This post is part of the 2010 API Principles of Parenting blog carnival, a series of monthly parenting blog carnivals, hosted by API Speaks. Learn more about attachment parenting by visiting the API website.
So I used to think our family was a anti-cosleeping group. but now that I have begun to read more into it, it seems we have been co sleepers all along.
Many terms related to infant sleep are used interchangeably, which can create confusion. API uses the following definitions:
Co-sleepingrefers to sleeping in “close proximity,” which means the child is on a separate sleep surface in the same room as the parents. This includes the use of a cosleeping bassinet or “sidecar,” which is a crib-like bed with only three walls, with the fourth side remaining open and pushed up against the parents’ bed. For the older child, this can include sleeping in a separate bed in the same room as the parents, or two or more older siblings sleeping together in a separate room.
Bed-sharing, also called the “family bed,” describes a sleep arrangement where the family members sleep on the same sleep surface. This practice is recommended for only for breastfeeding families using API’s Safe Sleep Guidelines.
My family believed that co-sleeping and family bed were the same thing. We once talked about it and said that we did not feel that having a family bed would be the best situation for our family. However, according to the Attachment Parenting International, we were co-sleeping for the first five months of his life and since then have been occasionally sharing a family bed.
When our son was born, we actually had no choice but to co-sleep. At that time we were living with my parents and only had one room for my husband, myself and our newborn son. We had his pack n’ play set up next to our bed and that is where he slept day and night.
No however that we have our own place to call home, our son has his own room. Where he does spend 90% of his night sleep time. But occasionally, mommy will be super tired at night … too tired to saw awake to feed him. So what ends up happening is I pick him up and bring to our bed to lay next to me as I sleep and he breastfeeds. It doesn’t happen to often.
Other than that I am happy to say that my son is quite happy and content with his own spacious room and knows if he ever needs to he can come spend the night with mommy and daddy in their bed.
A Mom's Fresh Start 