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Home » Sleep » Basic Sleep Tips » Ultimate Guide To Room Sharing With Your Baby (& Gear You Need)

Ultimate Guide To Room Sharing With Your Baby (& Gear You Need)

Updated February 19, 2021

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Want simple chaos-erasing family routines? Who doesn't? Check out our Family Routines Reboot!

Wonder about room sharing with baby or where should your newborn sleep? These tips help you decide about where to put your little ones bassinet.


When I was pregnant with my first child, I decided she’d sleep in her own crib in her own room from day one.

Night one my husband and I awoke to a gurgling noise (that sounded like choking to us). We ran in to see her with this dazed unfocused expression. I picked her up quickly and she caught her breath.

“Must have been the mucus,” the midwife said.

Must have been my heart plummeting to the hard earth below me, I thought, and quickly decided she could sleep in her crib with me in the room.

baby room sharing with his parents in a co-sleeping crib

Where should a newborn sleep?

Deciding where should a newborn sleep is a big decision. You want to be close enough to feed easily and monitor your baby, but far enough away that every single move of theirs (or yours) doesn’t wake the other.

Plus, you want to make sure that even with room sharing, baby is as safe as can be.

Here are some common places newborn babies sleep:

  • Temporary cribs/bassinets somewhere in the parents room
  • Co-sleeping crib at mom’s bedside
  • In baby’s own nursery in a crib (with a baby monitor, likely)
  • In the family bed (see the AAP’s safe sleep guidelines)

Pros to room sharing with baby

Considering room sharing with your newborn for a while? Here are some of the pros to this choice.

⭐Facilitates ease of breastfeeding

If you are nursing (here are some breastfeeding schedules) then having baby nearby means you can respond to baby and feed without baby, or you, fully waking up.

If you have a swaddle that opens from the bottom so you can diaper change – like this one – then you can even change baby’s diaper while baby is half asleep.

baby in white onesie doing swaddle weaning
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⭐Prevents night crying that wakes up the whole house

When the baby wakes to cry, if you are nearby you can feed the baby and put him back to sleep before the whole house has woken up.

I’ve found that when I feed the baby in the evening before the cry has reached full-fledged high volume, the baby sort of feeds while sleeping and it means there is no issue with the baby going back to sleep.

Read: Why frequent night wakings actually makes you crazy

⭐Helps mom feed then return to sleep easily

Feeding in the night, though it lasts only a short while, is exhausting. If the baby is in the same room as me, I feed him quickly laying down, doze off, put him back when the feed is over and then we’re both back to sleep very quickly.

If I’ve had to go to another room, sit straight up in a chair for 15 minutes and then walk back across the house. By that time I’m awake enough to have difficulty returning to sleep.

⭐You’re close enough to check on baby without frequent waking

I am a habitual “is my baby breathing” checker. When they are very young, until about 6 months or so, I need to be sure they are breathing and I need to be sure a lot. With the baby in my room I hear the little noises so, when I roll over and the thought crosses my mind, I feel at ease.

Even if I do get up to check it’s close, I feel the tummy then go back to bed without drama. After one of my children was born and I was experiencing a lot of postnatal anxiety, I checked every hour or so. That obsession has gone, but room sharing still brings comfort that the baby is near.

Read: How to know when you worry too much

⭐Baby is tucked away with you for the first few months

Everyone jokes that my newborns never see the light of day and they are more or less right. And that’s okay with me. Sleep begets sleep and by the time babies are 3 or 4 months and very alert, they can easily be transitioned into their own rooms.

Keeping them in my room feels like they are being protected in a refuge and special place of privilege. It lasts such a short while, I love having them there.

Read: Get A Tired Baby To Sleep — In 4 Simple Steps

Where exactly should baby sleep in the parents room?

Whatever works best for your family and your baby is the way to go. Babies often do well to sleep in the room with their mothers for the first few months of life.

Later, when baby becomes alert to your movements and suffers sleep disruption as a result, it may be time to move them to their own room. Or a shared room with siblings. Once you’ve made that room safe for sharing, of course.

I think whatever method benefits the baby’s sleep habits and your survival habits must be considered. Here are some options for baby sleeping in your own room.

In bed bassinets

In bed bassinets are bassinets that are small and compact, designed to go your own bed. This will work if you have a large bed or – if you have a smaller bed – and sleep alone.

Goes without saying, this would not be safe for a twin bed as you may roll over and push it off.

Swaddle me by your side sleeper
  • Swaddle me by your side sleeper
  • Ultra compact bedside bassinet
  • Co-sleeping baby bassinet

Bedside sleepers or co-sleepers

These are rather new in use. Co-sleepers are essentially cribs made to attach to the bed or sit right beside it so you have easy access to baby, but baby isn’t sharing your bed.

baby sleeping in bedside co-sleeper beside mom in parents room
  • California dreaming bedside sleeper
  • Bedside baby bassinet
  • Side sleeper

Cribs for the parents room (permanent or non-permanent)

Of course, you can put up a proper crib in your bedroom. Or, if your room is large enough you can use a pack and play in your room as a more temporary solution.

  • Folding portable mini crib
  • Foldable bassinet
  • Pack and play

::

FAQs

How do you share a bedroom with a baby?

You get a bedside sleeper, or a crib and put them in your room, preferably within arm’s reach.

How long can a baby share a room with parents?

As long as you want! Typically by around 6 months or so, most “main stream parents” transition their baby to their own rooms. At that point, the risk of SIDS has lowered drastically and the survival benefits to room sharing are minimized. After 6 months on, it’s all preference.

Can I put a crib in front of a window?

Yes, you can! You will, however, want to get thick blackout blinds so baby naps well and doesn’t wake up at the crack of dawn.

Where should a newborn sleep?

A newborn can sleep pretty much anywhere. The AAP suggests 6 months minimum to help prevent SIDS.

Why does baby sleep better in my bed?

Some babies prefer to sleep beside mom. Why wouldn’t they? If you practice safe bed sharing (of which there are many things to do for modern parents’ beds to be safe) then that’s fine. If you find you don’t sleep well that way, you can begin teaching baby to room share without bed sharing.

Are co-sleeping babies happier?

That depends. If they are getting enough rest, then they will be contented. If mom is getting enough rest, she is contented. Now, if baby is in the bed and sleeps well enough, but has frequent night wakings then mom will not sleep well, and things will have to be adjusted.

How can I stop my baby sleeping in my bed?

You begin a transition and put baby into their own side sleeper or crib. Keep baby within arm’s reach so you can pat and shush to settle.

I’ve created a free email series just for you! There are truly only a few reasons why babies and toddlers have struggles sleeping… really, I mean it. I am going to teach you the main 3 reasons and how to start making small changes to help your baby go from:

  • fighting sleep to embracing it
  • night wakings to sleeping through
  • needing you to jump through hoops to going to sleep on their own

Click here to sign up for my free email series or simply click on the image below.

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Rachel

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Filed Under: Basic Sleep Tips, Sleep

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I'm Rachel, mother of 5 young kids living in the Florida panhandle with my Australian husband. I write about family culture, family rhythms and routines, and boundaries in motherhood and life. You can see snippets of my daily life here and visit my shop for baby sleep, organizing, and routine help.

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Comments

  1. Andrea says

    I moved my son at 12 days old into his crib, but I think next go around I will keep baby in our room by the bed for 3 months or so…for all the reasons you described.

    • Rachel says

      I don’t think it is necessary but I just like it :)

  2. Ann says

    Some research shows co sleeping parents often get more sleep. We certainly did this to be the case for us.

    • Ann says

      Found this to be the case*

    • Rachel Norman says

      Hey Ann, I thought research showed the opposite? Anyway, I totally agree that each family and child is different and you gotta find what works for you. I love my babies in the room near me ;)

Hey y'all, I'm Rachel Norman, BA, MS, Language of Listening® parenting coach, mother to 5 babies in 5 years on 3 continents, no multiples. Join me in parenting without losing your mind. Read More >>

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The top 3 reasons babies don't sleep well (and the solutions!)

- The #1 thing you should do when baby isn't napping well


- How to get baby to go to sleep and wake up at the same times every day (and this means way after 5 a.m.)


- The step-by-step process for changing unhelpful habits to healthy ones​

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