Glossary
Room sharing
Keeping a baby's crib or bassinet in the parents' room for sleep, without sharing the same sleep surface.
Room sharing means the baby sleeps in their own crib, bassinet or play yard placed in the parents' bedroom, rather than in a separate nursery, especially in the earlier months. It is distinct from bed sharing, where a baby sleeps on the same surface as an adult, which safe sleep guidance treats very differently.
In practice, room sharing usually means a bassinet or a compact crib positioned close enough to the bed for easy nighttime feeding and checks, while the baby still has their own firm, flat sleep surface free of loose bedding. Many families continue room sharing for around the first several months before transitioning the baby to their own room or nursery.
A frequent point of confusion is treating room sharing and bed sharing as the same practice, or assuming that placing a baby on a couch or armchair with a parent nearby is equivalent to a proper room-sharing setup. The sleep surface itself, not just proximity to a parent, is what safe sleep guidance is describing.