55% of parents unaware of safe sleep for babies??

[TinfoilHattie]

Woman talking about sudden infant death on BBC just said that 55% of parents are unaware of the very basics of safe sleeping for newborns - sleeping on their back, in a clear cot. They also mentioned things like not covering their heads and only sleeping in bed with you if you're not drunk but that's not the 55% thing - just the very basics of sleeping on their backs without loads of clutter around them.

Where are all these people who do not know this? I had my first in 2003 and it was drummed into me, several times. Anne Diamond has been campaigning on putting babies on their back for about 25 years, and very effectively too.

Rubbish statistic, or are parents really so ignorant?

NHS advise no duvets / pillows etc for the first year

I wonder if that statistic is based on America? I am basing this hunch purely on the fact that 16 and Pregnant is my guilty viewing pleasure and a lot of the time the cots and sleeping arrangements aren't following the guidelines.

I think the midwives and health visitors are really good at telling people about this, I don't see how that can be that high in this country unless it's an old statistic!

I'd question the 55% as that seems quite high, I'm on an FB group for mums with babies born around the same time as my DD, most knew on the back and feet to foot and definitely over half knew the rest, the rest variously had pillows, toys, cot bumpers, etc. Some people knew they should be on their backs but found the babies preferred their fronts but most of these use those motion sensor monitors.
There are some 'just guildlines hun's on there, and they are co sleeping with baby in the middle under the duvet or something, you just can't get through to some people, especially if their first three were fine.
I'm an early eighties baby but my mum was an older mum, and she knows plenty of people who lost a baby to 'cot death' as it was called in those days, it was just one of those things. I don't know anyone my age who has followed guidelines and lost a baby, so why would I do it like they did?
I do think the refusal to discuss safe co sleeping is damaging, people end up so tired they are accidentally falling asleep and unsafe cosleeping, because they don't know you can do it safely. Again, I don't recall hearing of anyone losing a baby while safely cosleeping, though I have heard some tragic 'fell asleep on the sofa' stories.
A lost of people who didn't have babies in the 90s or since seem to have missed the message, and when they hear it now dismiss it as modern worrying, I almost bit someone's head off the third time they said 'can you not just put some cushions around her in the big cot'.

The advice seems to change on a regular basis

The advice has been the same for THIRTY YEARS.

Look at the current advice and see if it makes sense

How do you know if it makes sense? Have you read the medical research, the science behind it, the large stats sets showing the changes? How can you evaluate if it makes sense? You can't.

If it doesn't work for you, do what does, as most ppl have done in the past

You can do that, of course, but if you choose to do the things that give you are rather larger chance of infant death, I have no idea why you would. Arrogance or safety, up to you.

I have lost count of the number of bright, well educated families who are well aware of safe sleep guidelines yet still sleep on sofas with newborns so that one parent or other can sleep in the bed and/or because they are so terrified of bed-sharing with a baby that they end up running a far higher safety risk.

And I say that as someone who has bed shared (following safe cosleeping guidance) from birth.

Sadly I have been present at a number of 'cot death' occuences and all have been as a result of unsafe co-sleeping. Duvets, pillows, couple of glass of champagne before bed, excessive tiredness or a combination of the above etc. I have also been to families who do not follow safe sleeping guidelines for their newborns. I do think people know but just think the worst case scenario will never happen to them.

I do think safe co-sleeping is the key.

DS just would never never fall asleep on his back in an empty cot - just wouldn't. He fell asleep attached to a boob, always. I could sometimes transfer him into a sleepyhead pillow as long as it was warmed beforehand and he was right next to me with my hand on him.

What is not mentioned on here is that a lot of the safe sleeping guidelines are the complete opposite of how babies prefer to sleep. (Indeed that's part of the point - prevent the baby sleeping deeply and you lower the risk of SIDS.)

That means that many parents find they have to choose between following the rules and getting some sleep. And an exhausted mother is not safe either. I slept with DD on my chest because it was the only way either of us would get any sleep. It was not as safe as on her own in a bare cot but she would never, ever have slept that way (or even next to me in bed). Likewise I kept DD far warmer than the recommendations - because she woke up cold all the time at the recommended temperatures.

Of course that doesn't excuse taking risks like soft toys in the cot or drinking before co sleeping, as there is no countervailing benefit to those. But when it's a choice between following the SIDS rules and getting some sleep, I think we have to let parents weigh up the risks, and acknowledge there is danger in not getting any sleep too.

Sadly I have been present at a number of 'cot death' occuences and all have been as a result of unsafe co-sleeping. Duvets, pillows, couple of glass of champagne before bed, excessive tiredness or a combination of the above etc

Which is exactly why the stance of not allowing HV's to give safe co-sleeping advice is utter madness.

People who say ignoring the advice is fine because my elders know better infuriate me. Would you not use a car seat as they weren't used in previous generations? I mean they probably won't die as you probably won't have an accident. And granny did it and her children survived so it must be OK. Advice changes for a reason.

I was stunned at the "They're just guidelines, you know best" crowd. NCT friends in a rush to get baby in their own room, wean early etc. So it doesn't surprise me, but as an anxious person it does scare me.

We had to manage DM/DMIL's expectations, huge quilts were sewn and bumpers made at quilting club. And the sulking when neither were used! Add to this the conviction that DS souls be on his tummy in case he choked on his sick, and should be bundled up like an arctic explorer. In June.

minipie I had to sleep propped up with my baby on my chest too as despite my most valiant efforts neither of us would have slept a wink if he was flat on his back in an empty cot. I knew what we were aiming for and I researched the risks and my goal was to follow as much of the safe sleep advice as soon I could rather than ignore it altogether.

Imminently expect arrival of baby 2 and my starting point will be following the guidance but aware that babies don't always comply.

It is a difficult message to give parents because, as others have said, a lot of the advice involves trying to get babies to do things which go against what will result in them sleeping more soundly and for longer. But there has to be a point at which you say some sleep is better than no sleep, and a point at which you say safe sleep is better than more sleep.

Agree Bubbins. I think there needs to be a bit more flexibility and if a parent cannot get their baby to sleep in the safest way, they should be advised about the next safest option and so on.

I also think there could be a bit less judgment on MN - a few MNers seem to think that anyone who doesn't follow the advice is an idiot who hasn't considered the risks at all. My guess is their babies slept happily in the recommended position and they've never had to make the choice between following the advice and getting a little bit of sleep to survive on...

I remember despairing to a Health Visitor that there must be something "wrong" with my DS because I couldn't get him to settle Unless on my chest (birth injury? Silent reflux?) and her whispering conspiratorially that although she couldn't advise me to do it some babies are just like that and lots of parents sleep that way. It was such a relief to hear and just a shame she couldn't be more open or provide some more practical advice.

Although there's some judges folk about I found MN to be brilliant source of practical advice and understanding about the '4th trimester'.

Yes that's true Bubbins, there are mostly lovely sympathetic posters about. Just the odd high horse

Is having a newborn baby sleep in a sling on its parent considered safe?

As long as you follow TICKS slings are safe

Watch for overheating and make sure the baby's face isn't covered.

user used properly slings are safe (assuming the parent isn't asleep on the sofa - soft sofas are an issue). My dd will pretty much only sleep in the sling atm, but Some people don't use slings properly either - particularly in regard to the baby's face.

babyslingsafety.co.uk

Thanks for the advice!

I think it's much more about common sense.
Despite warnings, I had a bumper on the crib, and the cot. As did all 3 of my mums children. As long as it was securely tied, I didn't see the problem.
After all, why would they be sold if they were so unsafe?

The problems with bumpers isn't that they come loose - it's that a baby can end up with their face pressed against them and smother.

As for "why would they be sold if they are unsafe" - cigarettes are still sold...