11 Amazing Things That Happen Between You & Your Baby When You Co-Sleep

Having your baby nearby can calm your nerves and lead to peaceful sleep. According to Mother magazine, many mamas who co-sleep with their baby reported sleeping sounder. Knowing your little one is just an arm's length away can be a sigh of relief every night.

With your sweetie pie so near by, breastfeeding stays cozy and simple throughout the night. Having your baby in bed with you makes breastfeeding easier, according to The Natural Child Project. Since you don't have to transition in and out of different beds, you and your little one can easily feed and go back to sleep in no time.

Comforting your baby is a 'round the clock job, but co-sleeping helps your child to feel more settled at night. As James McKenna, director of the Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Laboratory at Notre Dame told The Bump, having the mother nearby helps a baby to settle because they feel safe because they are close to you.

One of the coolest things about co-sleeping is the way your animal instincts kick in. According to the website for Dr. Sears, co-sleeping pairs tend to arouse from sleep in accordance throughout the night. Although either one or both of the pair may not wake completely, when one stirred, the other stirred as well. It's pretty awesome to think how connected this makes you and your baby.

It doesn't take much more than some mushed-up bananas and a soft toy to keep your baby happy — but what about you? It turns out, co-sleeping may be what's causing you to smile. Co-sleeping parents rated their overall happiness equal to parents with crib sleepers, according to What To Expect's website. Which means if you thought you might be missing out on happier days, the grass is not greener on the other side.

Co-sleeping with your baby increases your nighttime vigilance. A study published in the journal Sleep found that mothers and babies who slept near one another were more in tune to each other throughout the night.

Contrary to what people apposed to co-sleeping say, the act of sleeping near your baby can help them to become their best self in the future. According to co-sleeping guru, Dr. Sears, "co-sleeping babies grow up with a higher self-esteem, less anxiety, become independent sooner, are better behaved in school, and are more comfortable with affection." So rest well knowing you're creating a super kid.

Having my baby close by in his bassinet helped me to hear all his little sounds. Some were sweet little coos, and others were small grunts meaning he needed to be burped. I always felt like it was easier to hear him from 12 inches away than it would be through the monitor.

Having my son near at night gave me a glimpse into his nighttime world. I learned that he often smiled when he slept and kicked his leg a little once he drifted off to sleep. These little peeks into his world made me feel closer to him and gave me great stories to tell him when he became older.

Just as you sleep more soundly when your baby is near, having mama nearby helps baby to feel secure. According to a recent study in the journal Biological Psychiatry, "newborns who sleep apart from their mothers don’t sleep as well and are under more stress than those who bed-share."

The threat of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) causes a lot of parents to wonder if co-sleeping is safe. But as Parenting magazine reported, co-sleeping could be a prevention method in lowering the risk of SIDS. This is backed up by research as well as the theory that cultures who have a tradition of co-sleeping also have very low incidents of SIDS.