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People start from day one...You would think an article like this would make people reconsider... But usually people are REACTIVE more often then PROACTIVE... You would think if they are linking co-sleeping with increased SIDS events, people would try to prevent it... But sadly it falls upon deaf ears... Some mothers are more concerned with bonding then taking any creditable info and putting it into practice. A newborn can sleep in a co-sleeper right next to your bed,,,with in arm's reach. No increased risk of sids....To me that would clearly be the wise choice.
I agree Danielle. We were told from Day 1 in the NICU NEVER ever have the babies sleep in our bed. We heard horror stories about them getting smothered in our area.
I knew a woman who co-slept with her kids and she was very large and the kid slept between her and her large husband. Not good!
But can't a baby roll into the mother with their head down. My brother is attached to my mother as any child could be, and we did not even get him until he was 10 weeks old. He did sleep in the same room as my mom for a while and then moved to his own room when he started to sleep through the night. I guess I just wonder if it is worth the risk, even if you limit the risk.
Yes, usually co sleeping is started from day one. There is a huge difference between sleeping with a baby simply because you have no place for the baby to sleep, and making a concious decision to cosleep while keeping in mind all of the basic safety considerations.
Cosleeping safely includes:
*sleeping with baby between mom and wall, NOT between mom and dad
*not letting there be more than a finger-width's space between mattress and wall
*mom not a smoker
*mom not taking any medications or drugs (including alcohol) that can alter sleep/wake patterns
*no pillows or comforters/heavy blankets used near baby
*no waterbeds, sofas, pillow topped mattresses
All of those things would virtually eliminate the risk of overlaying (as a mother not on altering substances is extremely unlikely to roll onto her own child), as well as
No, I would not reconsider our "family bed" based on that article. I know that when I had babies, I coslept safely. The difference between cosleeping safely as a concious parenting decision and cosleeping simply out of necessity is the same as the difference between laying your baby down in a safe crib and laying him down in a crib with wide slats, stuffed animals, etc.
Here's a link to look at. Even if you dismiss the facts stated as "old information", you can see in the chart at the bottom that SIDS rates are lower in countries where babies are more likely to cosleep.
But how can your be sure when a newborn shares a bed with you, that overheating the baby won't be an issue, a loose cover, quilt or pillow won't go over the head of the baby, or what about the risk of other siblings rolling onto baby, or baby rolling to be face down on your very soft adult mattress? How can you know if your infant will not become lodged between your headboard or footboard and the mattress itself? An adult sleep surface is not safe for newborns... How are you sure to keep baby in a supine position?
We always used a firm mattress, no siblings in the bed, no quilts or pillows near baby. One of the safety considerations is no space between mattress and wall... that goes for headboard/footboard as well (and what newborn is really going to wiggle silently down to the footboard?). Newborn babies can't roll over in an adult bed any more than they can in a crib... once they can roll in a crib, they can roll in an adult bed, but what difference does it make which place they are in? Now that I think about it, we did have one of those "baby positioner" things that we used at some point... maybe when the baby was between 4 and 6 months old... when they could roll, but before I felt comfortable letting them remain on their tummies? It was a long time ago. I distinctly remember having it and using it, I'm not sure exactly when we used it though.
The key is to be SAFE about cosleeping. People who take their baby home and say "hey, I heard about sleeping with the baby, let's try it!" are not necessarily informed on safe sleeping practices.
I felt much more secure breastfeeding on demand and having my newborn in bed with me. Every time they moved, I was aware of that. When you brought your babies home, didn't you hear every peep they made? I know I certainly did!
We always used a firm mattress, no siblings in the bed, no quilts or pillows near baby. One of the safety considerations is no space between mattress and wall... that goes for headboard/footboard as well (and what newborn is really going to wiggle silently down to the footboard?). Newborn babies can't roll over in an adult bed any more than they can in a crib... once they can roll in a crib, they can roll in an adult bed, but what difference does it make which place they are in? Now that I think about it, we did have one of those "baby positioner" things that we used at some point... maybe when the baby was between 4 and 6 months old... when they could roll, but before I felt comfortable letting them remain on their tummies? It was a long time ago. I distinctly remember having it and using it, I'm not sure exactly when we used it though.
The key is to be SAFE about cosleeping. People who take their baby home and say "hey, I heard about sleeping with the baby, let's try it!" are not necessarily informed on safe sleeping practices.
I felt much more secure breastfeeding on demand and having my newborn in bed with me. Every time they moved, I was aware of that. When you brought your babies home, didn't you hear every peep they made? I know I certainly did!
So you had a newborn sleeping on it's belly on an adult mattress between two adults? That is not (IMO) safe co-sleeping either.
Sure, I heard every peep the made,,,in their co-sleepers, on their backs in a sleep sack. And we breastfed on demand as well... I would just wake up and do it...
Last edited by *Danielle*; 01-26-2009 at 02:31 PM..
So you had a newborn sleeping on it's belly on an adult mattress between two adults? That is not (IMO) safe co-sleeping either.
Sure, I heard every peep the made,,,in their co-sleepers, on their backs in a sleep sack.
Ummm... you bolded it, but didn't read it apparently. I said that we used the sleep positioner once they started rolling over, and before I was comfortable letting them sleep on their tummies. That was certainly nowhere near the newborn period. I also said in a previous post that the babies slept between me and the wall.
My point about hearing peeps was that if you could hear every peep they made when then were a few feet away, a cosleeping mom without a doubt knows where her child is during sleep. It worked that way for me, and for all of my friends, and for women for generations and generations. What do you think people did before cribs were invented?
Just a note i didn't start the thread to start an argument about co-sleeping, just to discuss if it was really safe and if it should be encouraged or discouraged. And also to just make people aware of the article
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