Pros and Cons of Co-Sleeping With Animals or Children

Are you one of those who share bed with your children or animals? Scientists have recently discovered the pros and cons of sharing bed with animals or children. As per the scientists half of the owners share their beds or bedrooms with their pets at night. However, this has been the case through the ages.  Surprisingly, few studies have been done about the advantages and disadvantages of this practice.

Studies about co-sleeping are restricted to the bedtime preparations of adults, or parents and their children. An author of a renowned magazine has also argued on this subject stating that society regards both human-animal and adult-child co-sleeping with the same unnecessary apprehension. However, these concerns should be set aside as both practices have their benefits, says lead author Bradley Smith. The scientists added that sleeping with children from birth is still the custom in many cultures. Intergenerational co-sleeping is generally more common in collectivist Asian countries than in contemporary, individualistic or industrialized Western cultures.

In the west, as far as the sleep is concerned, as an individual and private experience, it helps the body and mind to optimally rest and recuperate. The normative move from sleep as a public and social issue to a private one is emerged through a complex "civilizing" process starting in the Victorian era. Social norms and rules started to dictate that each person should sleep in a single bed, in a private place and sport appropriate sleeping attire. This slowly presented the concept of the private bedroom and private sleep to many social classes.

By: Priyanka Negi

Content: www.sciencedaily.com