Co-sleeping Cautiously Approved by Dr. Ferber

The New York Times has a great piece on co-sleeping. Apparently Dr. Ferber, for the new edition of his book "Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems", has softened his stance against children sharing a bed with their parents, and allows that "Ferberizing" your kids until they're hoarse or vomiting, but independent, isn't always the right tack for every child.

"Even though I shouldn't have to defend myself, it is nice to have [half-hearted approval from Dr. Ferber]," Ms. Jakovich said. Like many other parents, she never intended to sleep with her daughter. "My view was that granola-hippie-type people co-sleep," she added.

As you know, we are more than willing to scoot over and make room for our daughter after her midnight feeding. This lets her stay warm, she seems to enjoy the heartbeats, and is an aggressive snuggler. She always falls asleep very quickly.

We'll put her to bed around 7 p.m. in her co-sleeper, she'll get 1-2 feedings there, and then after midnight will usually join us in the main bed with us being very careful to keep pillows, duvets, sheets, etc. away from her shoulders and head.

When we travel she doesn't seem to mind her snuggle nest, which sits in the bed between us and has rigid sides to keep us from getting too close.

While we are conscious of the warnings (if you're overweight, a smoker, or a drinker you can easily hurt your kid), we feel like we're both light sleepers and very aware of where she is at all times. The benefits to our daughter and the nursing mother in sleep and lack of stress seem to be worth it so far.

Read the Times article on co-sleeping, and if it's gone check the archives here or on Furl.

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