2 weeks old - Muslin over face

[newdad89]

Hi all,

I am ashamed to be typing this, but I'm afraid in an act of absent mindedness/over-tiredness, I am worried that I may have accidentally harmed my 2 week old baby!

I was changing him on the floor, and he spit up a little, so I used a muslin to wipe his face up. I had to leave him momentarily to get some new wipes from the kitchen, and when I returned I realised that I had left him alone with a muslin draped over his face :(

I don't expect it would have been for anything longer than 15-20 seconds. Have I given him brain damage from a lack of oxygen? Thank you in advance. First time Dad here so very worried.

No. Muslins are made of very thin breathable cloth even for a new born. He will be fine.

No you absolutely, 100%, have not done any harm to your baby so forgive yourself.

No, as Murinae has already said, muslin is a light breathable material. Dc5(now2) always liked to sleep with his over his face, I'd remove it & even if he was fast asleep he'd have flipped it back on within 5 minutes.

He was a summer born & had one as a blanket as it was too hot for a sleeping bag or actual blanket.

Muslins are designed not to matter too much if baby's pull them over their faces and had it been there a while and actually restricted breathing there would be many signs before any damage such a breathing difficulties or blue lips. Your baby is fine, please don't worry

If he seems fine, he will be. The main danger of things covering their faces is SIDS, which is why they drum into you not to leave bedding loose etc. I think you've taken this message to heart (which is good), but in this instance it's just new parent paranoia (which we all get, responsibility for tiny humans is terrifying)

Thank you so much. Even as I was typing it, it sounded silly and I thought I was overreacting, but I had read so many reports about blankets etc smothering babies and SID, so I had freaked myself out when I returned to see him like that. I think the short duration of the time with the muslin over his face was unlikely to result in anything major, but just needed some reassurance.

Thank you all.

Don't worry
I similar has happened to all of mine at some point.
My youngest used to like to sleep with a muslin snuggled right up to his face after spending time on children's ward where they made him a 'nest' out of rolled up sheets.

No chance. I spent a long time in neonatal intensive care, where lots of babies, including my own, stopped breathing regularly. They can stop for way longer than 20 seconds with no concern for brain damage.

Nothing to worry about. To really set your mind at ease, pop a muslin over your own face for an equivalent amount of time - you'll find you're able to breathe perfectly well, and so could baby.

My baby also sleeps with a muslin which she likes to rub on her face and has done since she was 3 months old. We gave it to her precisely for its breathable properties.

Hi op. Hope you are ok? I can tell you now your baby is. This reminds me of a time I found a spot of mould on a breast pump. I was meticulously cold water taking it apart and cold water sterilising it but missed this little flap. I could have flogged myself for that. The blind panic even though DS had not been in the slightest bit ill.