Helping kids to sleep alone

Inculcating the habit of making kids sleep in their nursery instead of on their parents’ bed is essential. In fact, this practice must be fostered from early childhood, says Pallavi Bhattacharya

- Pallavi Bhattacharya

Co-sleeping was the norm in many puritanical and traditional Indian households in the yesteryears when modern birth control methods weren’t in vogue. After the family was complete, parents often slept in different rooms to ensure abstinence. Also, the parents, especially the mum, would prefer to sleep in the same bed with her kids throughout the night. Even in the contemporary age, parents of several Indian households prefer the age-old practice of sleeping in the same room as their kids.

BE WARY

Dr. Nancy Kurian, the consultant psychologist from Coimbatore, strongly advises, “Cobedding is not recommended. A child must be made to sleep in his own room from the initial years of childhood to help him to be independent, to avoid health hazards and regressive behavior.” Co-sleeping has been connected to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). A study by the University of Warwick and University of Bristol discovered that in 80 cases of SIDS, 54 per cent of the babies co-slept. The parents are at risk of accidentally suffocating the baby, or the bedding may block the child’s airway. Besides, the child may not learn to be self-reliant if he continues to sleep with his parents. Moreover, he may accidentally see his parents making love, and at an early age, be scarred for lack of proper understanding. Sleeping separately ensures better quality sleep for both the parents and the child.

BE PREPARED