It's recommended that your baby sleeps in a crib in your bedroom for the first six months. With your baby in your bedroom, you'll be close by when he cries at night and able to attend to him easily. This is especially useful if you're breast-feeding.

Remember that babies are not necessarily quiet sleepers: they may wiggle, grunt, and move around and these noises may disturb you or your partner. If your partner has to go to work the following day this extra disturbance may affect him. It will affect you, too, but you may have a chance to "catch up" on some sleep, or at least rest, when your baby naps. You should do what is best for all three of you, even if that means your partner spends some nights in the spare room. Some new parents find that they are so exhausted by life with a newborn that they sleep, regardless of whether their baby is snuffling or not.

If the baby is in his own room you may worry that you may not hear him cry, but you will if you use a baby monitor. When he does cry, yet again at 3 am, be aware that a short trip along the landing can seem like a mile.

You may want to put your baby into your bed with you, and yet you may be concerned that you might roll over on him. For this reason, the American Academy of Pediatrics does not recommend co-sleeping. It can be especially dangerous if either of you smoke or use alcohol or drugs that make it hard to wake up, or if you sleep with the baby on a waterbed, couch, or in a chair. The safest place for your baby is in a bassinet near your bed.