What Are the Benefits of a Family Bed With Older Children?

Unity

• A family is more unified when everyone sleeps together. It is a very intimate feeling for everyone to cuddle up together and sleep in the same bed. If a child wakes up during the night and has a nightmare or is restless, they're more comfortable knowing their parent or parents are right next to them when they wake up feeling alone and vulnerable. A study by researchers, as cited by Maria Goodavage, noted that children who slept with their parents felt more unified and did not use a security object such as a blanket to sleep with.

Routine

• A family bed encourages everyone to follow the same routine. Parents may decide to go to bed at the same time as the children so that they don't disturb them by going to the bed significantly later. The family spends more time together, both awake and sleeping, than if a child sleeps in their own bed. Studies conducted by James McKenna from the University of Notre Dame discovered that parents and children entered into the same sleep patterns at the same time when they slept together. They were more rested than parents and children who slept apart.

Adjustment and Attitude

• Many parents note that as their children grow older they become harder to relate with and shut them out, refusing to communicate to let them know what is on their minds. They lose that bond younger children have with their parents. Studies cited by Maria Goodavage note, "Children who never slept in their parents' beds were harder to control, less happy, had more tantrums, handled stress less well, and were more fearful than routinely co-sleeping children."

Security

• Parents and children sleep better when they're next to each other. If something happens during the night such as a fire or break-in, parents are more relaxed knowing that their child or children are right beside them where they can protect them from any dangers that come their way.