Rise in infant suffocation tied to bed-sharing

[mommy111]

MSNBC article
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28857953/#storyContinued

So, what do you ladies think? We have co-slept off and on with both of ours (DD really preferred her crib so she would mostly sleep there as an infant, DS sleeps in bed with me usually). I guess I could potentially roll over him, although it hasn't happened so far :) But seriously, this is disturbing, no?

[maestramommy]

One sentence jumps out at me. That most of the deaths were cause by the parent rolling over onto the child.

In (IRL and online) communities where cosleeping is common, SAFE practices are talked about all the time. Things like not doing it under the influence, keeping bedding out of the way, using a cosleeper when possible, just to name a few. This is just a GUESS, but even in my most sleep deprived moments I was too aware of my baby to roll over onto her. I would venture a theory that in many of these cases one or more of the parents was under the influence.

[mommy111]

This is just a GUESS, but even in my most sleep deprived moments I was too aware of my baby to roll over onto her.

Melinda, that is so what I was thinking and not saying....I am so acutely aware of DS on the bed when he cosleeps, he moves and I wake up.

[daisymommy]

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/10/t102200.asp

[brittone2]

I haven't read the whole thing yet, but just agreeing with maestramommy. There have been problems in the past with unsafe cosleeping practices, such as:
Siblings cosleeping in the same bed (especially *next to* an infant)
Parents under the influence of drugs/alcohol, using RX sleeping meds, etc.
Obese parents
unsafe mattress and/or bedding to start with
baby being put tummy down on soft bedding/mattress
Parents who smoke

Many studies don't tease these practices out from intentional cosleeping w/ cautious parents.

I like looking at McKenna's work at the Notre Dame maternal/infant sleep clinic
http://www.nd.edu/~jmckenn1/lab/

[Ceepa]

A version of this article comes out every year. It must be on the parenting article rotation.

[codex57]

My kid's been able to fend for himself since he was really, really young.

Since he's been around 8 months or so, we've actively had to defend ourselves from him. I often sleep with a pillow over my face as protection. I'm prolly more in danger of suffocation than him.

[JBaxter]

We bed share alot of the night. Jack starts in the cosleeper but ends up with me. I have never been that tired to roll on any of my boys and they have all at some point been in my bed. Jack spends most of his time in my armpit LOL

I agree with Melinda and Beth. There are situations that are unsafe but many cultures bedsharing is the norm

[mommy111]

My kid's been able to fend for himself since he was really, really young.

Since he's been around 8 months or so, we've actively had to defend ourselves from him. I often sleep with a pillow over my face as protection. I'm prolly more in danger of suffocation than him.

:ROTFLMAO: :hysterical: :ROTFLMAO:



Jack spends most of his time in my armpit LOL
:yeahthat: DD is an armpit gal as well, at least at the start of the night. By the end its her foot in my face.

[DrSally]

I thought that cosleeping was just as safe or safer than crib sleeping IF you factor out parent's under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

[carolinamama]

I agree with everyone else. Every time one of my kids has been in bed with me, I have been so hyperaware of their every move, even in my new baby sleep-deprived state. Plus they have always slept in the crook of my arm with me flat on my back. I've never even rolled and we take strict safety precautions - no covers above waist level, one pillow under my head away from baby etc.

I remember not too long ago hearing something about how the biggest decrease in SIDS was in the middle to upper-middle class (whatever that is) which coinsides with the largest increase in co-sleeping, but I can't remember my source so take it with a grain of salt.

[IDcam]

DD sleeps with us. She sleeps on Daddy's side of the bed. And DH now sleeps across the bottom of our Cal-King bed. Funny image but true. :)

[sarahsthreads]

DD2 now prefers her crib, but both of ours have slept with us for a large portion of their first several months. Honestly, DD1 *and* DD2 have slept in between us on more than one occasion...actually probably about half the nights DD2 was in our bed, so was DD1... I am so hyper-aware of the baby that I wake up as I'm in the process of flinging my arm over her if anyone else in the bed so much as wiggles. :)

For me personally, I don't put too much weight in these articles. But really, we practice most of the safe ways to cosleep (pretty much all but the no sibling thing) and the biggest danger is when my babies get mobile and try to crawl headfirst out of the bed!

Sarah :)

[brittone2]

DD2 now prefers her crib, but both of ours have slept with us for a large portion of their first several months. Honestly, DD1 *and* DD2 have slept in between us on more than one occasion...actually probably about half the nights DD2 was in our bed, so was DD1... I am so hyper-aware of the baby that I wake up as I'm in the process of flinging my arm over her if anyone else in the bed so much as wiggles. :)

For me personally, I don't put too much weight in these articles. But really, we practice most of the safe ways to cosleep (pretty much all but the no sibling thing) and the biggest danger is when my babies get mobile and try to crawl headfirst out of the bed!

Sarah :)

We coslept for about 2-3 months with both kids when DD was born. We just put DS (almost 3 y/o at the time) on one end, then DH, then DD, then me. We just kept the two kids somewhat separated, and it worked fine.

[gatorsmom]

I agree with everyone else here. I coslept with all 4 of mine and was always aware of where they were and if they were moving, despite being a heavy sleeper. I could definitely see DH rolling over onto one of the babies, though. In fact, he almost did a couple of times which is why he relocated himself to the basement guest room. Or, wait, maybe that was because he ddidn't want to help with the twins when they were waking up to eat all hours of the night. yep, I think that's a little more likely.

But, I could see being unaware and some incident happening to someone who had a sleep disorder or was under the influence of something. But even in my totally sleep-deprived state, I was able to cosleep with the twins. I attribute that awareness to the same mommy instinct that makes me turn and look around everytime I hear a random baby cry.

[vludmilla]

One sentence jumps out at me. That most of the deaths were cause by the parent rolling over onto the child.

In (IRL and online) communities where cosleeping is common, SAFE practices are talked about all the time. Things like not doing it under the influence, keeping bedding out of the way, using a cosleeper when possible, just to name a few. This is just a GUESS, but even in my most sleep deprived moments I was too aware of my baby to roll over onto her. I would venture a theory that in many of these cases one or more of the parents was under the influence.

Where's that smilie that says, yeah that! I coslept with DD when she was a premie and I was massively sleep deprived since I woke up every three hours to pump milk and then feed DD. I never slept more than two hours at a time for months. I never rolled over on DD at all.