A new study from the University of Essex has found that parents who share their bed with their babies don’t need to worry about it negatively affecting their child’s psychological development.
The research, which followed nearly 17,000 British children over 11 years, concluded that bed-sharing doesn’t lead to emotional or behavioral problems as the child grows up.
Bed-sharing, where a baby sleeps in the same bed as their parents, has been a topic of debate for a long time.
Some experts have suggested that it might harm a child’s development, while others believe it helps both parents and children by making nighttime feeding easier and providing comfort when the baby wakes up during the night.
Dr. Ayten Bilgin, a researcher from the Department of Psychology at the University of Essex, led the study.
She explained that despite the ongoing debate, there has been very little scientific research on the long-term effects of bed-sharing.
Her study, published in the journal Attachment and Human Development, aims to fill this gap.
“Parents can rest assured that as long as bed-sharing is practiced safely, it is unlikely to have any negative impact on children’s emotional and behavioral development,” Dr. Bilgin said.
She emphasized that bed-sharing is a personal choice for parents, and there shouldn’t be any guilt or shame associated with it.
The research used data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study, which tracks the lives of 16,599 children born in the UK.
Parents in the study were asked about their bed-sharing practices when their babies were 9 months old.
The researchers then followed up with these families when the children were 3, 5, 7, and 11 years old to check for any signs of emotional issues, such as anxiety and depression, or behavioral problems, like aggression and hyperactivity.
The results showed no link between bed-sharing at 9 months old and any psychological problems later in childhood.
This finding suggests that bed-sharing, when done safely, does not pose any harm to a child’s mental health or behavior.
In summary, this study provides reassurance for parents who choose to bed-share with their babies.
It shows that, contrary to some previous concerns, this practice is unlikely to have any negative effects on a child’s emotional or behavioral development as they grow up.
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