During pregnancy, young parents spend a lot of time setting up their baby’s room. You will create a cozy little cocoon for your child so that he feels safe and sleeps well is important, you will choose secure furniture,quality bedding for baby andbed linen in natural material to create a soft cocoon.
But often, when baby is born, parents don’t want to let him sleep alone in his room, they prefer to have him sleep in their room to ensure non-stop surveillance. But is this a good idea?
What are the advantages of having baby sleep in the parents’ room?
Having baby sleep in the parents’ room is reassuring for both the parents and the baby, who feels the presence of his parents and is immediately reassured.
For breastfeeding mothers, having the baby sleep right next to their bed makes it easier to feed him. This proximity allows the baby to fall back asleep more quickly. Be careful not to fall asleep with baby in your arms.
Note that the new French recommendations, announced in the new health booklet, recommend that baby should sleep in the parents’ room during the first 6 months. This practice would reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, because the child would adjust his breathing to that of his parents and would have fewer apneas.
Be careful, sharing the room does not mean sharing the bed, making baby sleep in the parental bed is very dangerous, the child must have his own cradle and sleep with a sleeping bag (no comforter before the age of one).
Make baby sleep in his own room
We hesitate to let baby sleep alone in his room because we are afraid that he will be in danger if he is not near us. This is actually a fear of separation. Mother and child are one during the entire pregnancy, so sleeping in separate rooms is a real ordeal... especially for the mother.
But according to Anne Gatecel, psychologist, staying close to your child would only maintain this anxiety and could even increase it.
The psychologist understands that between birth and 3 months of age, mothers may prefer to stay close to their child all night long, but she recommends putting baby in his own room around the age of 3 or 4 months.
During the first few nights, baby may cry, this is normal, do not give in to the temptation to take him into your room to reassure him, he must learn to go back to sleep by himself. You can put your hand on his belly while talking to him gently but avoid taking him in your arms, to avoid bad habits which you will have difficulty to overcome...
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