Dad's Poignant Post Explains Why He Supports Wife's Co-Sleeping Arrangement With Their Two Kids

A dad has written a touching post telling other parents why he doesn’t judge his wife for co-sleeping with their two kids at night.

David Brinkley, from the US, overheard a conversation his partner had with her friends about co-sleeping. He heard one of the friends mention the fact he must “hate” that his wife wants the kids in the bed with her.

“This blew my mind and has bothered me for days,” Brinkley shared on the Love What Matters Facebook page on 3 April.

“So I just decided to come out as a man and set a few things straight. I do not hate any part of what makes my wife the mother that she is.

“I would NEVER degrade or disregard anything that she feels like doing for my children.”

Brinkley continued: “Do I have to squeeze into a small corner of the bed sometimes? Yeah. But my God how beautiful does she look holding my children making them feel loved and safe?

“The thing is, our wives only experience these little seasons in motherhood for a short time. They carry our babies, they birth them, they nurture them and maybe while they are little they let them crawl into our beds and snuggle.

“But eventually our babies get bigger they grow up they get ‘too cool’ for snuggles so why would we as men want to steal a single second of this time from them?

“Being mothers is part of their identity and what’s a year or three out of decades of life spent together?”

The dad added that he was “proud” of the decisions his wife makes as a mum and he supports every single one of them.

“I would never want to rob her of this time she has or these seasons that are in reality, too short to not enjoy,” he added. “Please respect your wives as mothers.”

In less than 24 hours, the post had 22,000 shares and more than 110,000 likes.

“To have a man who cares so deeply about his partner and children is the most beautiful thing on earth I think,” one person wrote.

Another commented: Beautiful picture... people really are to quick to judge anyone who lets their child in their bed. Life is way too short so enjoy the snuggles.”

A dad also commented: “As a dad of five, we always have at least one in our bed and we embrace it with open arms and pillows.

“It is such a great feeling to know that my kids still like to have mummy and daddy time.”

Before You Go

Baby Sleep Tricks

The Guide Book(01 of04)

The Gentle Sleep Solution: The Naturally Nurturing Way To Help Your Baby To Sleep offers a gentle alternative to controlled crying methods. Drawing on her experience as a psychologist, CBT therapist and mother of four, Shallow teaches parents, firstly, how to identify the underlying reason for their baby's troubled sleeping by reading their behaviour, and, secondly, how to respond in ways that will help to reduce their anxiety and allow them to fall asleep independently. (credit:Jupiterimages via Getty Images)

The Bedtime Story Book(02 of04)

Swedish behavioural psychologist and linguist Carl-Johan Forssen Ehrlin spent more than three years perfecting his bestselling sleep-inducing bedtime story The Rabbit Who Wants To Fall Asleep. Using psychological and positive reinforcement techniques to help little ones to relax, focus and eventually drift off, he describes the story as “the verbal equivalent of rocking a baby to sleep.” (credit:Penguin Random House)

The Smartphone App(03 of04)

The Sound Sleeper app, gives you a choice of sounds for lulling your baby to sleep according to her personal preferences – whether that’s the rhythm of the womb, a gentle ‘shhh’ or the sound of a vacuum cleaner. It also ‘listens’ for your baby and starts playing the sound you’ve chosen as soon as it hears a whimper. You can even track your baby’s sleep and generate graphs to help you learn and analyse your baby’s sleep patterns. (credit:Layland Masuda via Getty Images)

The Night Light(04 of04)

The Sleepy Baby™ Biological LED Lamp light bulb works by filtering out the stimulating blue light spectrum that can inhibit your baby’s production of the sleep hormone, melatonin. Although it provides adequate light for bedtime stories, nappy changes and night-time feeds, your baby’s brain registers the light as darkness, making it easier for them to fall back asleep. (credit:Lighting Science)