Let me start with every family, every child, and every person is different. You may not make up your mind until the baby is born and even then test different methods to figure out what works for you! Personally our daughter started sleeping in her own room from day one and continues to this day. The primary reason for this for me was fear of smothering her.

I WAS a very heavy sleeper. If I had brought her into our room I would have wanted to hold and cuddle her (they are so darn cute!) and was in constant fear I would fall asleep with her in my arms if I held her in my bed where I had trained myself to sleep. Therefore I didn't want her in our room at all. This ment I spent a lot of time in the living room with her or in her room with the rocker.

Now let me also explain the set up of my house. We have a two bedroom house with both bedrooms on the same side and I arranged the furniture where I could literally lie in my bed and see her in her crib. The doors were NEVER shut and I even kicked my husband off "his side" of the bed to put me by the door so I could get to her if there was the slightest thing wrong.

Our daughter is now 2 and in the transitional bed. While we made the decision early that we did not want her in our bed, there have been nights where the old saying did apply: "Rules are ment to be broken." For example when she was teething, or the one time she has been really sick. We tried to bring her into our bed and let her sleep with us, talk about a nightmare! My daughter is a tosser and turner and she will beat the snot out of you at night!

We found with her in our bed none of us got any sleep! Now when she has "one of those nights" we use the living room and do a family camp out. Dad doesn't sleep well if I am not in bed with him, so we all just camp out and remember those nights fondly even though we suffered the next day.

The primary reason I have heard friends of ours say they had the child in their bed or bedroom was for nursing. While I understand this during the first six months, these are also the time when the child is the smallest and easiest to roll onto. After six months and they should not be eating every 3-4 hours anymore. Teaching them to "snack" all night is not a good habit to start them with for the rest of their lives either.

For our little one she knows that bed time is bed time, and I personally like having the time with my husband after she goes to sleep. I do know better than to say never, but I can say I don't forsee her wanting to come into our bed in the future. At her age it would be a manipulation technique to get out of going to bed when she is supposed to and I don't want to start that battle now!

Again I want to reitterate, you are at that child's mercy until they are at least 6 months old. You can't establish bed time, they eat when they are hungry and you have to feed them, they have small stomachs and small bladders. I called the first six months survival. If you want a bassinette to help you survive, go for it! Our house set up allowed me the luxury of her having her own room, while I could still see and hear her clearly.