A new study has found that parents sharing a bed is unlikely to affect their children's psychological development.
A University of Essex study followed almost 17,000 British babies for 11 years and found that children who bed-shared were happier and healthier.
Dr Ayten Bilgin, from the School of Psychology, found no association between bedsharing at nine months and emotional or behavioural problems in childhood.
The practice has sparked controversy as some experts previously believed it could have a negative impact on children's development.
However, some say it is helpful for both parent and child, as it keeps them close during feedings and nighttime wakeups.
Although there is ongoing debate about the potential long-term harms and benefits of bed-sharing, little scientific research has been done on the subject.
Parents can rest assured that, as long as it is done safely, bed-sharing is unlikely to have a negative impact on a child's emotional or behavioral development.
There is a lot of guilt and embarrassment associated with bed-sharing, but it is a parental choice.”
Dr Ayten Bilgin, Department of Psychology, University of Essex
The study, published in the journal Attachment and Human Development, used data from the British Millennium Cohort Study, which followed the lives of 16,599 children born in the UK.
Parents reported on bed-sharing at age 9 months and on internalizing behaviors, such as depression and anxiety, and externalizing behaviors, such as aggression and hyperactivity, when their children were 3, 5, 7, and 11 years old.
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Journal References:
Bilgin, A., et al. (2024). Associations between infancy bedsharing and childhood introverted and extroverted symptoms. Attachment and Human Development. doi.org/10.1080/14616734.2024.2380427.
