There is a whole debate out there on whether co-sleeping is good or not. Generally speaking, the ‘against-side’ has more support citing early independence for the baby. Personally, I am for co-sleeping with my baby, mainly because A LOT of scratches have been prevented as I can hold her hands anytime she scratches at night. Of course, the sacrifice is huge – lack of good sleep for me and almost no couple time with my hubby. Let’s take a closer look at the pros and cons in the context of taking care of eczema children:
For Co-Sleeping
1. Help baby sleep better. I believe this is true and especially important for an eczema baby whose itch may be preventing her from sleeping well.
2. Help build a stronger bond with parents. I think this is true too. When I was a stay at home mom and my hubby worked, after a few months, Marcie didn’t seem to get too excited when daddy came home. But if daddy co-sleep with her for two nights in a row, Marcie would display much more warmth towards daddy. For me, I just love to look at my baby’s face when she’s asleep and smelling her milk-breath!
Against Co-Sleeping
1. Risk suffocating baby. The verdict is still not out on this one. Some say the risk is higher while some say lower. My personal suggestion is to let your baby sleep alone in a very cool air-conditioned room but wrap her up to prevent scratching. When Marcie got too big to be swaddled, we tied her hands to her legs for a few nights but she couldn’t sleep well. That’s when we decided she’s big enough to not get suffocated/ crushed by us on our bed and it’s also the only way we know whether she’s scratching. Marcie started scratching ‘covertly’ at about 7 months old, when it became more difficult to know that she’s scratching as practically no sound was made. So the only way I knew was sleeping with her and detecting her scratching fingers move.
2. No good sleep for parents. That is so true especially when Marcie has eczema flare or teething which causes her body temperature to rise and somehow causes her skin to be more sensitive and itchy. For me, it’s a sacrifice I make and I compensate by sleeping earlier with Marcie.
3. Increase heat to baby. That is also true. I give off less heat compared to my hubby and I’m more aware when Marcie scratches. So I co-sleep with Marcie more often. Regarding the additional heat, you can compensate by turning the air-con cooler and dressing your baby light.
4. Make it difficult for baby to sleep if parent isn’t co-sleeping. Good news is babies adapt quickly and Marcie has no problem sleeping at infant care now. This was a great relief for me as I was worried whether Marcie could nap in school.
5. Prevent baby to be independent. No research results cast in stone for this one. Some studies now believe that making babies feel more secure will enable them to be more independent at an older age.
6. Prevent parents from their own couple time. This is true. Again we compromise by letting Marcie sleep alone first, and when she wakes up, I will then stop whatever I’m doing (usually watching dvd with my hubby) and quickly hop into the bed with her. We used to put Marcie in her cot but realise that she sleeps better on our bed.
I do take precaution though. Marcie likes to lie flat on her stomach but she has good neck muscles at an early 3 month age. She’s always in the centre of our bed, without the possibility of wedging between the wall and the bed and our bed has no bed frame that may trap her.
There’re also going to be a lot of objections from people around you if you choose to co-sleep. I think for parents with eczema children, it goes back to being confident about how you are helping your child with her eczema.
& always believe that You are the Best Parent for your eczema child
7 replies on “Is Co-Sleeping good or bad for eczema baby?”
Sarah Chapman commented on twitter:
if babies eczema is caused by dust mite allergy,than sharing one bed may make skin worse.
https://twitter.com/sarahjchapman/status/335145570572333056
True! Just as Dr Bridgett mentioned in this post,
http://eczemablues.com/2012/02/friday-feature-cosleeping-qa-with-dr-b/
Watch out for Sarah’s sharing of eczema next Friday 🙂
Mei
We co-sleep and love it, my babies do not have eczema though. There is so much more benefits to co-sleeping though. For one thing, it makes breastfeeding so much easier. Babies are not mini adults, they actually really need the mother close to them (http://neuroanthropology.net/2008/12/21/cosleeping-and-biological-imperatives-why-human-babies-do-not-and-should-not-sleep-alone/). I wrote a little about co-sleeping as well on my website: http://www.eco-babyz.com/2013/04/cosleeping-is-not-fad-cribs-are-dear.html
Thank you for the comment! I love co-sleeping too! But not the scratching, that’s arrgghhh…
I’ve to learn from you how to be part of so many mom/blogger network, I feel like an island sometimes, just like Singapore, where I stay!
Hugs,
Mei
A comment by Chantal Onelien on twitter:
#CoSleeping saved my daughter’s life during a serious febrile seizure as an infant. Jumped up & called 911 in seconds via @conelien8181
https://twitter.com/conelien8181/status/334661476742729728
Thanks Chantal!
Mei
Well, there’s pros and cons of co-sleeping. But for the baby who has eczema, I think it would be better for parents to co-sleep with their baby
An informative pros and cons on co-sleeping by Angela Landon
http://www.examiner.com/parenting-issues-in-harrisburg/co-sleeping-reality-v-myth
Another disadvantage of co-sleeping is getting virus from your baby.. I got HFMD in the form of flu from my baby.