Bed Sharing in Toddlerhood: Choice Versus Necessity and Provider Guidelines

Abstract

A sleeping toddler is not only a welcome sight for parents, but sleep promotes children's physical growth, behavior, and emotional and cognitive development. 1 During toddlerhood, children's sleep/wake patterns evolve and consolidate rapidly into longer nighttime sleep duration and less daytime sleep, as circadian rhythms are developed. 2 To assist their toddlers with these sleep transitions, many parents develop bedtime routines to help their toddlers prepare for sleep. In highincome countries, such as the United States, many children sleep in a crib and subsequently in a bed either alone or with a sibling. However, in some cases, toddlers sleep with their parent(s). Bed SharingBed sharing, sharing a bed or another sleeping surface, is a common practice in many countries, and is often perceived to improve sleep problems and promote family closeness. 3 For example, bed sharing is highly prevalent in Africa (100% in some countries), Mongolia (100%), Vietnam (83%), India (72%), and China (66.2%). 3,4 In the United States, although bed sharing is not the norm, it occurs in almost one quarter (23%) of families. 4