Co-sleeping...Yes please!

When mothers or people in general ask me, "so what is John's nightly sleep routine?"  I always reply shyly and embarrassingly with..."he co-sleeps with us". From there I pretty much get silence or weird looks. Dont get me wrong...I thought that co-sleeping was a strange practice when I first heard of it years ago, but mothers and parents in general have strong convictions of how we want to personally raise our children...and Nick and I believe firmly in bed-sharing and co-sleeping. We have a family bed...and I am no longer going to be shy or embarrassed about that. Why should I be? It's what we believe and how we want to raise John and hopefully our future children.

I don't know if you are familiar with Doctor Sears? He is a wonderful Christian Pediatrician.  He and his wife have 8 children and they have all co-slept with their children. He has written many books and  wonderful articles on attachment parenting, co-sleeping and bonding. When I read his article, it was so encouraging and comforting to know that we are not the only ones who believe so strongly in this. You can check out his article on the scientific benefits of co-sleeping and how to co-sleep SAFELY on his website www.askdrsears.com. Definitely check it out...his research on co-sleeping and attachment parenting is amazing...how co-sleeping actually encourages so many positive behaviors in children and into their adult life.

So does John ever sleep in his crib? Well...yes....he does take naps throughout the day in his crib...but when bed time calls he gets in bed with us. I have had mothers tell me...."what if you roll over on top of him"  and the infamous, "you know that increases SIDS?" Although, I appreciate their concern, I am not willing to submit to their scare tactics. I have even had family members that disagree with us..."oh, he is going to be spoiled", "he will never sleep in his own bed now", "what about your sex life?" Well personally, I have never met a 16 year old boy that still sleeps in bed with his parents and our sex life is just that....OUR SEX LIFE. lol.  Sorry, to sound so harsh. But, why does everyone feel the need to give their two cents on how you should raise your children? Like I said before..you have to do what is right for YOU and your family. I believe if you pray for discernment and guidance on any issue in raising your children...God will point you in the right direction!

 Co-Sleeping is, "nothing new under the sun". Parents all over the world and in other countries have been practicing co-sleeping/family bed-sharing for thousands upon thousands of years! There are also two places in the Bible where it actually references co-sleeping...one in a positive light and one in a negative one....Luke 11:7, and 1 Kings 3:17-19. The second one, being the negative, is a story of a woman rolling over on top of her infant and causing death....(which I have also gotten this response from some of my friends hence above statements)...but the first one is in reference to family bed-sharing, which displays co-sleeping in a positive light. So biblically speaking their are both good and bad references to co-sleeping.

I love our family bed and co-sleeping with John.. Especially when in the middle of the night I open my eyes and can see my two precious men next to me sleeping so soundly. To hear their little snores and Johns faint cries next to me brings me great joy. When Nick gets up in the morning for work he is greeted by John and I as I am feeding him. Nick enjoys waking up to us and having a family morning. It truly does open up so much bonding for us both with John and I love it!  Of course we will transition John to his bed in the future, but, for now...we love it....we believe in it and it brings us great joy. So I'm gonna not be shy or embarrassed about John sleeping with us and I'm just gonna let people give their two cents about the issue and let it roll off my shoulders. I am sure along the path of raising John and our other future children we will have many instances of where our raising them might be differently than what some other parents do...and that is OK because it is right for us!