At what age is it no longer appropriate for small children to fall asleep beneath their parent’s or sibling’s sheets?
Cultural Acceptance of Co-Sleeping
Though parents sleeping with their young children is a popular practice in some areas of the world, it is open to much debate. This is called co-sleeping. Most people agree that it is cute for toddlers to cuddle up next to their parents when they have fears or trouble sleeping. Small children may run for shelter beneath their parents’ sheets during a thunderstorm. The need for physical touch in parental bonding is well documented. [1]
For the protection of their delicate bodies, infants should sleep alone in a crib. This is often a difficult transition from the womb.
In many cultures, co-sleeping is the norm until children are weaned. Some families continue long after weaning. Japanese parents (or grandparents) frequently sleep in proximity to their children until they are teenagers. Referring to this arrangement as a river—the mother is one bank, the father another, and the child sleeping between them is the water. [2]
Co-sleeping in Sweden is a normal family activity. This differs from the other societies studied. Swedish children often co-sleep with both their parents until school age. Then more boys than girls stopped the practice. [3] With variance, parents around the world often bathe boys with girls until the age of 3 or 4. [4,5]
Prevent Awkward Co-Sleeping Situations
Co-sleeping often has no motive beyond socioeconomic necessity. Families that grow unexpectedly can exceed the number of available bedrooms. It is not as much an issue if there are separate rooms for boys and girls.
Sometimes a girl who outgrows a crib may share a bunk bed with an older brother. (Do not place an infant or toddler high above the floor.) It is all quite innocent at first, but most parents recognize the need to eventually separate genders.
Your immediate family can include a mom and dad with children in a large house or a single parent in a one-room apartment. When finances permit, parents try to into larger accommodations to match the size of their family.
Sometimes cousins who visit need a place to stay. The pandemic has more families sharing cramped quarters with relatives. Parents have tough decisions to make. Will you err on the side of caution?
Protect Children From Incest
One thing a maturing young man discovers is that functioning testicles are in a constant state of motion. This helps regulate the temperature of sperm.
Also, during the night, a male can have as many as five erections that last up to 20 or 30 minutes each. This is called nocturnal penile tumescence—sometimes accompanied by nocturnal emissions. [6] Less commonly discussed are nocturnal clitoral erections among females. [7] Most go unnoticed because of sleeping. But some can awaken a child. A maturing boy lying next to a sister or parent in this state can be confusing, traumatizing, or lead to serious questions and circumstances.
Bed sharing among siblings is a common practice not associated with any impaired child’s mental health until after the age of six years. By the time a child reaches puberty (ages 6,8–14), he or she should have “the talk” about human reproduction. [8]
It is wise for boys and girls to have separate rooms as their bodies mature. Teens sharing beds with adults or relatives of the opposite sex is inappropriate in many societies. Having opposite genders sleep head-to-toe in the same bed is not a foolproof strategy.
Rarely a one-time offense, incest is a notoriously underreported crime. [9] The prevalence of cases varies between 5% and 62% according to culture, the source of the report, and geographic location. African-American women are 1.75 times more likely than White women to have experienced child sexual abuse.
The results of a demographic questionnaire were tabulated. Of 159 girls (mean age 10), Latinas were found to have a greater number of sexually abusive episodes and waited longer to disclose their abuse. Caucasian girls were more likely to have experienced vaginal penetration.
Among the individual types of incest, father-daughter incest is most common, followed by the other types like brother-sister, sister-sister, and mother-son incest. The World Health Organization classifies this problem as a silent health emergency. [10–14]
Children learn how to show proper affection from the nurturing of parents and siblings. Recognize the need for children to have their own space—at least by gender as they grow up. At some point, sleeping together in one bed outgrows its innocence.
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To support the writing of useful articles about parents, ClinicalPosters sells human anatomy charts, scientific posters, and other products online. You may sponsor specific articles or remit a small donation.
ClinicalPosters sells human anatomy charts, scientific posters, and other products online to offset expense of the writing useful articles about parents. Slide extra posters into DeuPair Frames without removing from the wall.
ClinicalPosters sells human anatomy charts, scientific posters, and other products online. You may remit a small donation.
You can support the writing of useful articles about parents by sponsoring specific articles or remitting a small donation. Visible content is optimized for device size.
