Keep Your Baby Close To You

Being the mother of four kids, I definitely have experience in this area. Ultimately it is you that should make the correct decision with what you are comfortable with when it comes to having your baby in the same bedroom with you.

In the first few months of life, I am a strong advocate of having the baby close to you. I feel it is mainly a comfort issue as opposed to an absolute necessity for the baby. What I mean by that is that we, as moms, have carried this baby around for so long and it is not always comfortable to have the baby sleeping in another room all alone. It's a mother's natural tendency to want the baby close by to hear it breathe or be able to respond to noises or discomforts.

Many new moms are afraid of baby spitting up, choking, or any number of little things that take some getting used to. Mom and baby are still in the process of figuring each other out. It is not always easy to separate at night time.

Having said that, my babies always slept in the stroller next to my bed in the first few months of life. If the baby woke up, I could quickly move him or her out of the bedroom without having to disturb my husband too much. It was something I tried with my first born and it worked nicely so I continued it with my other three. After me and my baby got used to each other and more comfortable being in separate rooms, I graduated to moving them to their cribs with a monitor. The transition was fairly smooth and worked well.

My best advice is make a decision when the baby is born. You will find that you will be testing out many different solutions to problems that normally occur during the adjustment time when the newborn comes home from the hospital.