Parental bed-sharing is unlikely to impact children’s psychological development, new research has found.

The study from the University of Essex looked at nearly 17,000 British babies and tracked them for 11 years — finding kids who shared beds were happy and healthy.

Dr Ayten Bilgin, from the Department of Psychology, found no association between bed-sharing at 9 months and childhood emotional or behavioural problems.

The practice is mired in controversy as some experts previously thought it negatively affected children’s development.

However, others say it helps both parents and children as they are nearby for feeding and if they wake in the night.

Dr Bilgin, said: “Despite the ongoing debate about the potential long-term harms and benefits of bed-sharing, little scientific research has been conducted on this topic.

“Parents can rest assured that as long as it’s practiced safely, bed-sharing is unlikely to have any negative impact on children’s emotional and behavioural development.

“There is a lot of guilt and shame around bed-sharing — but it is a parental choice.”

The study, published in Attachment and Human Development, used data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study which follows the lives of 16,599 children born in the UK.

Parents reported on bed-sharing at 9 months and on their children’s internalising behaviour — such as depression and anxiety — and externalising, like aggression and hyperactivity, when they were 3, 5, 7 and 11 years old.



Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Before you post, please prove you are sentient.

What color is fresh snow?

Explore More

One in eight is genetically protected against jaundice

One in eight newborn babies has a gene variant that almost completely protects against jaundice. The research, conducted at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, provides the opportunity to develop

Just a moment…

Just a moment… Enable JavaScript and cookies to continue This request seems a bit unusual, so we need to confirm that you’re human. Please press and hold the button until

Just a moment…

Just a moment… Enable JavaScript and cookies to continue This request seems a bit unusual, so we need to confirm that you’re human. Please press and hold the button until