A mum desperate for a good night's sleep built her toddler their own bed in her parents' bedroom - next to theirs.<br /><br />Neuza Carvahlo, 26, and her partner, Montel Patterson, 26, slept in separate bedrooms for over a year while Neuza was co-sleeping with their daughter, Zariah.<br /><br />Despite warnings about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, Neuza thought co-sleeping would be easier for night feeds and keeping Zariah happy during the night.<br /><br />But when it started to impact her wellbeing, Neuza - with the help of Montel - decided to build Zariah a bed next to theirs to "save her mental health".<br /><br />The couple decided to allow their toddler to stay in their bedroom - rather than making her sleep in her own and say she now often sleeps through the night.<br /><br />The tot has a firm routine, and her new bed allows Neuza and Montel, an American football player, to have time to themselves.<br /><br />Neuza, a patient co-ordinator, from Bromley, Greater London, said: “Zariah always needed me there to be able to go to sleep - it was time for her to have her own independence. <br /><br />"She's still in the room with us, but now she has her own space with the bed we built for her. It's really helping me with my mental health - and I feel like I've had such a release!<br /><br />"My child and partner needed me to the point where I lost myself.<br /><br />“At some point, I needed to give myself back to myself, and my daughter needed her independence.”<br /><br />Zariah was born on October 29, 2020. She suffered from colic in her first three months - and Neuza says she was “a baby who cried non-stop”.<br /><br />Neuza felt it would be easier on them both to begin co-sleeping in her double bed - while Montel slept in the second bedroom.<br /><br />She says she was advised not to do this by midwives and health visitors - as an estimated half of babies who die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome co-sleep with their parents, according to the Lullaby Trust. <br /><br />“Obviously, I did get criticism from midwives and the person who visits you afterwards for the first eight months,” she said.<br /><br />“They’re always against it because there’s a huge risk of SIDS that comes with co-sleeping.<br /><br />“For me, though, my mum co-slept with me, and Montel’s mum co-slept with him. It was always just easier for the nighttime feeds.<br /><br />“It worked for me - but I can see why other people wouldn’t do it.<br /><br />'But I felt comfortable doing it.<br /><br />'We never had any problems, and because my partner was sleeping in another bed, we had plenty of space.”<br /><br />But co-sleeping did present the couple with other issues - Zariah quickly became “attached to the boob” - and expected to breastfeed in her sleep.<br /><br />She woke up multiple times every night for a feed, which left Neuza feeling exhausted and drained.<br /><br />Neuza said: “When Zariah was breastfeeding, she became attached to the boob.<br /><br />"She constantly woke up during the night and expected to breastfeed during sleep.<br /><br />“She needed me so much, to the point where I was losing weight, losing energy. Co-sleeping and breastfeeding made me feel like an object.
