Cot death statistics and where baby sleeps

[CharBell]

Just read in Pregnancy magazine that 52% of cot deaths may have been avoided if baby had slept in parents room, not in bed.

What does this mean? Do they mean that you shouldn't sleep baby in bed or do they mean that you shouldn't sleep baby in another room.

We were planning to sleep baby in nursery right from start so at least one of us got some sleep and so that baby got used to it. Why on earth would this affect cot death? Why would sleeping him in another room make it more likely?

Might ask my midwife.

[advocateofthedevil]

something to do with being with parents (or others) making the baby remember to breathe i think. the sound maybe or the carbon monoxide breathed out, can't remember exactly.

[SaintGeorge]

The latest advice is to keep baby in a cot but in the parent's room if space allows.

See Baby Safety Week for more info.

[aloha]

Nobody really knows quite why having the baby sleep in your room reduces the risk of cot death (and yes, it does mean in a separate cot in your room rather than co-sleeping). It may be that your noises and breathing keep the baby from falling too deeply asleep and thus 'prompts' breathing. The advice is also on the SIDS (foundation for the study of infant death) website.

[SaintGeorge]

There is a link to FSID on the baby safety page or direct here

[SaintGeorge]

Sorry, slightly out of place smilie there - cut and pasted from elsewhere

[CharBell]

Thanks guys. I've read the advice. It just doesn't really make sense. Perhaps it is just a way of getting parents to compromise over having baby in bed with them. Have emailed the FSID to ask where the research is for this. Will let you know if I get a response.

[tamum]

The main paper that leads to this advice is here . It's nothing as trivial as a compromise, not intended to try and fool people into doing something, but it based on sound epidemiology. Just because we don't understand the mechanism doesn't make it untrue.

[FairyMum]

The advice from the cot death association in Sweden is to have baby sleep in the same room as you for the first 6 months, but many think for the first 12 months. If I had my baby in a seperate nursery I would run to check on him every 5 minutes thoughout the night so wouldn't get much sleep anyway. We co-sleep with out children in periods and I don't think it's unsafe. There are so many variables like if you smoke, if baby is under your duvet etc.

[CharBell]

Thanks Tamum. Got a bit confused about the maths. Remember hating significance at A level stats. Will have to give it some thought.

I am still not convinced. There is little research done on Moses baskets but maybe their confined space through the night poses some potential problems too.

[CharBell]

Tamum - any idea how I read the whole article? I want to see what sort of questionnaires the parents had to fill in. Maybe some of them smoked etc.

Do you know of any other articles?

[beansprout]

Charbell - why are you reluctant to accept the advice? Baby is likely to wake frequently in the first few months anyway so s/he may as well be near you so you are not making trips up and down a hallway all night?!

[tamum]

You'd have to go to a library Charbell. I can guarantee that they will have controlled for smoking though, it was already a well-known risk factor by the time that paper was written. I can't think of other papers offhand, but it is well accepted that sleeping in the parents' room gives a degree of protection. Whether you follow the advice is of course completely up to you, but I don't think you're going to find huge holes in the research that will convince you that it was wrong.

[bobbybob]

Wait and see how you feel when your baby is born Charbell, you don't have to make any decisions now.

[northstar]

Probably totally unconnected BUT....
Ds slept in a crib in my room for the first 5 months, then i moved him into his own room (right next to mine). A week later he had a FAILED cot death, as in I happened to find him in time and revived him in a mad panic after a minute or two running round outside and shouting at him and slapping his little face in my insistence that he breathe again
I feel that the close shave we had would never have happened if he had been in the same room as me, his room was too warm, and we had lost the connection (from breathing or what-ever) that we had while he was sleeping close to me.
OK maybe I'm wrong, but that's just my personal opinion. He has long since moved into his own room, and I would never never never suggest that anything a parent did would have any bearing on whether a cot death occurred, it is the saddest most awful thing that could ever happen. There are no signs, or noises, or warnings at all. I know because I was awake, and checking ds regularly as well as listening to every sound he made on the monitor. It just happens. I now have a new dd, and she will sleep in a cot in our room for 6 months, then into ds's room. I check her alot, but at the same time, I have to sleep sometime, and I find that I sleep easier if she is in our room. Please can I just say again that is just how I am happy doing things, would never presume to advise anyone else.

[beansprout]

Northstar - that must have been awful. So glad he was ok.

I was at the funeral of our 17 day old neice (cot death) while I was pregnant and so never thought to question the guidelines. Having seen the worst case scenario, it really wasn't a hassle to have ds with us for 6 months. In fact, I felt quite sad when our little room mate moved out (image of him making his way down the hall with a hankerchief on a stick...).
Hey, but happy to have our room back as well

[eidsvold]

dd1 slept in our room in her own crib/cot until she was almost 9 months old. Dd2 is still in our room in her cot right next to the bed. She is 26 weeks today.

Charbell - it is so much easier just to lean over and get them out of the crib/cot when they are crying in the night than having to get out of bed and walk to another room and so on. Especially if your babe is like dd2 - she is still waking twice in the night for a feed. I am too lazy to have to get out of my bed, go into her room ,feed her and then put her back and go back to my room. So much easier having her right beside us. Early on dd2 had nights where she was waking every hour or so - imagine having to traipse into another room every hour or so.....

When dd2 was born a number of times I fell back to sleep feeding her and she just stayed in our bed until dh or I stirred. having said that it was sooo hot last nov/dec that there were no bedclothes for her to get tangled in and dh and I are non smokers etc - relating to other conditions listed that can raise your risk. I usually stirred after dd2 had finished feeding and lifted her back into her moses basket/cot.

[CharBell]

Beansprout - I am reluctant to accept the advice because I don't believe everything I read and I would like to make rational decisions about my baby's care.

Thanks everyone else for their advice. Guess I'll see how I feel.

[beansprout]

Oh me too Charbell. Have spent time today looking into options for treating ds's eczema rather than just going to the GP again. But the SIDS stuff is a very standard bit of advice about something very, very crucial. For me, this one is along the lines of looking before we cross the road - don't have to do it but would be well advised to!! As someone else said, there are no warning signs so all we can do is the safest thing possible. Like I say, I've seen the reality of cot death so perhaps I was that bit more unquestioning around the advice on this one.