Cosleeping does NOT equal bedsharing...

[illinoismommy]

Bed sharing and Room sharing both = cosleeping. Now we know. :heart

But that means y'all need to be more specific when you're talking about cosleeping so I know whether or not I should answer the question. ;)

:ty3

[Psyche]

:yes

[IslandMama]

Ok, then I'm confused! :scratch

Co-sleeping does NOT = bed sharing, but
bed sharing = co-sleeping

Can someone help me out and give specific definitions? Wanna make sure I get it! Thanks! :heart

[Firebird Rising]

Bedsharing can be a form of co-sleeping, but basically co-sleeping means you sleep in close proximity to child, whether that be baby in bed, bassinet, floor mat, etc.

Jen D.

[Herbwifemama]

I like the term Family Bed for what we do.

I've always thought of cosleeping as a continuum. You can have a family bed, or a mattress on the floor, or kids in one bed, parents in another, mom and baby in one bed, dad and older kids in another, musical beds (where you switch beds in the middle of the night for whatever reason), sidecar arrangements, etc.

If I wanted to be specific, I would say we use a blend of Family Bed and Musical beds, and in the past a mattress on the floor.

Dd starts the night in her own bed, dh and I in ours. In the middle of the night, dd comes in with us, and sometimes dh will stay, and sometimes he will move to the couch (futon).

Of course that's the average- the other night, dd and I slept on the couch together, and dh got the bed to himself.

[ReedleBeetle]

We co-sleep. We do musical beds most nights and occasionally a family bed. We would do a family bed all the time if we had a king sized bed.

[MomTo7]

:doh

[milkmommy]

Ok, then I'm confused! :scratch

Co-sleeping does NOT = bed sharing, but
bed sharing = co-sleeping

Can someone help me out and give specific definitions? Wanna make sure I get it! Thanks! :heart


I'm missing something myself.. I THINK I get it but not to sure :)

Deanna

[SamRose]

Ok, then I'm confused! :scratch

Co-sleeping does NOT = bed sharing, but
bed sharing = co-sleeping

Can someone help me out and give specific definitions? Wanna make sure I get it! Thanks! :heart

I'll try :)
Bed sharing is a form of co-sleeping, but that doesnt mean all co-sleeping is bed sharing. Some co-sleeping is baby in bassinet or crib next to parents bed.

Like apples are a type of fruit, but not all fruit is apples. Some fruit is watermelon.

Does that analogy help?

[Soliloquy]

Bedsharing can be a form of co-sleeping, but basically co-sleeping means you sleep in close proximity to child, whether that be baby in bed, bassinet, floor mat, etc.



:yes

Co-sleeping is sleeping w/in close proximity to a child, definitely in the same room but doesn't have to be in the same bed.
Bedsharing is sleeping in the same bed w/ a child.
Family bed generally means everyone in the same bed but it can also mean parents and the younger children in one bed, w/ older children sleeping elsewhere.
Responsive nighttime parenting means that parents respond to their children's needs for food & comfort during the night regardless of where everyone sleeps.

So, bedsharing and a family bed are both forms of co-sleeping. All three are ways to be a responsive nighttime parent.

[tazmom]

So my babies sleeping in the crib 3 feet from my bed counts as co-sleeping? Cool! I guess I've always co-slept and didn't know it.

[milkmommy]

That Is what I figured I guess I jsut missed a diffrent post or something though :)

Deanna

[milkmommy]

So my babies sleeping in the crib 3 feet from my bed counts as co-sleeping? Cool! I guess I've always co-slept and didn't know it.

I always said my DD co roomed with us from around 8 months to 2 years..

Deanna

[ArmsOfLove]

we Family Bed :)

[lettucebabies]

WOW great thread :smile

I've been using the terms all wrong lol...

we'll be co-sleeping w/ the next baby... probably bedsharing by default

[saturnfire16]

:doh I always say co-sleeping. I guess I should say family bed from now on! It explains some confusion from the other day too. I said to a soon-to-be-mama, "don't be afraid to co-sleep," and was telling her how nice and easy it is to get the baby latched on and go back to sleep. She said, "Really, is it that easy? Because the co-sleeper I have seems too low to reach." I said, "Oh, I've never used on of those," and she looked at me like :hunh because I'd just said I co-sleep. I had to back track and tell her that baby is actually *in my bed.* :giggle

[Cookie Momster]

I guess I need to start saying bed sharing then cos that's what I'm refering to when I say cosleeping. I've never considered the 2 years of co-rooming we did with DD (after 2 years of bed sharing) as cosleeping :shrug

[milkmommy]

so what is a side carred crib considered? We did that for about the first 8 months then shes slept better in her crib away form our bed but still in our room.

Deanna

[Codi]

OP: You must have been reading the new mothering magazine! :giggle I just read that article tonight and thought, ok, so I co-sleep, bed-share, and have a family bed! Cool! GREAT ARTICLE BTW for those of you who do not have the recent mothering mag. issue! :tu


so what is a side carred crib considered? We did that for about the first 8 months then shes slept better in her crib away form our bed but still in our room.

Deanna


They consider both of those co-sleeping.

[IslandMama]

Co-sleeping is sleeping w/in close proximity to a child, definitely in the same room but doesn't have to be in the same bed.
Bedsharing is sleeping in the same bed w/ a child.
Family bed generally means everyone in the same bed but it can also mean parents and the younger children in one bed, w/ older children sleeping elsewhere.
Responsive nighttime parenting means that parents respond to their children's needs for food & comfort during the night regardless of where everyone sleeps.

So, bedsharing and a family bed are both forms of co-sleeping. All three are ways to be a responsive nighttime parent.


Thanks! Now I get it! I've always referred to us a co-sleeping...which is correct, since for most of the last 17 years we have either done bedsharing or the family bed... But I get the point that not all co-sleepers bedshare! I've just realized there are more co-sleepers than I thought, if you count cribs in the same room... What do you call that form of co-sleeping, co-rooming?

[mokamoto]

Great thread! It's important to have shared meaning on the terms we use. :-)

We intended to cosleep with a "sidecar" and ended up bedsharing. Now we are doing the Family Bed with a toddler bed in the room and baby in our bed. So far it works for us. I love waking up to the kids smiling at each other!

[SamRose]

I'd call the set up we have w/ a crib side car'd to be bed-sharing specifically, not just co-sleeping in general, since the crib mattress and our mattress R the exact same height, and it's like one very wide bed. Sometimes Im on part of the crib mattress and daddy and baby R on the tempurpedic. Other than a seam where the mattress meets, it's all one bed and if we just had a King size bed we wouldn't even have that seam ;) Here's a pic
http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/mb/index.php?topic=200642.0

[rstump]

So I guess we are a Family Bed.....Musical beds family. :)

[Blue Aurora]

We have a family bed but I'm starting to figure out how this works once new baby arrives.

[Mama Bird]

Weird. So then, why doesn't a co-pilot pilot a plane just a few feet away from the pilot? :giggle