Sleepyhead not recommended, what else to use?

[Buglife]

Was planning to get a sleepyhead type sleep pod for DS2 to nap in downstairs but now the Lullaby Trust don’t recommend them I feel a bit off about it and DH doesn’t want to at all. DS1 never had one but I really just wanted to avoid getting a Moses basket for downstairs. I have a Next 2 me for night sleep. Any other downstairs safe sleep solutions? There’s always the carrycot for the pram which is a firm flat surface. I’ll
Have a sling and expect quite a few sling naps but sometimes you just want to put them down if you can!

If it's just for downstairs naps the pram carrycot should be absolutely fine. If your DC1 is a toddler it may work better to have your baby in a pram (out of reach) anyway?

DD has/had next2me with Sleepyhead inside (just started to sleep in next2me on its own this week actually- 14wks), Moses basket downstairs and carrycot pram top for our and about.

I agonised about the sleepyhead but it's not like the sleep positioners that got a bad press and truly I was convinced it's super safe, and it's been brilliant in the next2me. However I don't think it was good for downstairs, it's a bit too open on its own. You would not put it on the floor, doesn't fit in Moses and seems possibly precarious on the sofa. We did have her in it on the kitchen table while we ate a couple of times in first week but I wouldn't leave her there.

If I was trying to cut down on paraphernalia next time I might get rid of Moses and just use carrycot down stairs.

@minipie Said it better and more concisely!

The pram.

Thanks, he’ll be 4 soon so I think we’ll be ok, he’s not a hitter either luckily! Still
won’t leave them alone but I trust he is able to understand he has to be gentle. He’ll be starting school in September. I was thinking the pram would be best, I was determined not to buy loads for this one but I’m having a wobble now I’ve got a few weeks to go and doubting myself and think I need to get stuff! Maybe it’s nesting... I might get a baby box in my hospital so that would also be something.

MsP0b I was so set on getting a Sleepyhead and obviously thousands use them with no issues (in fact I’m sure there’s not any evidence that they would be unsafe) but someone posted the Lullaby Trust product leaflet and I mentioned it to DH and he’s pretty adamant he doesn’t want one... and I am happy enough not to either (when DS2 doesn’t sleep at all I might change my mind!)

I think between pram and sling it should be fine. I think I’m imagining the baby sleeping for ages alone and then I remember DS1 who only slept on my chest for naps for
8 MONTHS.

This leaflet I mean

Well that leaflet doesn't mince its words, totally understand your decision. Can't actually remember what decided us to get one.

However.... this may be irrelevant but my daughter has slept through the night 8pm till 8am every night from 5 weeks old!

Oh God I know, I know they are sticking to the most stringent interpretation of safe sleep guidelines and I kind of wish I’d never read it and I’d never think they weren’t totally safe! This is very new leaflet though and the first time I’ve seen them outright say anything against the sleep pods. So plenty people will be using them just fine.

My nearly 4 year old still doesn’t always sleep through the night so this baby can’t be worse 2 hourly feeding for about 6 months with DS1!

If I hadn't already got a sleepyhead I probably wouldn't buy one for dc2. I think the most effective sleeping strategy for my baby has been swaddling and possibly white noise.

Now I’m thinking maybe we need a new Ewan Sheep! Although it made no difference for DS1... I’ll have to get my white noise apps downloaded. God I’ve forgotton everything about tiny babies.

Do they do baby box in your area @Buglife? You could ask at your local children's centre. Baby boxes are free, a safe sleeping space for your baby and can be used for storage after baby grows out of it.

They do a baby box, through the hospital/MLU, I don’t know if I have to do anything to get it except give birth! I’ll ask the Midwife tomorrow.

Ewan the sheep is absolutely crap! His noises aren't that sleepy making (to babies- they are to sleep deprived adults!)

The best white noise for my kid is 10 hours of "rain in the woods" or "rain on the pond" played through YouTube, or the Rain Rain app which is better because doesn't use the internet beyond the first time you play the noise.

Lullaby trust also don't recommend slings (or boxes) either, so as far as I'm concerned they can do one.

I understand a degree of caution but they go too far. Their stance is that there's no research that these things are safe so they cannot be recommended. Well yes, but there isn't overwhelming evidence that they're not safe!

As my name suggests I've struggled with baby sleeping, so I read as much of the research as I could find and honestly by the time you lay babies on their backs and don't smoke, drink or take drugs before sleeping with them the risk of SIDS is incredibly low.

For all the people who are massively sleep deprived because they are trying to follow the advice I think it's seriously damaging. Add to that the many risks a baby could be subjected to by a drowsy parent and it's a recipe for disaster, but crashing a car from lack of sleep wouldn't be categorised as SIDS so wouldn't factor into the lullaby trust's advice.

Ah ok, I think I'm still a little angry about this. Long story short, we used a cocoonababy and a sling so I didn't die of sleep deprivation and DS survived.

I never saw the need to have a baby sleeping downstairs in the day. I'd hate that. My ds only ever slept in his crib upstairs.

That seems to be more upfront re pods than even 5 months ago - then it was just firm, flat etc

We didn’t use one in the end although tempted as dd would only sleep in me until we took the risk buying a snuzpod which did work. I can understand why you wouldn’t buy it reading that.

We used the pram downstairs

For white noise we just downloaded it, the hoover sound is brilliant and changes her mood to sleepy, so it’s great

happymummy I have an older DS so can’t put a newborn to sleep alone upstairs in the day when we are all downstairs awake and doing stuff!

Babybed I’ve never seen anything regarding sling use from them, I certainly have no intention of not using one, so handy for the school run ans DS1 slept so well in a sling.

happymummy That is against SIDS guidelines - same room at all time for the first 6 months.

I think the sleepyhead is different I understood the bumper is breathable and it is not a positioner (I was given a positionner by an osteopath it lasted one night of a wailing monkey!)

Sleepyhead is fine. It was other positioned products that were deemed unsafe.

If you look at the leaflet I posted, Lullaby Trust have now recommended against buying sleepyhead type baby nests as well. It’s very recent. It’s due to them being a soft surface and therefore under their guidelines this would increase the chances of overheating and suffocation. They also mention in another part not posted that they also don’t rate fabrics deemed breathable as it’s more important it’s a waterproof firm surface. It’s incredibly stringent really. Which is of course their purpose as a charity so understandable, but makes it very hard! As we all know babies don’t really love being on firm flat surfaces with nothing around them...

*honestly by the time you lay babies on their backs and don't smoke, drink or take drugs before sleeping with them the risk of SIDS is incredibly low.

For all the people who are massively sleep deprived because they are trying to follow the advice I think it's seriously damaging. Add to that the many risks a baby could be subjected to by a drowsy parent and it's a recipe for disaster, but crashing a car from lack of sleep wouldn't be categorised as SIDS so wouldn't factor into the lullaby trust's advice.*

I completely and utterly agree with this. DD1 was a terrible, terrible sleeper and DD2 wasn't much better. If I'd followed the SIDS advice fully none of us would have got any sleep. People forget that sleep deprivation is a risk too, a big one. At one point I nearly fell down the stairs carrying DD because I was so tired. After that DD went in her own room and we sleep trained (a whole different subject I know but, like the SIDS advice, it's something that many MNers are knee jerk anti without considering that the alternative has risks too).

I agree Lullaby Trust tend towards overcautiousness but I do agree with them about baby nests/pods - I've never liked them. Seems like a terrible idea to me - basically a pillow.

What about a bouncy chair? If you get one of the old fashioned style they are basically a hammock of material. Or I hear a lot of babies find a swing comforting. Look at nearly new sales etc, I'm sure you'll find something there.

I suspect that once the baby is here and I remember the reality of it all I’ll be less inclined to follow guidelines to the letter. I don’t know if I’ll never leave the baby sleeping alone in a room when I’m also looking after DS1... if the baby is peacefully sleeping and it’s bath time or dinner for DS1 am I going to wake them to move them around to the kitchen/bathroom for example?! Most likely not.