Before we have babies, many of us have heard that six months is when babies move into their own room. This six month mark can become a kind of deadline, and add really unnecessary pressure on parents (and their babies). The reality is that six months of room sharing is the bare minimum safety requirement, not a deadline you have to meet.
Safe sleep guidance states that babies should be in a room with an adult for all sleep - night sleep and naps - until at least six months.
Six months is the age at which moving baby into their own room no longer contributes to an increased risk of SIDS. But is it always a good idea to move baby then? For some families, it can be. But for many, many others, it's a terrible idea!
Why?
🌔 Sleep in the second part of the first year can have some major rough patches. Getting up and out of your bed and going to another room to handle every night wake can be exhausting.
🌘 Separation anxiety peaks at around 8 months. At this age babies desperately need to know you are near and they are safe. For many, this causes serious disruption to their sleep. If they wake and don't sense you somehow, they will call for you! Many families find that continued proximity through room or bed sharing lessens night wakes.
🌓 You might not feel ready. This alone is 100% valid reason to keep babe with you for as long as feels right.
🌕 Sleeping in separate rooms is an absolute anomoly in terms of our evolution, and global cultural differences. We really are weird for thinking this is the norm!
