co-sleeping: seven babies die

So sad!

And yeah we were told the same thing at our AN classes, (it was a very homebirth/holistic orientated class anyway)

We had to attend a Safety/first aid class before leaving NICU and they told us that co-sleeping was the no 1 cause of SIDS due to overheating.

I wouldnt really call what we did co-sleeping as generally Tom was the only one getting sleep!  But I was paranoid about it and froze my arse off as I didnt use extra blankets on him, duvet was at about my knee level.  He was in his sleep sack and all pillows were moved off the bed.  Not ideal for a tired mum!  But it helped him no end (and was really lovely too)

That's so sad.

I do think the reporter (and possibly the coroner) is obviously against co-sleeping though as the article actually says not all the babies co-slept (some were sleeping on pillows - which we all know is dangerous) but the headline tells a different story.

I'm actually all for co-sleeping.  I wasn't always but my attitude changed when I had a baby that would only sleep for 45 mins day or night unless she was in my arms (having said that I'd prefer not to share my bed with anyone so this baby will start out in a basinette just as Michaela did and I hope it likes it in there).

Many people believe that co-sleeping can actually reduce the occurence of sids and co-sleeping is very common in non-western cultures but there are huge differences in the practice and also in the bedding used in western countries and I think the problem is that many westerners don't follow safe co-sleeping practices such as:

Infants should sleep on their backs on firm, clean surfaces, in the absence of smoke, under light, comfortable blanketing, and their heads should never be covered.

The bed should not have any stuffed animals or pillows around the infant and an infant should never be placed to sleep on top of a pillow.

Infants should never sleep on couches or sofas, with or without adults, because they can slip down into the crevice or get wedged against the back of a couch. They also should not sleep on beanbags or waterbeds.

Avoid crevices between mattress and wall or mattress and side rail. Avoid side rails, headboards and footboards that have slats that could entrap your baby's head.

Infants 1 year old or younger should not sleep with other children.

Parents on sedatives, medications, drugs or who have consumed alcohol or those who are excessively unable to arouse because of sleep disorders should not co-sleep on the same surface with the infant. This is also true if your partner has or takes no responsibility for the baby.

Mothers with excessively long hair should tie it up to prevent infant entanglement around the infant's neck.

Extremely obese persons, who may not feel where exactly or how close their infant is, may wish to have the infant sleep alongside but on a different surface.

Avoid putting your bed near curtains or blinds that have dangling strings that could strangle your baby.

 

Basically we're given all these rules in AN classes about how cots should be set up to be safe and so if you choose to co-sleep with your child your bed should be set up in the same way (if that makes sense).

Those that intend to co-sleep might want to check out sites like this one: http://www.parenthood.com/article-topics/safe_co_sleeping_with_your_baby.html on safe co-sleeping.

Edited by MrsMojo

CuriousG wrote: My gripe is that in that article is says that of 54 infants, 24 died while sharing an adult bed. So, 30 died in their own cot? To me, that means it may actually be safer to share beds.

 

LOL, I hadn't read it that thoroughly - good point!

CuriousG wrote: I am all for co sleeping, we have done it from pretty much day dot as she was so hard to settle and still do. The only reason we are about to stop it is that she is getting too big and it seems that DH and I have our "sides" and DD has her "half".

 

PMSL, same thing happens in our house when Michaela decides to come into bed with us.  She takes over my 1/2 and DH and I are restricted to his half.  Could be worse though, my sis and her husband often share their bed with 3 sons (7yo, 2yo and 1yo). 

We always co-slept. It was the only way I could handle a baby who breastfed every 45 minutes.

This story scares me!

Interestingly, they have changed their headline now, must have had some complaints/feedback. The headline of the updated story is "Baby deaths spark call for better bedsharing warnings" which is much more objective.


When I was deciding whether or not to co-sleep I really liked this article from La Leche League:

Is it safe to sleep with your new baby? Of course. Imagine a cave woman laying her newborn in a separate niche in the cave for the night, well away from the warmth and protection of her body. Now that's unsafe sleeping!

It's also unsafe to have gaps that would allow your baby to slip between bed and wall, or between mattress and frame, or to lay your baby on poofy pillows, bedding, or mattress from which he can't free his face.

And it's not safe to sleep with a baby if you're severely obese, or have been drinking heavily or taking drugs that keep you from rousing normally.

There. That's out of the way. What's left? Adults who are never completely unconscious (or they'd fall out of bed), sleeping with a very lumpy object (with a head like a grapefruit-sized rock) that yells when it's squeezed. Works fine.

What do you gain? Normal breathing and heart rates for your baby, without the breathless periods so often observed in solitary-sleeping babies. Normal baby sleep - which does not mean long hours of deep, hard-to-rouse-from sleep, though that might seem desirable. An even body temperature, warmer and more stable than the most expensive hospital baby-warming unit can provide. A mellower baby at night, with far less crying. Safety from fire, kidnapping, and goblins. Lots of languid cuddle time.

You certainly gain vastly easier baby-care, especially if you learn to breastfeed lying down during the day, when your tolerance and inventiveness are intact.

Infant sleep researchers believe solitary sleep may be linked to higher rates of SIDS. This is a very difficult relationship to prove, since sleep arrangements change and since SIDS may have multiple causes. But we do know that many of the risk factors associated with SIDS are increased when babies sleep alone, and that cultures that share sleep tend to have low rates of SIDS. Shared sleep is as old as humankind, and small children crave it.

In the end the main reason we didn't co-sleep was that my husband couldn't sleep with our noisy bubba in the same room, let alone the same bed!

edit to update link

Edited by weegee

Safe from Goblins? PMSL!

That advice is really good. There is so much emphasis put on not co-sleeping!

CuriousG wrote: My gripe is that in that article is says that of 54 infants, 24 died while sharing an adult bed. So, 30 died in their own cot? To me, that means it may actually be safer to share beds.

But that would be assuming that 50% of families co-sleep. I think the amount would be a lot smaller, of the few people that I mentioned it to, all were shocked that we co-slept for a spell with Clara...

I was quite shocked by this story, as I'd read that co-sleeping was fairly safe as long as you weren't smokers etc. But I can see how it happens, when we co-slept with Clara we were both severely sleep deprived (we co-slept cos she just would not sleep in her bassinet)... and I think sleep deprivation can be as bad as going to sleep drunk - I'd like to think we would have been aware if we'd rolled onto her while asleep, but I just don't know, we were so exhausted.

I think co-sleeping is great for all the reasons outlined in the article Weegee posted, but I think there needs to be a little more warning about the risks, and people should be more careful in those hazy early days.

ETA: oops Weegee already posted link to new story

Edited by anakk

CuriousG wrote: I also read the actual article in the newspaper last night which highlighted exactly what these mothers found when they awoke.

 

I didn't read the article but DH said it also told of the sleeping practices of some of the parents for instance one of the mothers slept in a single bed with her 6wk old twins.

.a single bed with newborn twins?