Sleeping with babies and children is one of those things that most people think is bad but then, when asked, it seems that almost everyone does. It's like Big Brother, which everyone thinks is a horrible program but then the audiences are very high, or like the PP, that everyone hates them but then they win the elections.
And it seems bad to people because they believe that it is really wrong, that it is something that should not be done for the good of children, sometimes even with an expiration date: "until 6 months nothing happens, but then yes" , "from the year should not sleep with parents", etc. The fact is that there are many professionals who not only do not prohibit or censor it, but also promote it; professionals like Ibone Olza, a well-known child psychiatrist who Recipe for children that their parents sleep with them.
Putting children to sleep alone is the odd thing
Think for a moment about what place babies and children have occupied at night throughout history. It is clear that to avoid danger families slept together in ancient times, and later, also mostly, because people did not have the floors we have now, divided by walls, and the number of children was much greater than today.
They slept together as now a large part of the population of the world has not gone from modern (like us) and still believes that the most logical thing is to sleep with them: and no, I do not talk about the hidden tribes of the Amazon, which , or of the people of Africa, who also, but of countries like China or Japan, of which we have already spoken, or countries like Sweden Y Norway, where it is considered that About 90% of families sleep with their children.
Come on, what weird is what we Westerners do, that we put them to sleep alone because we think that they will be more independent, they will get older before and they will be more autonomous and it turns out that we should do it like the Japanese, who sleep with them Y they are dedicated to make them older, independent and autonomous for the day, which is when they are awake and can really learn to do things for themselves.
If it's normal, it will be for something
So if the colecho is normal, it will be for something. In the first place, because it is the safest for the child: as we said a few weeks ago, recent studies say that sleeping with the baby after three months is one of the recommendations to avoid sudden death of the baby. Secondly, because it has been seen to be beneficial for children in many ways: children are calmer, they regulate temperature better, they have a more regular sleep pattern and rest better.
And then there is what he comments Ibone Olza: children who sleep with parents have a better relationship with them, more self esteem and one greater self-confidence.
"I prescribe you to sleep with your parents"
In an entry on his page, Ibone explained a while ago that when parents say ashamed that "Is that ... still ... sometimes ... can not help ... in the middle of the night ... occasionally ... almost always ... sleep with us ”, she congratulates them and reinforces that behavior that she considers totally positive for the children.
Sometimes, instead, it is the other way around: it is she who recommends it, the one that "prescribes it". He tells the parents of children that they have had a very bad time for anything. Children adopted with a past of abuse, abuse or loneliness, children who come to a new environment and feel distrustful and misplaced, children who lack affection and need a lot of confidence and self-esteem:
When children come and have suffered or witnessed violence, as is the case with many adopted children, who have behavioral or bond disorders, it is I who prescribes it: sleep with them. Colecho is a wonderful therapeutic tool: children who have suffered violence tend to improve more quickly if they sleep with the mother, or with the father, or with siblings ... (It is always clear that the fathers are not the violent ones). Colecho usually produces rapid improvements in these cases and children regain confidence much faster than expected.
And the thing is not there. When parents separate from their children for some reason, such as starting work or for obligations that produce some temporary distance, the magic "medication" is the same:
And if we talk about a baby of a few months whose mother is going to return to work and asks worried how to minimize the effects of separating from her baby for a few hours, the recipe is the same: sleep with your baby.
So as we always say, that each father and mother do what they consider best at home, because the nights in their homes are their nights, and nobody else's. But if you have any regrets about sleeping with your children, take it out of your head but now, because They are not doing anything wrong, but quite the opposite.
Photos | iStock
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