want to put 5 month old in own room but...

[octopuscakes]

...he sleeps on his tummy, against the SIDS guidelines (no way around it - he flips over almost immediately though I always put him down on his back)

Also we're in a hot country and have the AC set at 79 degrees, which I think is 26 degrees centigrade, again against SIDS guidelines, though it feels cool and in fact if we set it lower DH and I get cold.

So with these two things in mind, can I really move DS to his own room? (desperate to as a the moment his dad is sleeping in the spare room!)

Sleepless - no it isnt
The alarm sounds after several seconds of no movement, by that time it's too late.
Hence prevention as there is no cure. Keeping baby close while they are sleeping regulates their breathing ( as others have said)
Video monitors are just as useless for SIDS as by the time you see that baby has stopped breathing they have already died

Oh dear, how scary.

2 weeks with Ds1, and 3 months with DS2, (cos it was an incredibly hot summer and his room was too hot..otherwise he would have been in it.)

i started putting my ds to sleep on his tummy from 3 weeks. once he started rolling over himself he would roll onto his side or his back, but he still always falls to sleep on his tummy. We put him into his own room at 5 months and have had no issues. If your baby can move his head around and roll then i think you will be fine. We keep our bedroom door open and baby's door open so we can hear anything during the night.

i think you should be fine.

DS was in his own room at 3 weeks. The guidelines are based on not much research which mainly relates to bed sharing rather than room sharing & therefore should be taken with a pinch of salt. Do what is best for you & baby.

Once they can roll, they can sleep anyway they like. Because they CAN roll if they are struggling. If he is healthy and sleeping I would move him. Ds went to his own room around 4 months. But we did keep the monitor on until about 10 months. Now we just leave the door slightly ajar.

Snala where is the evidence that keeping baby close regulates breathing? It saying it is recommended on FSIDS website is not the same. Oh and there is research that dummies prevent cot death yet many on here are judgy about using them. All this on MN over well cared for babies really gets up my nose. Why not get off the internet and do some charity work to help those truly at risk?

Napping in the same room, not going to bed without you till 6 months is just bonkers.

I wouldn't risk it. All 3 of mine were in their own room by 1 month, but on their backs. It's just not worth the risk especially given the heat of the room.

All three at about 2 weeks, and all are fine!

DS in his own room from day 3 (first couple in hospital). I'd put him down on his back and he'd flip over to tummy as soon as he could. My house is always baking as I grew up abroad and haven't acclimitised. He just wears less.

But it's what you're comfortable with.

Brettgirl - yep. Just wanted to agree. All the guidelines and research available nowadays on SIDS, weaning etc are wonderful things, but I agree there are some strong criticisms of parental choices (such as sleeping in other rooms etc) for very well-cared for and safe babies, and while I might not go as far as to say 'get off the internet' () there are many, many babies out there in situations that warrant far more care and attention than a healthy and safe baby who has been fed bread before six months or something equally 'shocking'.

Anecdote does not equal data. No matter how many people say 'I did it and my child was fine' the fact is that it is less safe than having them in the same room as you.

Having them in the same room reduces the chance of them dying of SIDS, it is safer. However, it does stop being safer 'over-all' if the parent caring for them is so tired they can't think straight and end up having an accident or something... but if it's just to have DH back in the room with you, is it really a risk worth taking for the sake of a few weeks?

Like a lot of things, as a parent you have to weigh up the pro's & con's and make your own decision - but bear in mind that the vast majority of people who have had a baby die of SIDS will be avoiding threads like this, so obviously the vast majority will say 'I did it and mine are fine'.... as I said, anecdote is not data.

Very little is known about the mechanism of death in SIDS. It's linked with lots of factors, some more important than others. There is a good summary of research on this very website - a webchat with an expert in the field.

Fustratingly, you'll find the very people saying keep baby in the same room will also be telling you that babies do better when co-sleeping (with a lot of stuff about regulating breathing etc) - fact is, babies do worse. And again, the mechanism of death isn't known, this is only speculation.

I had DH in the spare room too and empathise. My DS (born prematurely I add, so at a four-fold greater risk of SIDS) moved to seperate room at about 5mo. I'm sure I read that SIDS peaks at 2-4 months, so figured the riskiest period had passed. I worried I wouldn't hear him (BF on demand) - not true, I heard every wimper. It worked out great for us - everyone slept better.

Make your choices based on the facts and what works for you. The risk on SIDS, IMHO, is extremely overblown...check out the statistics for yourself.

It's not about hearing every whimper though is it?! You don't hear them die.

We moved DD2 to her own room at about 4 months. At about 6 months, she'd flip over to her belly which stressed me out no end initially. After a week of going into her room ceaselessly to flip her back from her front, I gave up. She slept better on her front. We live in a hot climate too, but our A/C comes on at 76F. She sleeps in a short-sleeved onesie and a light cotton wearable blanket.

DD went into her own room at about 2 months. She was a really noisy sleeper. I was ebf and by the time I'd fed and winded her and put her back down in her cot next to us, DP had started snoring and I'd lie awake for another half hour listening to both of them. After I finally drifted off, she'd wake up again in an hour and we'd start all over again.

But she was sleeping on her back then. At about 4mo she stArted napping on her front and snoozed really well. At 5 months she got a really bad cough/cold and sleeping on her tummy was much easier for her.

If your baby has good head control and can roll then the risk of SIDS is greatly decreased. Keep the room as cool as you can and you and DP layer up if it's chilly at night.

BonkeyMollocks - years ago when advice was to put them to sleep on their tummies, most babies survived but around 1200 a year died. Once advice was back to sleep then only around 300 died. So yes, we were all put to sleep on our tummies and are still standing, but thousands aren't.

Brett. Have you ever known anyone that's lost a baby to SIDS?
The is for the sad fact that babies die and that parents have to suffer the death of a child.
Nothing to do with 'well cared for babies', they die well cared for or not.

You know nothing about me or what I do, so why don't you get off the Internet and keep your snotty comments to yourself?

Sounds like you've had personal experience of SIDS snala, which is pretty awful .

You don't like monitors (they used them in NCIU, though I think home use just makes people paranoid). True also that telling a load of anecdotes isn't helpful either but nor is a sketchy understanding of the biology. If they can't hear you breathing then it can't - I don't think this is scientifically proven theory - the automatic system which kicks in when babies stop breathing is linked to the brain. Prem babies were found to do better with skin-to-skin contact and may breathe more regularly but I can't believe the evidence is there to show it prevents SIDS.

If keeping sleeping baby away from mum is out, what do you suggest - co-sleeping? This is also a risk factor.

I think it's agood idea to keep in mind that SIDS is VERY rare indeed. That risk peaks at 2-4 months and 90% of cases occur in under 6 month olds

"I think it's agood idea to keep in mind that SIDS is VERY rare indeed"

for goodness sake, yes it is NOW because NOW we have this advice. I don't know anyone thank god who has lost a baby this way, my mother knows several from her cohort of mums, my grandmother WAS one of the many who did

its like the people who said that MM&R were so rare now what was the point of the vaccination.. then that and the autism thing lost us a load of herd immunity and what happened? these diseases made a come back!

If people who are BLESSED with this advice that tragically mothers before us didnt' have, get lulled into a false sense of security because its rare NOW! and stop bothering.. it'll make a come back too!

I didn't suggest for a moment that people should NOT follow the SIDS advice. The fact is we live in a society that, in general, follows this advice and have very few SIDS deaths, thank goodness.

Keeping the risk in perspective does NOT mean ignoring the advice.

When broken down, risk factors vary in importance - with prematurity high up (and being male, oddly). OP's DS is 5 months old, is strong enough to turn over onto belly, I assume wasn't low birthweight/premature and living in non-smoking house, I'm sure she has looked at other things such as cot bumpers etc...the risk her DS dies from SIDS is low for a syndrome that is already rare in our society.

My god how did u not have a routine - it's essential!!

You know the advice - it's up to you. But in my mind if you ignore it and then God forbid something awful did happen how would you cope.
That's why I try and play by the guidelines because if something did happen I couldn't think what if and hold myself responsible.
Is DP in other room for another month worth the risk?
Sex doesn't have to just happen in bed you know?

OP - have you got a room thermometer? Your thermostat may not be entirely accurate or its positioning could alter the temp it cools to.

DD2 is 5 months and during a warmer spell of weather I put her in a thinner grobag. I am pretty sure that she woke earlier due to being cold, so I switched her back again and she stopped waking at 5.30.

What is the advice in your country? I've always thought that it might not be practical to have an 18-20 degree room in hot countries.

Can your baby roll from front to back? Once they can roll, there isn't much you can do to stop them from sleeping on their fronts.

I think paranoia around SIDS and the use of all-beeping, all-buzzing monitor devices are key contributors to anxiety and PND in new mothers. It's out of control silliness! Don't smoke around baby, don't overdress him and don't fret! He'll be fine.
The main thing is that you feel able to catch some sleep. So do the thing that helps you sleep.