Co-sleeping with baby in Singapore: what's safe, and how to move them to their own room or bed

If you're co-sleeping with baby, the safest set-up is your baby's own cot right beside your bed. HealthHub and KKH call this room-sharing without bed-sharing, and HealthHub says to keep it up for at least 6 months, preferably a year. If you bed-share, as plenty of Singapore families do, this guide also covers the nights to skip it and how to make your bed safer. It ends with how to move your child out when you're ready.

How to co-sleep more safely, step by step

1. Put your baby's cot right next to your bed, so you can reach them for feeds without bringing them into yours.
2. Lay your baby on their back for every sleep, naps included, on a firm mattress with a well-fitted sheet, which HealthHub says to keep doing until your baby turns one.
3. Feed or cuddle your baby in your bed if you like, then move them. HealthHub says to put your baby back in the cot, on their back, when you're ready to sleep.
4. Clear your side of the bed before night feeds in case you doze off. The AAP says to remove pillows, blankets and sheets near your baby, and to move them back to their own space as soon as you wake.
5. Keep your baby out of your bed if anyone in it smokes, has drunk alcohol, or has taken drugs or medicine that makes them drowsy. The NHS adds no bed-sharing if your baby was born before 37 weeks or weighed under 2.5kg.
6. Put your baby down before you nod off on a sofa or armchair. HealthHub says never let a baby sleep there, or on a nursing pillow.
7. Give everyone who does nights the same rules. The Lullaby Trust's risk list covers anyone in the bed, so it applies to a helper or grandparent as much as to you.
8. Keep your baby in your room for at least the first 6 months before any move, as the AAP and NHS advise. The steps for babies and toddlers are further down.

For the full cot set-up, see our guide to safe sleep for babies in Singapore.

Room-sharing, bed-sharing or own room: at a glance

Co-sleeping covers a few set-ups. The Lullaby Trust only counts it as bed-sharing when your baby sleeps in your bed for most of the night, so a feed or a cuddle in bed is something else.

Why HealthHub and KKH advise room-sharing

KKH notes that many cultures co-sleep, and says a shared bed carries a risk that your baby could suffocate or get strangled. The AAP says room-sharing can cut the risk of SIDS by as much as 50%.

Age matters too. The NHS says SIDS is most likely in the first 6 months, though it can happen up to 12 months. And the AAP puts the risk while bed-sharing at 5 to 10 times higher for a baby under 4 months. Born early? The NHS says to count the year of safer sleep from your due date.

The AAP also flags a higher risk when a baby bed-shares with someone who is worn out or on medicine that makes it harder to wake. If nights are wearing you down, our guide to new parent sleep deprivation covers how to share them out.

If you bed-share anyway: making your bed safer

Many parents end up co-sleeping, planned or not. The Lullaby Trust says to make your bed as safe as you can and to think about the risks before every sleep. Check these each time:

• A firm, flat mattress with a clear space for your baby, the Lullaby Trust says. Skip pods and nests, which the NHS says not to use.
• Your baby on their back, away from pillows and adult bedding.
• Your duvet at waist height, with an extra layer on you, as the Lullaby Trust suggests. Cold under the aircon? Wear a warmer top.
• A well-fitted baby sleeping bag, which the Lullaby Trust says gives your baby their own bedding.
• No gaps. The NHS says your baby mustn't be able to fall out or get trapped between the mattress and the wall. The Lullaby Trust says to remove slatted or decorated headboards.
• No older children or pets in the bed with your baby (NHS).
• An adult always in the bed. If there isn't one, the NHS says to put your baby in their cot.
• Twins? One baby at a time, the Lullaby Trust advises.
• A heat check: feel your baby's chest or the back of their neck. If the skin is hot or sweaty, the Lullaby Trust says to take off a layer of bedding or clothes.

If you breastfeed lying down, you may drift off mid-feed. HealthHub links breastfeeding to a lower SIDS risk, and the Lullaby Trust says to prepare the bed if you think you might fall asleep. For latch and night-feed help, see our breastfeeding support guide.

Moving your baby to their own room

The AAP and NHS both say your baby should sleep in your room for at least the first 6 months. HealthHub goes further and prefers a year, which helps if your flat has no spare room anyway.

A room shared only with an older brother or sister doesn't count in those early months. The Lullaby Trust defines room-sharing as your baby sleeping in the same room as a parent or carer, and says no baby monitor or device can replace that adult.

When you're ready to move your baby:

• Keep the bedtime routine you already have, and finish it in the new room. KKH says a routine in infancy helps make sleep times regular.
• Put your baby down drowsy but not asleep, as KKH suggests, so they learn to settle in the new cot.
• Keep the room dark and quiet, at a temperature that suits a lightly dressed adult (KKH).
• Expect some protest between 6 and 12 months. KKH says separation anxiety at this age is a normal phase.
• Start with naps in the new room if a full night feels like too big a jump.

For HDB set-ups where siblings or a helper share the room, and for settling methods, see baby sleep training in Singapore. Wakings the main problem? Read about a baby waking at night.

Moving a co-sleeping toddler to their own bed or room

A toddler who has always slept beside you won't switch in one go. KKH's advice for toddlers is a slow fade: stay close at first, then move a little farther away each time you go back in.

• Choose the bed first. For bed types, rails and fall checks, see our cot to bed guide.
• Talk about the new bed during the day, so bedtime isn't the first time they hear about it.
• Run the same short routine every night and end it in their room. KKH suggests story time as the pre-bed ritual.
• Keep the room the same every night: cool, dark and with no TV (KKH).
• Stay by the bed at first. Each time you go back to reassure them, stand a little farther away, until you can do it in words from outside the room, as KKH describes.
• Wait several seconds before you answer when they call out, and a little longer each time, KKH says. When you do go in, KKH says not to excite your child or stay too long.
• Comfort them after a bad dream and stay until they're calm, then help them back to sleep. KKH says night fears are common at this age.
• Agree the plan with everyone who does bedtime, so your child gets the same answer from grandma or your helper as from you.

Some nights they'll end up back in your bed. Walk them back calmly and carry on. For naps, bedtimes and night wakings at this age, see our toddler sleep guide.

When to see a doctor

Book a visit to your GP or polyclinic if you notice any of these. KKH lists them as reasons to see a doctor about a child's sleep:

• Extreme fussiness in a newborn or infant that keeps happening (KKH).
• Breathing trouble, or noisy breathing (KKH).
• Snoring, especially loud snoring (KKH).
• Unusual night wakings (KKH).
• Trouble falling or staying asleep, with daytime sleepiness or behaviour problems (KKH).

Go straight to KKH Children's Emergency or NUH Children's Emergency, which runs round the clock, if your child shows any of these signs. If your baby doesn't respond, call 995 for an ambulance, as HealthXchange (SingHealth) advises.

• Lips, tongue, face or skin turning pale, blue or grey (NHS).
• Limp, floppy or not responding like usual (NHS).
• Grunting, wheezing or whistling noises as they breathe, or flared nostrils (HealthXchange).
• Listless, with no response to your voice (HealthXchange).
• Stiff, shaking or jerking, which may be a fit (NHS).

Frequently asked questions

Is co-sleeping safe in Singapore?

Room-sharing is. It's what HealthHub and KKH recommend, with your baby in their own cot next to your bed. Both advise against bed-sharing. If you do it anyway, keep your baby out of the bed on the riskiest nights and use the checklist above.

Is co-sleeping with baby OK if I'm breastfeeding?

You can feed in bed. HealthHub says to bring your baby into your bed only to feed or comfort them, then put them back in the cot on their back when you're ready to sleep. If you might doze off, the Lullaby Trust says to prepare your bed first.

When can baby sleep in own room?

Not before 6 months, according to the AAP and NHS, and HealthHub would rather you waited until your baby turns one. After that it's your call.

How do I transition my toddler to their own bed?

Go slowly. End the usual bedtime routine in their room and stay close at first. Then move farther away each time you reassure them, as KKH describes, until you can do it from the door.

Can my helper or the grandparents co-sleep with my baby?

The same rules apply to whoever sleeps next to your baby. The Lullaby Trust's risk list covers anyone in the bed who smokes or has drunk alcohol. The safest set-up is still your baby's own cot in that adult's room.