New recommendations on co-sleeping

[DoreensEatingHerSoreen]

link

I don't see anything new there at all

Sorry if there's another thread about this, I couldn't see one.
I co-slept with DS pretty much from birth, if I were to have more DCs I'd assumed I'd do the same but this is concerning, I'd like to see the research it's based on.
I didn't smoke / drink / do drugs. Didn't use a duvet, had a new mattress that was firm and didn't sag in the middle and it was only me and DS in the double bed.
I've read alit about and believe so much in the benefits of co-sleeping so I'd be sad to think I couldn't do it again from birth, safety is always the first priority though so what do others think?

*a lot

I guess what's new Scarlet is that under the new guidelines health professionals should be advising against co-sleeping under 1 year (unless I've read that wrong).

My midwife recommended co-sleeping when DS was a few days old as he would only fall asleep on me, and would wake up and cry if I placed him in the Moses basket. She told me that if done correctly it was safe.

Of course parents should be informed about the risks ... but I am surprised to learn that it is now considered unsafe and linked to SIDS in cases other than where the parent(s) had been drinking or smoking. That's the part if the research I'd love to read.

Ah right, yes I'd like to read that too. I'm still co-sleeping with my two year old. When she was tiny I did use a crib beside the bed just in case.

I always placed the baby up around my head so that I would not roll on her and she would not get smothered.

She doesn't really like covers on anyway and kicks them off but I just used a small baby blanket for her and had the adult blankets down at waist level if that makes sense.

I was told off in hospital 14 years ago for (accidentally) co-sleeping with my baby. I think it's like a lot of other things around child-rearing - the advice changes so often that eventually you have to stop listening and trust your own judgement.

New? Nothing new at all.
No links to proper peer reviewed science, just the same old scaremongering, vulnerable new parent, guilt trip.

I've tried following up the real research papers on this, it's not easy. Honestly it seems to be a tiny increase, in a tiny risk. If there is any risk at all.

I think the risks of sleep deprivation (DH was far more likely to crash his car than DD die of SIDS) and the problems caused with BF way out weigh the risk of co-sleeping.

The cynic in me suspects the health authorities are just petrified of being sued if, tragically a co sleeping baby dies. Despite the fact that it might have happened if they were in their cot.

I'd like to know at what point it is safe for DH to cosleep with DS? 1? Toddler? Does anyone know?

I remember reading at the time (give years ago) that co-sleeping actually REDUCED the risk of SIDS due to the parent being more aware of any issues while the baby slept / more likely to notice in time if baby stopped breathing or got themselves into an unsafe position.

Scarlet yes that makes perfect sense I did exactly the same: sleeping further down the bed than DS and a separate baby blanket for him tucked under him and under his arms.

I'm really annoyed that it's proving difficult to access the research - if there is a genuine proven increased risk of SIDS for babies that co sleep with parents who take all the necessary safeguards, then I will chose not to do this again - that would be a huge decision for me so if like to be properly informed!

Toads do you mean just your DH and DS in a bed or the three of you?

I co slept from birth. just me and baby in the bed, made their own little bed on mine with own blankets and found myself sleeping in one position all night.. just didn't move. Stiff as hell when i woke up type of thing.

Sometimes of late i've wondered if we should just give birth and hand our babies over to the government to bring up. We can't be trusted to do anything right these days.

this was a great read when I started out co sleeping - it goes against the recommendations announced today but was absolutely the right thing for me and DS.

Doreen, it is difficult to find research because it's statistics to prove this, and then statistics to prove that and t'other.

I remember (I said this this morning on the other thread) that it's something like 1.5% of all deaths while sleeping happen in the family bed. So that's a hell of a lot more happening in cots.

There was also furore in the States when it was revealed that research "proving" that co-sleeping was risky had been paid for by a cot mattress manufacturer......

I love that book.

That was where I read about there being no word for SIDS in various cultures where co-sleeping is the norm, because the rates are so low as to be negligible.

And also about how research (damn word again) thought that SIDS happened because babies "forgot" to breathe but lying close to their mothers that would be less likely to happen because the mother's heartbeat would be heard/sensed and would kind of "remind" the baby's brain what it was supposed to do. I don't know about the validity of that as a theory, but it made a lot of sense to me.

It is a very limited report, given all the research that has gone into SIDS.

This website has more of a balance of information and says the following

'Understanding that there is no single simple message that is optimal for all families and all situations is an important component to understanding this issue and to helping families make informed choices.'

It also points out that drugs mean both illegal and legal.

That's really interesting Drank. Could you point me in the direction of the other thread please? I couldn't see one this morning hence starting this one.

Also a large percentage of babies will have shared their parents' bed by 3 months, usually unintentionally, so probably not done safely. That include excessly tired parents who fall asleep on the sofa, the worst place you can sleep with a baby.

There should be much more emphasis on proximity of parent in the first six months - too many babies asleep in parents room, as advised, without the parent being present.

yes, 'drugs' in a us report = 'medicines and drugs' in a european report.

Do they separate breastfed and formula fed babies in these studies?

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/2123024-Good-Morning-Britain-declaring-co-sleeping-unsafe-under-1yo?msgid=48054363

It's a bit more "daytime television" than this thread.....

I suppose these studies only look at an association between two things, rather than prove the cause - so for example factors that might indicate a baby is more likely to suffer from SIDS might also make it more likely to them to bedshare? I'm thinking of babies that are unsettled, sleep poorly, seem out of sorts - mum might be more likely to take them into bed with her, but these things might also indicate an underlying problem that caused the SIDS.

I know I have always had mine in bed with me if they have been ill or unsettled. It may be that ill babies are more likely to bedshare rather than bedsharing causing the illness.

I rather get the arse with these anti-cosleeping recommendations because they seem to conflate "death by suffocation/squashing/fallingout of bed" with SIDS, which, as I understand it, is largely due to unknown causes. I have seen an actual statistical analysis, wherein 6 of the supposed "SIDS" deaths were in fact due to suffocation/squashing/falling out of bed.
Because of this I take a dim view of the idea that the risks of "SIDS" are higher in co-sleeping babies.

I co-slept with both of mine, made sure they were away from the pillows and the duvet, no chance of me rolling on them as I had my arm out above their heads - and I've a feeling it might have saved DS1's life as once, I woke up suddenly in the middle of the night and he didn't seem to be breathing and was very floppy - so I poked and shook him until he breathed and woke up - I still don't know for certain if I was dreaming that he wasn't breathing or if it was real. But both my boys had/have involuntary breath-holding issues - Ds2 has a lovely habit of passing out and failing to restart breathing immediately - so it's possible that I could have lost DS1 if I hadn't been co-sleeping, who knows.

Thankfully SIDS is very rare, and doing studies with small numbers is notoriously difficult.

There are so many variables, birth weight, feeding method, sleeping place, parents ages, babies age, families social economic status, smoking, drugs and drink. Was the baby ill?

Data to be collected either from parents who are going to be utterly heart broken or long after when details are blurred by time and grief. Else information dug out of previous studies, hospital and police records where slightly different questions will have been asked.

It's a researchers nightmare.

I mean when can DS cosleep with DH alone Doreen. I cosleep with DS every night and sometimes DH joins me, him on side of me and DS on the other, if you see what I mean. friends with older children seem to sometimes have dad cosleep with older child and mum with baby, but at what point does that become safe?