Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard's kids sleep in their bedroom. Should you do it, too?
Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard on the red carpet, 2014.
Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell have never been shy about their parenting strategies. The couple caused a stir last year when Bell said she’ll wait up to five or six days before bathing her girls depending on whether they smell or not.
“I'm a big fan of waiting for the stink,” she said jokingly, according to E.T. Online. “Once you catch a whiff, that's biology's way of letting you know you need to clean it up."
Bell also admitted the sex talk she attempted with her daughters fell on deaf ears because it was so boring. Bell and Shepard have two daughters, Lincoln, 8, and Delta, 7.
On Monday's episode of Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast, the couple admitted they let their daughters sleep in their room. “You know the girls sleep on the floor of our bedroom,” she said, according to Yahoo.
The admission came before the couple shared a story of a mysterious smell that took over their bedroom. “A few nights ago, I smell a really raunchy smell, and I’m like, ‘Who’s farting?’” she said. “All three of them are like, ‘Sorry, it’s me.’ So, I’m like, OK, my family has gas.
“In the morning, I’m like, wow, nobody’s gas has dissipated. But it also smells like it’s burning,” she continued.
Bell washed the sheets of the bed and opened some windows in the room, but the smell persisted. The next day, Bell finally realized that it was the Ooler mattress pad. Oolers need water to work and Shepard accidentally poured a protein shake inside instead.
As a parent, I gotta say that the idea of sharing my wife and I’s bedroom with two kids every night sounds like a bad idea. First, it's hard enough to get a good night’s sleep with another person and a dog in the bed, but a pair of kids adds another dimension of disruptions.
That’s two more people waking up to go to the bathroom, tossing and turning, and passing gas.
Bell and Shepard’s story raises an important question: Is co-sleeping good for kids?
According to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), as many as 24% of parents have their children sleep in their beds for at least part of the night.
"There are two reasons for co-sleeping," NSF spokeswoman Jodi Mindell, author of “Sleeping Through the Night,” says. "One is a family lifestyle decision; it's important to the parents. Reason two is reactive co-sleeping. You don't really want them there, but it's easier than having to solve a problem at 2 a.m. No matter which you do, at some point, you'll want to make a change."
Lynelle Schneeberg, Psy.D., director of the behavioral sleep program at Connecticut Children's Medical Center, told Parents.com that even though there are some benefits to co-sleeping, it’s much more important to raise children who are confident, independent sleepers.
Dr. Schneeberg says that children who go to bed in their parents’ room can develop a sleep crutch that makes it difficult for them to fall asleep when they’re alone.
"They may be misdiagnosed as anxious because, since they have a hard time falling asleep without a parent nearby, they sometimes display anxious behaviors to convince a parent to stay nearby at bedtime," Dr. Schneeberg explained.
It can be tough for the parents' relationship as well.
"I've seen many families in which one parent—most often, the father—ends up sleeping in a different room entirely," she said. "The parent with the children often becomes exhausted by either the restless sleep of the kids or the needs of each kid after an awakening."
Obviously, Bell and Shepard know what’s right for their family so we’re not judging them as parents. But their story is a great excuse to discuss the issue of sleep because it plays such a big role in our physical and mental health.
And as a parent, I know that there’s nothing better for your mental health than having a child who sleeps through the night. In their own room.
- Bad at remembering to take care of yourself? These 25 tips can ... ›
- 4 simple but awesome ways a mom uses old crayons to improve the ... ›
- 6 songs that seem romantic but aren't, and one that seems like it isn't ... ›
- This Saves Lives and Upworthy team up to stop child hunger - Upworthy ›
- 6 songs that seem romantic but aren't, and one that seems like it isn't but is. - Upworthy ›
- Kristen Bell's says her daughter likes non-alcoholic beer - Upworthy ›
- Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard reveal why they regularly discuss people they're attracted to - Upworthy ›
A Generation Jones teenager poses in her room.Image via Wikmedia Commons
An office kitchen.via 
An angry man eating spaghetti.via 
At least it wasn't Bubbles. 
You just know there's a person named Whiskey out there getting a kick out of this. 
An Irish woman went to the doctor for a routine eye exam. She left with bright neon green eyes.
It's not easy seeing green.
Did she get superpowers?
Going to the eye doctor can be a hassle and a pain. It's not just the routine issues and inconveniences that come along when making a doctor appointment, but sometimes the various devices being used to check your eyes' health feel invasive and uncomfortable. But at least at the end of the appointment, most of us don't look like we're turning into The Incredible Hulk. That wasn't the case for one Irish woman.
Photographer Margerita B. Wargola was just going in for a routine eye exam at the hospital but ended up leaving with her eyes a shocking, bright neon green.
At the doctor's office, the nurse practitioner was prepping Wargola for a test with a machine that Wargola had experienced before. Before the test started, Wargola presumed the nurse had dropped some saline into her eyes, as they were feeling dry. After she blinked, everything went yellow.
Wargola and the nurse initially panicked. Neither knew what was going on as Wargola suddenly had yellow vision and radioactive-looking green eyes. After the initial shock, both realized the issue: the nurse forgot to ask Wargola to remove her contact lenses before putting contrast drops in her eyes for the exam. Wargola and the nurse quickly removed the lenses from her eyes and washed them thoroughly with saline. Fortunately, Wargola's eyes were unharmed. Unfortunately, her contacts were permanently stained and she didn't bring a spare pair.
- YouTube youtube.com
Since she has poor vision, Wargola was forced to drive herself home after the eye exam wearing the neon-green contact lenses that make her look like a member of the Green Lantern Corps. She couldn't help but laugh at her predicament and recorded a video explaining it all on social media. Since then, her video has sparked a couple Reddit threads and collected a bunch of comments on Instagram:
“But the REAL question is: do you now have X-Ray vision?”
“You can just say you're a superhero.”
“I would make a few stops on the way home just to freak some people out!”
“I would have lived it up! Grab a coffee, do grocery shopping, walk around a shopping center.”
“This one would pair well with that girl who ate something with turmeric with her invisalign on and walked around Paris smiling at people with seemingly BRIGHT YELLOW TEETH.”
“I would save those for fancy special occasions! WOW!”
“Every time I'd stop I'd turn slowly and stare at the person in the car next to me.”
“Keep them. Tell people what to do. They’ll do your bidding.”
In a follow-up Instagram video, Wargola showed her followers that she was safe at home with normal eyes, showing that the damaged contact lenses were so stained that they turned the saline solution in her contacts case into a bright Gatorade yellow. She wasn't mad at the nurse and, in fact, plans on keeping the lenses to wear on St. Patrick's Day or some other special occasion.
While no harm was done and a good laugh was had, it's still best for doctors, nurses, and patients alike to double-check and ask or tell if contact lenses are being worn before each eye test. If not, there might be more than ultra-green eyes to worry about.