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Original poster

co-sleeping Scare story!!

15 replies

Angeliz · 22/05/2006 09:58

I know there are risks but \link{http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=387157&in_page_id=1770\this} really pisses me off.

Now i know co-sleeping isn't for everyone. I didn't paln it, i sort of fell into it but am all for it now. I do worry, same as i'd worry about baby being by itself in a cot but research and facts are interesting.
This article to me is one big scary headline and then when you read it, it's based on one mans 'ESTIMATE'!!
People will hear the headline and form an opinion but if you don't go on to read the story you may actually beleive it!!
Opinions?

OP posts:
happybebe · 22/05/2006 12:11

hate to say it but person aly i agree with him in the sense that i would not co sleep with my own baby. suffocating does happen and like he says whatever the number is its avoidable. i as a parent just feel better knowing my baby is asleep safely in her cot, ith no risk of my DH of myself rolling over onto her or knocking her out of bed etc.

that doesnt mean i think all mothers should be the same, i just dont have enough faith in myself whilst sleeping :)

bramblina · 22/05/2006 12:16

Last Tuesday there was a case of this in the Mail also I think, that had just been to court, a single Mum was sleeping with her 8m old ds, he had rolled in his sleep and fallen foot first down the back of the headboard, which was 3 horizontal bars, his head got trapped and he effectively hanged himself. i just don't understand why people don't put their babies in their cots to sleep.

happybebe · 22/05/2006 12:17

Sad thats really really sad, its just one of those things i dont see worth the risk....

hulababy · 22/05/2006 12:18

\link{http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=1372&threadid=175631&stamp=060522120546\Other longer thread} on same story. Lots of people do co-sleep safely. It does have a lot of advanatges when done safely and properly.

Original poster
Angeliz · 22/05/2006 12:19

It is a personal choice bramblina and there will be horror stories of babies in cots too, i guess you won't have to look too far.

OP posts:
Original poster
Angeliz · 22/05/2006 12:20

There is a risk of COT death too though. Have a look at the figures for cot death!

OP posts:
Original poster
Angeliz · 22/05/2006 12:22

Sorry, that sounds like i'm trying to convert people which i am most definately not. Each to their own.
I just hate being preched to (by the article) on guess work!

OP posts:
happybebe · 22/05/2006 12:26

my own feelings there angeliz is that with cot death no one actually knows what causes it some say it could be undetected heart defects, others used mattresses etc but still no one really knows, where as with co sleeping and suffication, how horrific would it be if you were one of those unfortunate mums who did suffocate your baby, you'd never forgive yourself, but with cot death, a small conselation is knowing it wasnt your fault IYSWIM :)

PinkTulips · 22/05/2006 12:37

i'm another one that never planned to co-sleep but it was either that or not sleep at all, or fall asleep while feeding on the couch which i'm sure has far more potential for accident.

my dd fed almost constantly for the first few months and although she was put down in her cot and slept there while i was awake if she woke when i was in bed she came in with me as there was absolutely no way she'd settle back in her cot.

cot death aside i wonder how many babies each year are estimated die as a result of smothering in the cot, by blankets over friendly cats etc, or for that matter how many die accidentally in other ways in their cots.

god knows what could have happened to my dd if i'd been so sleep deprived from months of no sleep that i couldn't care for her properly

poppadum · 22/05/2006 12:40

If co-sleeping is so risky, why are there no instances of cot deaths in countries like Japan, India and many others where co-sleeping is common? This is scare-mongering plain and simple.

arfy · 22/05/2006 12:40

why oh why is it MOTHERS' beds?

are fathers not there? Is it only mothers who smother babies?

oh, it's the Daily Mail - there you go

Laura032004 · 22/05/2006 13:13

I thought the new guidelines were that it was a lot more risky to fall asleep with a baby on the sofa? I co-slept with ds - him in a grobag, and with a Tomy bed-rail at the side of us, with no problems, and I am sure I will do the same with this baby.

ruty · 22/05/2006 21:34

i got up every night several times for 8 weeks, to breastfeed in the middle of the night. Ds struggled to get to sleep in his cot at all and i was seriously sleep deprived. one night i was on the sofa breastfeeding, eating an energy bar to keep awake, and i heard a huge thud - i thought the TV had fallen off the shelf. It was my ds. He was lying face down on the floor, screaming. I had fallen asleep momentarily and he had fallen. thank god he was OK, but it was a terrible shock, and after that we started to co sleep. Things got really good after that - neither ds nor i were sleep deprived and we were all happier. Important to follow safety guidelines but this kind of vague, generalized propaganda does nothing for anyone.

lisalisa · 23/05/2006 22:48

I have to say that I agree with the dangers of co sleepoing even though I've done it myself with all my babies( 5 of them). I've done it more from weariness by bfeeding than desire. With ds1 we had a lucky escape when he fell down the narrow gap between the bed and the wall even though I had ( or thought I had) my arm around him to prevent this. I awoke screaming to my dh " Move th ebloody bed, move the bed NOW!" . Ds was luckily still asleep and obvlious and still face up on his side ifswim. it may have been different if he'd fallen sideways or face first.

Also wiht ds 2 now 6 months old and just out of my bed I awoke several times to find duvet covering him despite that i'd tucked it only around me and left him outside it and covered with cellular blankets. Dont' know how it happened.

On the other side of hte coin though since he's been in his cot I awoke at 5.00am 2 weeks ago and got urge to check him ( he's in our room) and found his sheet covering his whole face smoothly and closely thus allowing him no air to breathe. I screamed and ripped it off him and gathered him up ready to resuscitate /phone 999 but thankfully he was ok. So it seems there are dangers with any form of sleepoing really,

plummymummy · 25/05/2006 11:33

Another one here who didn't plan to co-sleep. I think the gro-bag solution is the best as at least they don't end up under the covers. I used to put ds between dh and I so he didn't fall off the bed. Then I worried he was going to get too hot as it was summer so I kept trying him back in the moses basket/cot but he hated it and screamed. At 12 weeks he went into his cot though and I would get up every 2/3 hours to feed him.

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