Question

Co-sleeping is when the child shares the bed with the parents. There has been research done on this topic. It also has cultural basis surrounding this activity. Read about co-sleeping and write your opinion on the topic. Do you feel it has positive or negative effects on a child’s development? If you feel it is positive, how long do you feel it should be done for? And at what age do you stop?

Answer 1

• Western culture has long emphasized independence in sleeping arrangements, encouraging parents to have infants sleep in cribs or cradles, often in rooms of their own. Despite marked differences in attitudes in most Western cultures, about 26 percent of American children between the ages of 2 to 9 months always or almost always co-sleep with their parents. Early experiences does have an influence on child development and so does co sleeping as well.Satisfaction of infants’ and children’s need for attachment, attention and human contact, such as occurs in co-sleeping, establishes greater confidence and esteem in children later on in life.
• Co-sleeping is one component of a system of attachment and relationships that interact with the child’s own qualities, which over the course of development contribute to adult characteristics.According to me,co sleeping have its benefits in terms of physical happiness and psychological well being of the child but too much co-sleeping can hinder development and make the child dependent and fearful.
• Cuddling your child is good but overdoing it can create problems when they turn adults. So,when a child reaches his/her adolescence co-sleeping needs to stop gradually because this is the most crucial phase of a child's life which is going to shape their identities.During this phase,they need independence and become capable of taking their own responsibilities and parents need to motivate that in them.
• As a result of co-sleeping into later years, children today are less self-reliant. Many preteen children don’t yet know how to be alone at bedtime and thus they lack self-reliance.They do not develop a healthy internal locus of control putting them at risk for low self-esteem. So,parents need to break the co-sleeping cycle slowly and steadily by discussing it with their child towards a healthy development.