Mom Allison Cooper doesn’t care what your opinions are regarding co-sleeping and the many benefits it gives to both parent and child. She’s having none of it, and she doesn’t care what you think.
“When my son was born, I was living with my parents,” she says in her Mama Mia story. “We were a young military couple who got married when I was six months pregnant, and our apartment off-base wasn’t going to be ready until our sweet one was about five weeks old.”
The couple imagined those first few weeks of pregnancy to be heaven—that is, until they discovered that their new baby hated the bassinet.
“Baby Branden would stir in the wee hours of the night and my tired new mom arms would bring him into bed with me, since there was no one lying next to me,” she recalls. “He slept soundly—and I lay awake in fear that I would crush him during the night.”
That was when she realized it wasn’t going to work out.
From that point forward, she and her husband had decided on a strict “no baby in the bed” policy; it has since become a big no-no in their lives.
Allison is aware of the many products that help prevent you from smothering your newborn; even co-sleeping parents she knew tried to educate her often about these products.
But she’s not buying it.
“While co-sleeping might behave been a magical bonding experience for you and your baby, we just aren’t having it,” she says. “And you know what? That’s okay. We quickly learned that keeping our kids out of the bed allowed us to put our relationship first and keep the bond between us strong.”
Her relationship with her husband is the foundation of their family, and without their relationship staying intact, their whole family would crumble, “so keeping this foundation strong is #1 to us.”
“I get it, you have had a different experience. But I don’t really care anymore. There is no use in pushing your opinions on me and, quite frankly, when I sense that you are, I get defensive from the get-go.”
READ: Should you be co-sleeping with baby or putting him in the crib?
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