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It is very dangerous to sleep with your baby. I know that many people in many cultures do sleep with their babies but you should not. There are several ways it

by timtadh 10y ago

It is very dangerous to sleep with your baby. I know that many people in many cultures do sleep with their babies but you should not. There are several ways it can result in the baby dying: 1. You can suffocate the baby by breathing on their face while you are asleep. The baby will not cry and will not wake while this is occurring. 2. You can crush your baby by rolling on to them while you are asleep. 3. Your baby can suffocate from their nose and mouth being covered by a blanket or pillow or even the soft mattress if they are get rolled over. These very sad infant deaths happen frequently even in the US where co-sleeping is not as common as elsewhere in the world. Here are some recent news articles: http://www.nola.com/health/index.ssf/2016/04/co-sleeping_deaths_st_tammany.html http://www.nola.com/health/index.ssf/2016/04/co-sleeping_dea... , http://woodtv.com/2015/06/05/mom-hopes-babys-co-sleeping-death-warns-others/ http://woodtv.com/2015/06/05/mom-hopes-babys-co-sleeping-dea... Co-sleeping advocates will tell you "as long as you do it safely you can sleep with your newborn." This is false. There is no safe way to sleep with a newborn. Newborns cannot turn their heads away if you breath on them. They cannot move if you get too close. While, many parents sleep with their babies and the babies do not die that does not mean that it is safe. Update: The mayo-clinics prevention guide for SIDS: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/sudden-infant-death-syndrome/basics/prevention/con-20020269 http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/sudden-infant-... . TLDR; Newborn babies should sleep by themselves on their back in a crib with no stuffed animals, pillows, or "crib pads." Another note: http://thescientificparent.org/crib-notes-is-cosleeping-really-unsafe/ http://thescientificparent.org/crib-notes-is-cosleeping-real...

Faaak 10y ago
You can actually divide the bed into two parts: for you and for the baby, so you don't risk crushing it. The baby still feels the beats and sleeps better.
- eggy 10y ago
  We always put them between us, and I have always preferred my mattress, or bedding right on the floor since my early 20s.
eggy 10y ago
I've read many reports and studies. My first child was 1997, and my current was born in 2014. Parenting is a very personal issue, and I am not on a mission to change anybody's parenting decisions. At the end of the day, it is your family business. I have always questioned things, though, and I was very surprised at some of the things I learned when I first looked into co-sleeping and the warnings from mainly US institutions or government. The ads and posters are creepy to an extreme (a sleeping baby next to a meat cleaver!), and betray the scare propaganda vs. data approach [1]. >There is no safe way to sleep with a newborn. You state this, and yet you list common sense things or precautions to take even if they are in a crib. Why not the same common sense applied to co-sleeping? Firm mattress, on back, no pillow, or headboard they can jam a bodypart through? "The United States has a higher infant mortality rate than any of the other 27 wealthy countries..." by the CDC [2]. And this is with one of the highest expenditures on health care than other nations. And it gets worse as the baby ages in the postnatal period, so it is not just more premies or bad neonatal care where the US is not as bad. The sharp difference is in disadvantaged or uneducated groups. A poor person's baby in another wealthier nation has more of a chance than one in the US, and that is the key to the disparity. In one of your links they cite a waterbed! I think if co-sleeping deaths are lower elsewhere than in the US it is for lack of education, common sense, parenting knowledge or all three. I am from the US. I raised my first two there, and now I live in a very poor village in East Java, Indonesia where most of the houses have dirt floors. All of the families in this village co-sleep as far as I have seen or had answered to me. I still apply the same common sense guidelines we both have listed in our replies. For me and my family, we feel the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. We kept the newborns flat on their backs with no loose sheets to entangle them, or other accessories. We have always had fairly firm mattresses. We don't drink alcohol, and we are not hypermobile sleepers. We are also strangely aware of where the baby is, and we still manage to get more sleep distributed across the night between smaller, more frequent feedings. I loved waking up to watch my little ones' chests rise and fall! I'd say we were more diligent and aware and monitoring them against SIDS than if we had them in a crib in another room with audio monitor, across the same room, or at the bedside. The US report which cites deaths from co-sleeping didn't bother to check or factor in drugs or alcohol. There is also the potential of the horrible MBPS (Munchausen By Proxy Syndrome) not discovered in some cases. The article of the Arizona parents that left their 2 year old in the house alone, only to be discovered walking outside while they were gone for two hours playing Pokemon speaks to the level of idiocy of some parents, so I am sure in a country of 320 million you will have some numbers to cite if that is the sample population. SIDS is said to increase with co-sleeping, although again, the studies are not too detailed, and the same recommendations then go on to say SIDS decreases when it's a bassinet opened to the bed as opposed to in another room or across the room. [1] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/16/co-sleeping-ad-baby-knife-dangers_n_1097170.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/16/co-sleeping-ad-baby... [2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/09/29/our-infant-mortality-rate-is-a-national-embarrassment/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/09/29/our-i...
ars 10y ago
This simply isn't true for most people. If a normal person rolls over on something they will feel it and wake up. Do you typically fall off the bed? No? Why not? It's because you retain awareness while you sleep. People who should not cosleep include people on medications, extremely heavy sleepers, sleepwalkers, and the very overweight. For most people it's just fine. You go to sleep knowing "there is a baby here" and you will be aware of that all night.
- lfowles 10y ago
  >For most people it's just fine. You go to sleep knowing "there is a baby here" and you will be aware of that all night. Hmm. I go to sleep knowing "my wife is there" and I've still elbowed her in the face countless times accidentally.
  - eggy 10y ago
    That's why I made the remark about drugs, alcohol or hypermobile sleepers. My current wife, myself and my ex-wife never had an issue before babies, during and after.
    - lfowles 10y ago
      It's actually not something I do while _asleep_, but when groggy. If I wake up in the middle of the night and decide I want to sleep on my side now, my sense of spatial awareness is pretty poor. I believe people can get by without issues, just thought I would pop in with an amusing anecdote :)
  - eggy 10y ago
    My ex and I had friends, and the wife always complained of her nose's appearance, but said she would never get a nose job. We didn't hear from them for two weeks once, and when we saw her next, she had her nose all in white gauze and tape. They said she tried to wake the husband and he hit her square on the nose, and since it was broke, they went for the rhinoplasty! I hope they never read this :) I'm not sure about their story, but I believe you! I know there are some people who are more physical sleepers. I don't think it is most people.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
patrec 10y ago
There is no safe way to sleep with a newborn. And yet, Japan where co-sleeping is the norm, seems to be tied with the Netherlands for lowest rate of sudden infant death syndrome. Tatami might be a good idea if you want to co-sleep (softer bedding increases risk).

by timtadh 10y ago

Faaak 10y ago

You can actually divide the bed into two parts: for you and for the baby, so you don't risk crushing it. The baby still feels the beats and sleeps better.

eggy 10y ago
We always put them between us, and I have always preferred my mattress, or bedding right on the floor since my early 20s.

eggy 10y ago

I've read many reports and studies. My first child was 1997, and my current was born in 2014. Parenting is a very personal issue, and I am not on a mission to change anybody's parenting decisions. At the end of the day, it is your family business. I have always questioned things, though, and I was very surprised at some of the things I learned when I first looked into co-sleeping and the warnings from mainly US institutions or government. The ads and posters are creepy to an extreme (a sleeping baby next to a meat cleaver!), and betray the scare propaganda vs. data approach [1]. >There is no safe way to sleep with a newborn. You state this, and yet you list common sense things or precautions to take even if they are in a crib. Why not the same common sense applied to co-sleeping? Firm mattress, on back, no pillow, or headboard they can jam a bodypart through? "The United States has a higher infant mortality rate than any of the other 27 wealthy countries..." by the CDC [2]. And this is with one of the highest expenditures on health care than other nations. And it gets worse as the baby ages in the postnatal period, so it is not just more premies or bad neonatal care where the US is not as bad. The sharp difference is in disadvantaged or uneducated groups. A poor person's baby in another wealthier nation has more of a chance than one in the US, and that is the key to the disparity. In one of your links they cite a waterbed! I think if co-sleeping deaths are lower elsewhere than in the US it is for lack of education, common sense, parenting knowledge or all three. I am from the US. I raised my first two there, and now I live in a very poor village in East Java, Indonesia where most of the houses have dirt floors. All of the families in this village co-sleep as far as I have seen or had answered to me. I still apply the same common sense guidelines we both have listed in our replies. For me and my family, we feel the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. We kept the newborns flat on their backs with no loose sheets to entangle them, or other accessories. We have always had fairly firm mattresses. We don't drink alcohol, and we are not hypermobile sleepers. We are also strangely aware of where the baby is, and we still manage to get more sleep distributed across the night between smaller, more frequent feedings. I loved waking up to watch my little ones' chests rise and fall! I'd say we were more diligent and aware and monitoring them against SIDS than if we had them in a crib in another room with audio monitor, across the same room, or at the bedside. The US report which cites deaths from co-sleeping didn't bother to check or factor in drugs or alcohol. There is also the potential of the horrible MBPS (Munchausen By Proxy Syndrome) not discovered in some cases. The article of the Arizona parents that left their 2 year old in the house alone, only to be discovered walking outside while they were gone for two hours playing Pokemon speaks to the level of idiocy of some parents, so I am sure in a country of 320 million you will have some numbers to cite if that is the sample population. SIDS is said to increase with co-sleeping, although again, the studies are not too detailed, and the same recommendations then go on to say SIDS decreases when it's a bassinet opened to the bed as opposed to in another room or across the room. [1] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/16/co-sleeping-ad-baby-knife-dangers_n_1097170.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/16/co-sleeping-ad-baby... [2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/09/29/our-infant-mortality-rate-is-a-national-embarrassment/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/09/29/our-i...

ars 10y ago

This simply isn't true for most people. If a normal person rolls over on something they will feel it and wake up. Do you typically fall off the bed? No? Why not? It's because you retain awareness while you sleep. People who should not cosleep include people on medications, extremely heavy sleepers, sleepwalkers, and the very overweight. For most people it's just fine. You go to sleep knowing "there is a baby here" and you will be aware of that all night.

lfowles 10y ago
>For most people it's just fine. You go to sleep knowing "there is a baby here" and you will be aware of that all night. Hmm. I go to sleep knowing "my wife is there" and I've still elbowed her in the face countless times accidentally.
- eggy 10y ago
  That's why I made the remark about drugs, alcohol or hypermobile sleepers. My current wife, myself and my ex-wife never had an issue before babies, during and after.
  - lfowles 10y ago
    It's actually not something I do while _asleep_, but when groggy. If I wake up in the middle of the night and decide I want to sleep on my side now, my sense of spatial awareness is pretty poor. I believe people can get by without issues, just thought I would pop in with an amusing anecdote :)
- eggy 10y ago
  My ex and I had friends, and the wife always complained of her nose's appearance, but said she would never get a nose job. We didn't hear from them for two weeks once, and when we saw her next, she had her nose all in white gauze and tape. They said she tried to wake the husband and he hit her square on the nose, and since it was broke, they went for the rhinoplasty! I hope they never read this :) I'm not sure about their story, but I believe you! I know there are some people who are more physical sleepers. I don't think it is most people.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

patrec 10y ago

There is no safe way to sleep with a newborn. And yet, Japan where co-sleeping is the norm, seems to be tied with the Netherlands for lowest rate of sudden infant death syndrome. Tatami might be a good idea if you want to co-sleep (softer bedding increases risk).