As very young parents, we were forced by circumstances to put our first child's crib right up against our bed in our room. I made the crib mattress level with ours, dropped the railing on the side against the bed, lashed the legs of the two together, and filled the small gap with a few old towels. Well, he never slept in the crib itself (it filled with toys and stuffed animals), but its presence made it safe for him to sleep with me in bed on that side, and NOT between me and my husband. We did it this way again when our daughter was born years later, though we didn't have to. I recommend this to everyone expecting a baby. Between this and breast-feeding, we avoided nearly all the problems other new parents moan about, like sleep dep, colic, earaches, and bedtime tears (my daughter never cried AT ALL til she was 3 or 4 months old!). And no, our sex life was never hindered. Happy babies sleep SOUNDLY! This book came out the same year my son was born, and i discovered it a year or two later...it was not the source of the idea for me, but it saved me many times from "expert" opinions that what we were doing was wrong! It is a bit dated and yes defensive, but bear in mind, in 1978, in a major metropolitan hospital, i had to FIGHT to be allowed to breastfeed at all! Our son is now about to graduate from college with honors; both children are very secure, focused, and wise people, with none of the self-destructive or reckless characteristics common in youth. I do attribute this LARGELY to the family bed approach.