@i_believe American here and I’m happy to say I’ve faced zero stigma surrounding co sleeping. Our pediatrician encouraged it, same with the birthing center, I was so nervous as a FTM and all the nurses said “it’s the only way you’ll get sleep”. My family, spouse and friends all encourage it too. So as another American mom, co sleep away, cuddle your baby and enjoy every second while it lasts!
@i_believe Girl OWN IT! I’m all about normalizing the normal!! We’ve abnormalized it and we need these communities to normalize it! It’s so hard, I get it! I realized what was holding me back was the “what if something does happen” thought and it’s definitely scary. However, I had to get really clear with myself what felt right - and trusting that baby was going to be okay as long as I’m being safe about it. It definitely gets easier over time. We don’t have a floor bed, baby has always slept in our bed.
And also - who says you have to share? I totally relate to you about hiding it, I get shit from my nurse friend so I’ve just stopped telling her things. If it comes up I’ll share and then say I’m not interested in what you have to say. It’s what works for us and let’s just leave it at that.
@i_believe With my first born I cared and was terrified but with my second we’ve co slept always and I don’t care to hear what others say because I know we do it safely and I know that’s what works for us
@i_believe This isn’t a study but I came across this article recently and it made me feel SO validated.
I find that the people who demonize cosleeping don’t understand the nuance. The statistics don’t differentiate between intentionally and unintentionally bed sharing and there’s a huge difference. With the official guidelines in the US rejecting cosleeping altogether, we’ll unfortunately never see any studies conducted that refute that stance.
@i_believe I’m new to this - does sleeping on a separate mattress while baby’s in the crib really count as cosleeping? Or is it about the morning sleep?
@jabe That would be room sharing, which is cosleeping too! But I’m talking about the bedsharing, I do that with him for a few hours in the morning, or for the rest of the night if he wakes up in the middle of the night.
@i_believe I just… don’t care what people think about it. With my first, I cared. Now, I embrace it and I’m honestly proud of it. I’m not stupid about it, and I don’t feel unsafe at all. I feel so secure with my decision and it’s actually easy to feel no shame about it because I’m getting SLEEP, I don’t have to get up during the night at all. It only makes sense while breastfeeding.
@englishmuffin Same here! My American mil tries to make snarky comments about it and act like it’s bad but I don’t care. I’m not going to take parenting advice from her especially when all 3 of her kids aren’t close with her at all.
@i_believe American here: Honestly more people cosleep than they like to admit. I do it. All my friends did/do it with their kids. Some people have looked at me sideways about it, including my mother and our pediatrician. But sleep is important for all parties
