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Original poster

Cot death and bedsharing.

130 replies

pie · 16/01/2004 08:41

Hmm...well it seems I can't do anything right. Will this report make a difference to you when you baby is less then 8 weeks old? And can anyone tell me, is it supposed to increase the risk overall, or for the duration of the bedsharing under 8 weeks? I can't tell from the article. Cot death is my worst fear, and I mean I'm terrified, I feel sick right now.

OP posts:
aloha · 16/01/2004 15:27

Zebra, if I left my mum in charge of ds I'd find him in his cot, buried under a huge pile of blankets and wrapped up like an eskimo - it did seem to make him sleep slightly better! He always sleeps in socks now as that also seems to help.

Epigirl · 16/01/2004 15:41

Mears, dh works in a hospital and would agree with you - heating either on or off with no inbetween, old systems etc. It's something we wondered about when dd was born and one of the reasons I went home straight away with ds (also because I wanted to co-sleep and preferred the double bed rather than hospital single)

Hulababy · 16/01/2004 15:59

I found it quite interesting that I after DD was born and we went up on the ward, DD was handed me and I was given the instruction for both of us to get some sleep. I had just had an emergency cs so they knew I couldn't move enough to put her back, so I assume they felt it was okay for me to co-sleep too.

Marina · 16/01/2004 16:02

I was in for a week after dd was born, also by c-section, and I was given help in wedging her cot against the bed-side so that we could co-sleep. Not one person ever ticked me off for it, but that might be because it was less trouble for them (I was not able to move around properly for several days).

mears · 16/01/2004 16:17

We are actually now getting cot that clip on the side of the bed. The side of the cot is shaped so that the mum can reach her baby and slide it over into the bed. The only thing is they are really cumbersome and get in the way of bed making or assisting mums up the bed after C/S. They need to get clipped on and off frequently. The idea is good - just the practicalities need to be worked out.
The cots are being introduced because if the conflicting advice about bed sharing and also because babies have fallen out of bed in hospital.

hmb · 16/01/2004 16:21

To be fair to the guy I saw on TV this morning, he was very calm about the whole thing. He repeatedly made the point that the greatest risks for cot death were smoking and not following the feet to foot, back to sleep advice. He also pointed out that co-sleeping was far more dangerous if the parents were smokers or had drunk alcohol. He was quick to agree that there were advantages to co-sleeping, but that this did come with an elivated risk of cot death. He wanted people to have the information and make up their own minds. He was not a dictatorial scare mongor at all, to my mind.

He also said that his 4 children had been sucessfully breast fed, which I thought was a nice positive message to put out on prime new spots.

hmb · 16/01/2004 16:21

I'd have loved a clip on cot like that after my section Mears. It would have helped a lot!

popsycal · 16/01/2004 19:02

They did the same to me as to hula.....and my baby had just been in special care!
we got a bedside cot so he was on a spearate mattress and with spearate covers - a godsend as it made it so easy for breastfeeding
I had ds in early august and my room in the hospital was 29 degrees
ds had been in special care with severe jaundice and was still having phiototherpay once back onthe normal ward and dehydration was a key factor - and they thought I was mad for asking for fans to cool the room down

aloha · 16/01/2004 19:44

Mears, it's a fantastic idea, it really is. I would have loved one. I didn't sleep a wink in hospital even though I had my own room.

Clarinet60 · 16/01/2004 22:20

I don't think we should get worried about the FSID C&G link. As Aloha pointed out, they were only occasional corporate sponsors. IME working in health research, one never hears a peep out of funding bodies ever again once the proposal has been agreed (although our research hasn't had commercial funding so far). If the insitute carrying out the research is well respected, there shouldn't be a problem, especially for something like SIDS.

FWIT, I co-slept with both mine. I wasn't worried about rolling over once I noticed that I woke up in exactly the same position I'd fallen asleep in. Your body is aware of what it's doing when nursing a baby. (Gawd knows what that does to quality of sleep, but it's better than none at all).

It's a shame this research has been reported in such a bitty way.

Hulababy · 16/01/2004 22:27

Our bedside cot didn't clip on just was pushed right up and the matress went across onto ours to make no falling though gap. Clip sounds like a good idea though if easy to remove.

Hulababy · 16/01/2004 22:28

Co-slepping definielty makes ME and Dh sleep more lightly. Recently DD has gone completely into sleeping in her own bed all night with no waking. We both have commented on how much more heavy we sleep and how we feel more groggy in a morning as a result.

popsycal · 16/01/2004 22:36

out of interest, can any one tell me when the risk of cot death becomes 'negligable'
ie very unlikely indeed?
or is the risk always there

popsycal · 16/01/2004 22:37

is it when babies can roll, move properly etc....or something else?

Hulababy · 16/01/2004 22:40

I think the rik drops greatly after 6 months.

My firend's friend (if you follow that) actually died from the adult form of Cot Death during her uni years, during a uni holiday at home. Very very sad

popsycal · 16/01/2004 22:42

that is very sad hula
I thought that 6 months ish was the case
i don't panic anymore but thisthread has just made me wonder

Oakmaiden · 16/01/2004 22:45

I co-slept with my new daughter for the first 6 weeks, before moving her into her crib. To be honest I strongly believe that we both sleep a lot better now than when we coslept - although I do miss the cuddlyness of cosleeping....

BekkiKay · 16/01/2004 23:09

The study is flawed on many levels. I notice that there are no reports on how many of these babies were formula fed, how they were co-sleeping and other factors such as sleep postitioning and heating.
I wouldn't give it a second thought.

Hulababy · 16/01/2004 23:11

Does breast or fomula feed make a difference?

BekkiKay · 16/01/2004 23:28

I can't back it up with anything.
But formula isn't what we are supposed to be feeding babies and if you are looking for a culprit then formula is as good as any.
Cot death is a western problem. In cultures where co-sleeping is the norm, there is no panic about cot death or much use of formula.
I'm not saying that is the cause but I'm merely showing that if you are going to start blaming co-sleepers then why not look at the whole picture.
FSIDS are funded by Cow and Gate. Check for yourself on their site.

popsycal · 16/01/2004 23:42

Bekki - please be careful with comments such as 'But formula isn't what we are supposed to be feeding babies'
whilst i did breast feed for a while, formula is right for some mums with certain babies in certain cirucmstances
just trying to avoid this becoming controversial....and don't mean to be a pain

popsycal · 16/01/2004 23:43

btw - i breast fed for 4 months then bottle fed so see things from all sides!

zebra · 17/01/2004 05:04

SIDS is called S(Unexpected)DS in people over 2yo, and is, I understand, extremely rare.

Keep in mind I let mine sleep under duvet so I am all for people making their own decisions. Evidence isn't unamimous, but here's some refs for 'ya, Bekkki:

Ford RP et al (1993) Breastfeeding and the risk of sudden infant death syndrome. Int J Epidemiol 22: 885-90
The New Zealand Cot Death Study reviewed data on 356 infant deaths classified as SIDS and 1529 control infants over 3 years. Cases stopped breastfeeding sooner than controls: by 13 weeks, 67% controls were breastfed versus 49% cases. A reduced risk for SIDS in breastfed infants persisted during the first 6 months after controlling for confounding demographic, maternal and infant factors. Infants exclusively breastfed at discharge from hospital (OR = 0.52, 95% CI: 0.35-0.71) and during the last 2 days (OR = 0.65, 95% CI: 0.46-0.91) had a significantly lower risk of SIDS than infants not breastfed.

Klonoff-Cohen HS et al (1995) The effect of passive smoking and tobacco exposure through breast milk on sudden infant death syndrome. JAMA 273: 795-8
A total of 200 parents of infants who died of SIDS between 1989 and 1992 were compared with 200 control parents who delivered healthy infants. There was an increased risk of SIDS associated with passive smoking (OR = 3.50 [95% CI, 1.81 to 6.75]). Breast-feeding was protective for SIDS among nonsmokers (OR = 0.37) but not smokers (OR = 1.38), after adjusting for potential confounders.

See also:
Alm B et al (2002). Breast feeding and the sudden infant death syndrome in Scandinavia, 1992-95. Arch Dis Child 86: 400-402.
Gilbert RE et al (1995) Bottle feeding and the sudden infant death syndrome. BMJ 310: 88-90 (bottle feeding found not to be associated with increased risk)
McVea KLSP et al (2000) The role of breastfeeding in sudden infant death syndrome. J Hum Lact 16: 13-20.

bobthebaby · 17/01/2004 05:39

Oh my goodness, RP Ford is my ds's pead. He's not so keen on some mothers (ie me) bfeeding after 6 months though!

BekkiKay · 17/01/2004 08:16

Popsycal-I bottle fed my ds1 and now bf ds2. I do see things from both sides. I couldn't bf (he has tongue-tie) and I still feel gulity so I can see how that comment would upset some people but theres no way around it-formula isn't what we are supposed to be feeding our babies.
I'm sure that smoking has a much deeper impact than any other factor mentioned.
Thanks Zebra.