Co-sleeping in the Bible: Why biblical parents slept next to their children at night

Many parents think that co-sleeping is a bad way to bond with children, oftentimes citing dependence on the presence of parents. There are so many fears about co-sleeping that need to be addressed. Co-sleeping is the most time-honored parenting tactic out there. It was done in biblical times between mothers and children. There are reasons pertaining to a child's safety why mothers in specific should co-sleep with their children.

Christian parenting requires the component of Christian love for children, as denoted by the Greek root word αγαπαο (Latin: agapao), and refers to putting children first, and yourself as a parent last, in a convicted way leading to dutiful and selfless submission to the every need of children, expecting absolutely nothing in return, with children resting safely and securely in parents. See Colossians 3:20-21 KJV:

Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.

The Greek root word translated "obey" is υπακουο (Latin: hupakouo) and refers to secure, vulnerable rest in the love and grace of parents. This form of respect for parents does not come from fearful compliance, but instead comes from restful trust in parents, leading to children telling parents anything and everything on their mind, including admissions of wrongdoing, expecting absolutely nothing in return. Attachment parenting was the norm in Ancient Israel and the Early Church. Think a Christian mother holding pales of water, with a young child being wrapped up next to her bosom, and an older child strapped to her back in a papoose bag. That was the parenting then.

The Greek root word translated "provoke...to anger" is ερεθιζο (Latin: erethizo) and refers to damages or abuse, namely child abuse in this context. The definition of child abuse under biblical law, at minimum, is the slightest of personal offense perceived by the child, including the slightest of offensive touch or speech perceived by the child. In this commandment, the Apostle Paul was lifting up the Law against punishment and controlling demeanor towards children, rebuking Greek Christians for bringing their pagan custom of spanking children into the church, with these parents misusing the book of Proverbs as an excuse for abuse. Paul was warning Greek Christian parents that Proverbs was simply wisdom literature, and not a book on parenting. The Apostle Paul was anti-spanking, and never believed in punishing a child for anything.

Co-sleeping does not cause dependence on parental comfort for getting to sleep. One of the good things my parents did was co-sleeping, which I shook off when I was 16. Sleep dependence is a common concern among autism professionals, but I believe all children shake off their parents' closeness, but a child with autism will do it at a later age, usually late teens to early adulthood.

Most children cry and refuse to go to bed for a reason - they are afraid of predators. They may express their fear as fear of "monsters". That monster could be their father lurking in their room at night. Children in biblical times never left the side of their mothers up until age 6, and even after that, snuggled with mothers at night. This served a function - so that mothers could guard their child from predators...The context contained herein is applicable today, and should be applied today, perhaps with some tweaking.

Children went naked in biblical times wherever they went, and mothers went naked when in the home, wearing a thin dress with nothing underneath when leaving the house. Mothers and children co-slept with each other in the nude. This lowered the level of attachment to an equal level. Skin-to-skin closeness is crucial for the development of children, and this can be done in co-sleeping fashion or co-mingling fashion...Some of this context may be dated, but much of it is applicable today, perhaps with some tweaking.

The depraved and entitled parents who provoke children to anger will not inherit the Kingdom of God! Let them be cast in to the lake of fire and burning sulfur, which is the second death prepared for Satan and his accomplices! Let them descend into the abyss which is the ever-burning Hell of fire and torment, suffering God's Wrath forever and ever! Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!