Co-sleeping assemblages: What shapes the co-sleeping practices in mother-baby dyads in Aotearoa New Zealand?

Co-sleeping, where caregiver-infant dyads share a sleeping surface, is a customary practice across many global cultures, including within Māori and Pacifica communities in Aotearoa New Zealand. Although co-sleeping offers many potential health benefits, such as strengthening mother-baby bonding, facilitating breastfeeding, and promoting both maternal and infant wellbeing, it challenges dominant Western norms and raises concerns about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). The limited research and absence of clear guidelines have created a dilemma for mothers wishing to co-sleep safely. This study addresses that gap by exploring co-sleeping practices among 16 mother-baby dyads in Aotearoa New Zealand. Drawing on feminist new materialism and assemblage theory, data were collected through in-depth interviews and two-week digital diaries to capture the dynamic nature of co-sleeping encounters. A new materialist analytical approach revealed that co-sleeping emerges not solely from individual choice but from the complex interplay of material arrangements, embodied experiences, and institutional forces. Three key paradoxical dynamics emerged from the analysis. First, vigilant rest describes how mothers report improved sleep quality through heightened awareness of their infants. Second, the safety paradox illustrates how mothers develop sophisticated safety strategies while contending with conflicting healthcare advice. Third, the good mother paradox exposes tensions between emerging embodied expertise and pervasive social pressures, which affect both maternal wellbeing and the nurturing of strong mother-baby bonds. Overall, the findings demonstrate that co-sleeping is a dynamic process of negotiation among bodies, spaces, materials, and social forces, not a simple choice between separate or shared sleep. Mothers actively reshape their practices through creative adaptations and resistance, challenging regulatory pressures while fostering deeper maternal bonds and wellbeing. These insights inform both theoretical discussions on early parenting practices and practical, culturally responsive strategies for infant sleep safety within Aotearoa New Zealand’s unique healthcare and cultural context.