Co-sleeping and alcohol

[babyworry2018]

Tonight's my DH's work Christmas party which means he's going to be drinking alcohol for the first time since our pfb (7 weeks) came home from hospital.

At the moment she sleeps in a sidesleeper cot attached to my side of the bed and he sleeps beside me. We're both v confused as to whether he should sleep in the spare room tonight- I've read a lot that says infants shouldn't co-sleep with parents who have been drinking, but the term co-sleeping seems to be used interchangeably with bed-sharing and I'm pretty sure having her in the side sleeper is a different, lower risk.

Can anyone point me to a study or recommendation that clarifies? Our baby had some health scares early on, she's absolutely fine now but we're a bit paranoid. If it really is the case he should sleep elsewhere that's fine but I feel like I must be misinterpreting that and would love to know for sure.

As far as I'm aware he shouldn't be laying next to baby, if baby stays in his side sleeper all night it's fine but if he ever sneaks in between u even if u don't plan it send him to the spare room before he comes to bed.. not worth the risk!

If there's any chance that he will be sleeping next to the baby, he should sleep elsewhere. But if the baby is in a side sleeper, you're in the "middle" and he's on the other side I think that's fine. The risk with alcohol is that the parent isn't alert enough to wake up to the baby's noises or might roll over onto the baby etc. It's not that alcohol fumes will get the baby from the other side of the bed entirely.

As above. As long as you remain between him and your baby it’s fine. I think it really relates to bed sharing.

He will snore and keep you up and wake you by coming in drunk: no brainer for me that he should be in the spare room! I find after a night out my dh would smell of alcohol (you notice it more when sober yourself) and I wouldn’t want fumes like that near my baby. As he doesn’t sleep near her I don’t think he’s a risk as such but IF you took the baby in bed with you and fell asleep, then having him there too would be a big risk.

That makes sense. Actually the snoring is something to think about: I'm 99% sure he won't have more than two or three beers because at the moment the idea of losing sleep to a hangover is not worth it, but we're both so sleep deprived I imagine those two or three beers will have an effect and I'm sure snoring might happen. So even if it's not unsafe maybe we might sleep better with him in another room.

The snoring was actually the way I thought it might have an affect- I know part of the idea behind room sharing is your breathing reminds them to breath and I wondered if heavier, post-drinking breathing might be less effective. I realise written down that sounds stupid!

We're following all the SIDS guidelines- I'm breastfeeding, we're vigilant about not falling asleep on couches, she's always on her back and we're obsessive about not overheating her to the extent I sometimes worry she's a bit cold. But the guidance on the co-sleeping/bed sharing stuff still confuses me.