Thursday, May 9, 2013

When your child needs a room of his own

I couldn’t help but laugh when I read this article ... “warm grey palette”, “intuitively calm space” “contemporary look while maintaining that intimate lived-in feel.”

I just hope this couple’s child was old enough to appreciate their care and attention to colour and form before he moved into his designer-space! I ask whose needs are the parents actually serving in “stringing a knitted flag garland under our Aesop’s fable artwork?” Let’s face it guys - little kids do best when they sleep within arm’s length of their parents. The things that matter are the warmth and comfort of another human body, a mum or dad they can reach out and touch, the security of other family members in their immediate night-time environment.

The time will come when they’ll want a space of their own, but chances are they’ll be on the way to choosing their own decor and furnishings when that happens!

Of course co-sleeping and family-bed are still a contentious issue. When raised however, I suggest those advocates for solitary sleeping (usually those at pains to decorate their child’s room long before his birth) heed the wise words of Margot Sunderland, Director of Education at the Centre for Child Mental Health in London and one of Britain’s leading experts in children’s mental health. Based on the most current findings in neurological and psychological development, she advises parents to adopt co-sleeping practices until their child is five, affirming that co-sleeping makes children more likely to grow up as calm and healthy adults. End of debate as far as I’m concerned ... reckon it’s unlikely that “a warm grey palette” would have the same effect!

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