GMTV's Parenting Week - their views on co-sleeping...

[crapcook]

'You must NEVER sleep in the same bed with your baby. It just isn't worth in case you roll over on top of them'.

Uninformed twunts. This is bad, bad advice.

Don't ask me why I'm watching this tripe.

[DANCESwithHughJackman]

I agree with them.

[crapcook]

It's a bit of a sensationalist comment don't you think?

Saying NEVER sleep with your baby or this will happen

What about the benefits of sleeping with your baby? Especially if you are a breastfeeding mum?

I think I would have gone insane if we didn't co-sleep. My DS was up every hour feeding in those first weeks.

Also, my midwives gave out a leaflet on the benefits of co-sleeping and how to do it safely. So midwives are giving out dangerous advice now are they?

Of course if you have been drinking or have taken drugs etc then it isn't a good idea to sleep with your baby.

[meemar]

I wouldn't really expect any different on GMTV tbh.

[DANCESwithHughJackman]

I breastfed and had my dc in a moses basket about a foot away from me. I am a light sleeper but my dh is a very heavy sleeper. For me it's a no brainer - the possible risk of smothering your baby is not worth it.

[eleusis]

I agree with them, too. The hospital where DD was born, about a year later a woman had a long and exhausting labour and delivery. The tucked the baby in bed next to her. She rolled over, and suffocated the baby who sadly died. This is a true story and it has been verified. I am the deepest sleeper in the world and I think that if anyone could sleep through suffocating their baby, I could. So, I totally agree with advise not to sleep with them. Bonding is nice, but safety is more important.

[juliewoolie]

I would love to co sleep but am just too worried I might roll on top of my DS, even though I do know all the guidlines and was shown how to do it properly. Also now he is rolling over too does that not make it a bit more difficult can just imagine a 10 in the bed scenario- roll over roll over we all rolled over and one fell out.

[MegBusset]

Eleusis, one of the safety rules of co-sleeping is NOT to do it if you are exhausted, so sadly the hospital broke that rule.

There has been research suggesting that babies who co-sleep following the rules strictly are less at risk of SIDS than those in a cot, I'm sure someone more knowledgable like Kiskidee can provide more info...

[milward]

check out the co-sleeping leaflet on the unicef baby friendly website - better info than gmtv!

[eleusis]

Well, the hospital has changed their policy and they no longer put the babies in the bed (so I hear, I haven't been back there).

Well, in view of the fact that I am a very deep sleeper under normal circumstances, I think co-sleeping is too risky. Moses basket next to the bed worked for us. Of course there os no reason you can't hang out with a lovely little newborn during the day when you are not exhausted/sleeping. There are other opportunities for skin to skin bonding.

[DaisyWhoooo]

It's not just to do with bonding though, it's to do with being able to get some sleep! Breastfeeding is also more likely to be successful if you co-sleep. Dr James McKenna has done a lot of research on this and has shown that breastfeeding mothers sleep in a protective position curled round their babies and will rouse if the baby moves. They can also sense when the baby is getting too hot and adjust the covers etc.

[RoRoMommy]

I am surprised still at what strong opinions co-sleeping incites. It is a practice that was just recently (in a human history context) abandoned, and we expect our children's brains to have advanced over the course of hundreds of years to overcome the instincts of tens of thousands of years that families spent sleeping together.

This is not to mention the practical benefits--ease of breastfeeding, spending time with a child who I must be away from during the day while at work, reduced incidence of SIDS as my breathing regulates his, and body temp and blood pressure, safety in case of an emergency (I can just pick him up and take him to safety rather than taking the chance of whether I can make it into his room in time), swift and appropriate responses to his communications of needs like hunger, fear, loneliness, wet nappy, hot or cold, etc...it goes on and on, yet I still get almost angry responses from some people to this very personal choice, and disbelief in the best cases because obviously this is going to ruin my marriage and make my child clingy.

A child who moves to its own bed when it is ready is far less likely to come into the family bed later, and is more likely to be independent, secure, and comfortable. My son has never had to cry himself to sleep, so he goes to sleep each night, with me by his side, with a smile on his little face. He is learning healthy, positive attitudes towards sleep, rather than viewing it as a frightening state to enter.

If any of you would like more information on co-sleeping and its benefits, check out www.naturalchild.com or www.askdrsears.com.

[lilibet]

I've never co slept but have a question for those who think they would roll on the baby - have you ever rolled over and fallen out of bed? (unless of course, you were drunk etc.......)

Chances are the answer is no, because even in the deepest sleep you are aware of the edge of the bed, it would be exactly the same with having a baby there.

[crapcook]

Unfortunately, lots of babies die in their own beds too without their mums and dads rolling on them.

It should be about promoting 'safe' sleeping, whether it is with your baby or not ...rather than just trashing co-sleeping because you could roll over on the baby.

Before I co-slept, I always thought that I was a heavy sleeper so was a bit cautious of sleeping with him. Co-sleeping happened by accident for us. I had been breastfeeding him when we were lay down and I snoozed off. When I woke up, I realised that all the time he had been next to me I knew that he had been there. Co-sleeping is the only way that I got any sleep and DS preferred it too. However I know that bottlefeeding mums can tend to turn away from their babies in bed so don't know if I would have slept with him if I had bottlefed him.

I'm glad that my midwives promoted it to me. I was surprised as it seems to be frowned upon in this country.

[eleusis]

"bottlefeeding mums can tend to turn away from their babies in bed "

Really? Why is that then?

[jorange5]

Can you really not imagine a reason why?

[longlady]

It was the Victorians who introduced cots (Queen Victoria did not want her children in bed with her, she was not very fond of them) and so using the practice of putting babies in their own cots began to be imitated, aspired to by the rest of society. What a shame. We have co-slept for millions of years. I also wonder if that mother who rolled onto her baby in the hospital may have been given drugs during her labour? When I first started co-sleeping I admit I was worried I would crush the baby but you just don't! I bf my 6 month old dd but move around quite a bit during the night, sometimes sleep with my back to her. I have never once so much as crushed a hand or foot. The sense of closeness and security for mother and baby is absolutely priceless, I wish more would try it before knocking it! If you follow the guidelines, it is the safest way for a baby to sleep.

[Anna8888]

I co-slept when my baby was tiny, but not the first two nights in hospital when I was knackered.

I breastfed (fully) and was incredibly aware of my baby at night. I asked my midwives and HV all about co-sleeping, took them to see my bed and bedroom to check I was doing everything safely and they all said - if you've had a natural birth, an easy recovery, you breastfeed, you don't drink or smoke or take drugs - go for it, you will naturally be aware of your baby and won't smother it. But if you don't fulfil those criteria, the risks outweigh the benefits and don't do it.

[pinkbaby27]

I ff my dd and even though I don't need to co-sleep as her cot is against the bed with the side down so she is very close (and I like my bed space) I love co-sleeping with her ! My dh was a bit concerned about co-sleeping to start with but is ok now as even when dd is between us I curl around her and even he is aware of her in his sleep. It feels great to have her snuggled against me where I can feel her breathing and know she is safe and happy. I have found that she will go longer between feeds if we co-sleep night and day.

The hospital wouldn't let me co-sleep but one night she cried every time the midwife put her back in her cot so in the end they let me keep her with me and kept checking to make sure we were ok during the night.

[belgo]

I wouldn't advise co - sleeping in a hospital bed with your baby - they are far too narrow, with gaps, and gadgets that are often broken.

It's lovely though to co-sleep in a huge double bed at home.

[Hulababy]

I co-slept with DD from the veyr first night. The MW gave me DD in my arms in the hospital bed. I had had a cs. I couldn't move to put her in a cot regardless.

If you follow the rules co-sleep IS safe, IMO. There is no reason for it not to be.

[Hulababy]

"bottlefeeding mums can tend to turn away from their babies in bed "

I coslept as I said. I mixed fed from 2 weeks bottle fed from 6 weeks. I always slept curled around my baby. I never turned away from her.

[Washersaurus]

I would suggest that given the target audience of GMTV, this is sound advice (am thinking of the drink/drugs aspect here)

[theUrbanDevil]

Cots were in wide use by the Victorian era AFAIK, from what i've read they first started coming into use around the 15th century. but there's still far more historical precedence for co-sleeping, even bearing that in mind! the trouble is, it was the upper classes and gentry who first started using them, because they had nannies and wet nurses to look after the babies, then the working classes tried to imitate that, but without the help of a nanny or wet nurse!

we co-sleep with ds, and although we're going through a difficult patch at the moment, on the whole it's lovely!