Sister Spotlight – Where Does Your Baby Sleep?

Welcome to the first Sister Spotlight! This will be a monthly segment where I survey the young moms in my family on parenting topics that I know will bring varying opinions. Between my family and my husband’s family, I have 4 sisters and 5 sister-in-laws! Eight of the nine are moms. Despite having similar upbringings (or the same in the case of sisters), we all parent slightly different which I find so interesting! I love being able to see everyone’s parenting styles and how they change over time.

So let’s get to it – the questions this month were around where babies sleep and here they are:

1. Do you have your babies sleep in your room with you?
2. If yes, do you use a bassinet, co-sleeper, or both?
3. If yes, on average, how long do they sleep in your room for?

The results are in and half the moms have their babies sleep in their (ie. the parent’s) room and half have their babies sleep in their crib in the nursery! Most of the sisters/sister-in-laws who have their babies sleep in their room with them said they use both a co-sleeper and a bassinet and the average time their babies stayed in their room varied from 6 weeks to 8 months.

As for me, neither of my sons have slept in our room. I recognize there are many factors that could impact this, but so far for us, our babies have slept in their regular crib, in their own room, from night one! It’s funny looking back because I genuinely did not realize how many people had their babies sleep in their room with them when I had my first son. I think it’s because I happened to talk to one of my sisters who doesn’t have her babies sleep in her room when I was pregnant and then didn’t talk about it much after that. I assumed that was the norm and then that thought was validated by reading the book “Moms on Call” which says to have babies sleep in their crib from the beginning. Side note: I don’t follow that book exactly, but I do agree with a lot of the principles in it and when I was a new mom, I liked having sample schedules to follow when I had no idea what I was doing! Check it out if you’re interested!

I personally love having my alone time with my babies in their room, with a changing table, and a comfy nursery chair, and not having to tip-toe around my sleeping husband (not that I really care if I wake him, but I don’t like to nurse in my bed anyway) in the middle of the night. I like having all the things I need in their normal place (ie. diapers, wipes, burp cloths, nursing pillow, extra clothes, etc.) where I can get to it all easily. But that’s just me! And I totally get the other side as well! It’s a personal preference and what you are most comfortable with. For us, having our babies sleep in their own room has worked well so far and I don’t want to jinx it, but our sons are pretty good sleepers! Also, I’m not going to lie, I love my sleep so if I don’t have to wake up to every newborn coo (babies can be noisy sleepers!) and the baby is sleeping fine in his/her crib, it’s a win-win!

Now I’m so curious as to what most people do, so comment below with what works best for you! Also, if you have any suggestions for the next Sister Spotlight, let me know a topic you’d like to see covered!

Xo,
Hillary