I can't even count how many times I've heard moms guiltily "confess" to letting their babies sleep with them as if it were some sort of crime. But why fight something that feels so instinctive and that helps everyone sleep better? When Sam was small it was so hard for me to sleep deeply at night, because even when he was sound asleep I was always waking up to listen for his tiny, steady breaths. Once I brought him into bed next to me I could sleep more comfortably, but was still completely aware of him. We would wake simultaneously and drift back to sleep together, sometimes with him still sleepily nursing. He still sleeps next to me and I love being able to snuggle him at night, and at this point he doesn't really wake up to nurse during the night anymore.
Three in a Bed is a bit of a treat for a "retired" anthropologist like myself because the author gives all sorts of examples and stories of bed sharing from the world over. Hearing that so many other cultures find it perfectly normal for a nursing baby to sleep next to his mother gave me much more confidence in the choice I made based on intuition. If you're looking for validation, or even for a snappy come-back for people who question the practice, this is the place. I expected to skim it like I do many parenting books, but I ended up reading it cover to cover and enjoying the writing style as much as the content.
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