I do disagree with the practice of letting babies "cry it out" at night. I think babies, like most people, would prefer to not sleep alone. How many couples do YOU know that have separate bedrooms?

Throughout history, families have shared their sleeping spaces. Since cavemen times! It was only when the lords and ladies of the manor had castles large enough that they could have their "own" bedroom, that children were relegated to sleep with the nanny. (You see, even then, the nanny slept with the children - they weren't alone. And the infants still slept with mommy, where she was handy for nursing.)

As a middle class developed in Europe. those families, wanting to be like the upper classes, began putting their own young children in a separate room.

And thus we developed the Western civilization style of putting infants in their own beds, in their own rooms.

Babies who sleep alone are more likely to die from SIDS. With mother there, when the baby has difficulty breathing, mother KNOWS, on some level, and moves and the baby is startled and remembers to breathe. That's the theory, at least.

I believe children who sleep in the family bed are more comfortable - more secure - and are, in actuality, safer. Less likely to die from SIDS, house fires, accidents which can sometimes happen in the crib, etc.

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