Will Sharing a Bed with Toddlers Harm Their Development?

It’s okay for a parent and a toddler to sleep in the same bed, according to a new study.

Bed sharing has always been a topic of disagreement among parenting experts:  some endorse the practice, while others say it’s a bad idea.

Research published in Pediatric magazine tracked 944 low-income parent-toddler pairs from the ages of one-to-five, asking parents about sleeping arrangements, and testing the tots along the way. After analyzing the results, it was found that bed-sharing didn’t result in any behavioral or  cognitive problems in the youngsters.

However, this doesn’t give parents the green light to sleep with children who are less than a year old.  Previous studies have linked bed-sharing during infancy to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

[Live Science]