How to Share a Bed With a Baby

Remove padding from around the baby to reduce the risk for SIDS.

Sharing a bed with your baby can be a very rewarding experience. Sleeping in the same bed makes getting up to breastfeed the baby is easier and it helps the mother and baby get on the same sleep cycle. Both parents benefit from the baby being closer and getting to bond with the baby during the evening. The first step to sharing a bed with your baby is making sure that the bed itself is set up correctly.

Things You'll Need

• Firm mattress
• Side rail
• Floor padding

Instructions

1. Place a firm mattress on your bed frame.

2. Inspect the bed for safety issues and make sure no gaps exist between the bed and the wall, headboard, rails or other furniture that create potential traps for the baby. Remove any curtains, blinds, cords, strings or items from the baby's reach to reduce strangulation dangers. Use side rails, headboards and foot boards without cutouts or slats to reduce the risk of the baby getting trapped.

3. Position a healthy baby on her back until she is at least six months old. The National Institutes of Health report that positioning a baby on her stomach increases the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

4. Avoid letting a baby sleep in a bed with anyone other than her parents. The National Institutes of Health reports that sleeping with other people, especially children, increases the risk of SIDS. Place the baby between her mother and the outer rail of the bed, as mothers are generally more aware of where the baby is through the course of the evening.

5. Place padding on the floor around the bed in case the baby falls out of the bed during the evening.

6. Place the infant in the location where she will sleep in the bed and inform your partner that the baby is in the bed so he knows where the baby is. Remove soft padding, pillows, blankets and other soft materials from under the area where the baby will sleep. Make sure blankets and pillows do not cover the infant's face.

7. Prevent smokers from sharing a bed with the baby. According to an article from the Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame, sharing a bed with a mother that smoked during pregnancy increases the risk for SIDS.

8. Avoid letting extremely overweight parents sleep with the baby. An overweight parent could unknowingly roll over and hurt or suffocate the baby. Consider using bassinets or co-sleepers designed to attach to the bed.

9. Wear clothing without drawstrings, ribbons or cords, and remove jewelry. Removing these articles of clothing and accessories from the bed limit the risk of something getting wrapped around the baby's neck.

Tips & Warnings

• Give your baby a pacifier at bedtime to reduce the chance for SIDS.

References

• National Institutes of Health: NICHD -- News Releases
• University of Notre Dame Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Laboratory: Cosleeping and Overlaying/Suffocation -- Is There a Chance I'll Roll Over and Crush my Child?
• University of Michigan Health System: Safe Sleep & SIDS -- Your Child
• BabyCenter: Sleep-Sharing -- The Family Bed

Resources

• The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: Newborn -- Sleep Patterns
• Rush University Medical Center: High-Risk Newborn