Where your baby sleeps is a personal choice. It’s best made after you consider your own family’s needs and situation.
Many parents choose to share a bed with their baby. But there is nothing wrong with wanting your baby to sleep solo from the start. There are many happy, well-adjusted and contented babies sleeping in their own beds – and almost every option in between.
Advantages of a baby bed
Parents who put their baby to bed in a cot say this arrangement has the following advantages:
- You can make a cot a very safe place for sleeping. There is little danger of injury, suffocation or smothering when a baby’s cot meets Australian Standards, is well maintained, and is set up correctly.
- You get better sleep. Babies sleep very lightly, and their movements can disturb a parent sleeping in the same bed.
- It’s easier for babies to sleep away from their parents at a child care centre or in the care of a friend or relative if they are used to settling in their own beds.
- It's easier to start babies off in their own beds than to transfer them at a later stage (particularly if you decide you need to do this before babies actually want their own beds).
A cot in your room
Having your baby’s cot in your room, next to your bed, is another option. It’s a good one if you want to be close to your baby at night for safety and convenience.
A cot next to your bed allows you to be close, to be able to respond quickly when baby wakes, and to be able to check on baby when you want to during the night.
