Advantages of room sharing
Disadvantages of room sharing
You may choose to have your baby sleep in their own separate bed, but in your room. Their bed could be a bassinette, cradle, cot or a mattress beside your bed on the floor. (In the 'old days' it was thought to be a cardboard box or the bottom drawer!) Your baby's bed may be positioned beside your bed for easy access (if you have the room), or perhaps away from your bed (if you have the space), to help them not disturb you, if you are a light sleeper (newborn babies make lots of noises in their sleep).
This sleeping arrangement seems to suit many new parents, because they can maintain their own sleeping space, while feeling reassured that they can see, and be close to, their new baby.
Advantages of room sharing. Research indicates that having the baby sleep in the same room, but not in the same bed, with their parents in the first 6 to 12 months of life may be protective against Sudden Infant Death Syndrome or
SIDS. This is thought to be because parents can see their baby and easily check them, as it does not work if the baby is in the room with other children (probably because children do not know if a baby is safe or not).
Other advantages parents have identified when sharing their room with their baby include: