

Are we not trying to raise confident, independent children? Where is the logic in abandoning them during the night time hours?

My child does not cry without being comforted. She cries, yes. But if she has gas, or is tired, she cries in my warm arms or the arms of her father. The fact that she sleeps in our room just makes things that much easier at night. My baby is one of the most serene, happy babies I know, and I’m positive it’s largely in part to our sleeping arrangement.


I honestly don’t really care if my friends or strangers who read this blog co-slept or not. It’s an incredibly personal choice. I do however, hope that mamas-to-be like Wendy, will consider it as a very good option and do their own research.

A pediatrician might be able to take your baby’s temperature, but he does not know everything.