Photo by Amelia Tanner
Nurturing Nightz
Building Bonds & Behavior
Co-sleeping fosters a deep, nurturing connection between infants and caregivers which, promotes trust and emotional security that lasts a lifetime. Infants experience enhanced social and emotional development, setting the foundation for confidence, happiness, and resilience in adulthood.
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Childhood
A byproduct of co-sleeping has been seen to be a secure attachment. Misha Jan describes a secure attachment in the article "Secure Attachment Style Relationships & How to Form" as having the feelings of trust, safety, feeling comfortable, and having the ability to rely on others. These traits are formed through the consistency and responsiveness of caregivers. The co-sleeping environment offers proximity which promotes increased responsiveness.
Secure attachments formed through co-sleeping have been linked to children having lower cortisol increases when presented with stressors. Additionally, these children have been seen to have higher levels of happiness and creativity.
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Roughly "51.6" percent of children have a secure attachment (Ocklenburg).
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Adulthood
Adults that developed a secure attachment during infancy have been seen to have a better ability of regulating their emotions. These adults also reported having less guilt and anxiety (McKenna and McDade).
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Secure attachments developed through practices such as co-sleeping have been associated with adults having a higher overall sense of satisfaction with lives as shown in a study of 1,400 subjects.
