Every new parent wants to sleep more or better. Co-sleeping can benefit mother, baby and the rest of the family. I know I felt much more rested and had more energy for my other child, my home, and my husband when I slept together. There are many benefits to co-sleeping as well as some key safety tips. When you consider how helpless babies are at birth, co-sleeping just makes sense. Babies are biologically designed to stay close to their mothers! They are pre-designed to survive, grow and thrive on breast milk. Infants are also born with very small bellies that require frequent feedings. All of these needs are much easier to meet if baby sleeps next to mother. Additionally, from an evolutionary perspective, among all mammals, humans are born very helpless and mature slowly. Thousands of years ago, a baby left to sleep alone probably wouldn't survive very long. Keep in mind that co-sleeping is still practiced in many parts of the world, particularly in Eastern countries. The Western movement toward pushing babies to sleep alone and toward independence as a whole is, I believe, a sign of our shift from a collectivist to an individualist culture. A lot of things are said about co-sleeping to the general public. We were warned that it was dangerous. We know that babies are dying from SIDS and they are looking everywhere for a cause. Everyone seems to want a straight answer about what happened to these babies and I understand why. I believe co-sleeping gets a bad rap because people need to place blame on something and not rely on actual scientific evidence. William Sears suggests that "in infants at risk for SIDS, natural mothering [unrestricted breastfeeding and sharing sleep... middle of paper... helps us extend the duration." Our babies, our bodies and our families can benefit from the benefits of a happier, better-rested mother-baby pair. Works cited Christensen, Brittany. Personal interview. March 12, 2014. “Shared Sleeping Safety.” » Doctorate in parenting. np January 11, 2009. Web. March 31, 2014. George, Melissa. Personal interview. March 12, 2014.McKenna, James J. “Guidelines for Safe Cosleeping.” Mother-Infant Behavioral Laboratory, University of Notre Dame. Nd Web. March 22, 2014McKenna, James J. Joyce, Edmund P. "Co-sleep and biological imperatives: why human babies don't and shouldn't sleep alone." » Neuroanthropology.net. np December 21, 2008. the web. March 8, 2014 Sears, William. Nighttime Parenting How to put your baby and child to sleep. Franklin Park, Illinois. Le Leche League International, 1990. Print. Quattlebaum, Amy. Personal interview. March 17 2014.