Dr. McKenna began researching shared sleep, mothers and babies sleeping together, out of idle curiosity. After a few years of sleep research, he became convinced that the physiologically normal place for breastfed babies to sleep was next to their mothers, in a safe sleep environment. Find out what the safe sleeping guidelines are, and how you can modify those to keep your baby near you at night, to safely fit your family situation. (For example, formula fed babies should not bedshare, but sleeping in the parents' room in a separate crib is a safer sleep environment during the first 6 months of life, than sleeping in a separate room.)