How do you use your Sleepyhead and is it safe?

[GBBO45]

I am reading so much conflicting information. Some say that the Lullaby Trust have stated that items such as the Sleepyhead increase the chance of SIDS, yet many say it is a life changing item they cannot live without. I am contemplating using it for daytime naps as we will have a bedside crib for night, but can’t understand if it is safe to use on a sofa or should it be on the floor? The guidance is very vague, and I just wondered how other people use theirs? And are you not concerned with the supposed risks?

@Sunshinegirl82 The LT has guidance on safer co-sleeping to help when babies won't settle in a cot or moses basket. This is the route I went down with my ds.

@folkloreore same here! DS point blank refused to be put down for the first 6 weeks...swaddling etc didn't help, I could only cat nap while letting him sleep on my chest while I was sitting up with arms propped up so I couldn't move!

I was so ill myself (massive pph) and hallucinating with tiredness, so we bought a sleepyhead in desperation. I put him down asleep in it and he stayed asleep! First time since he was born I could lie flat to sleep.

It's a risk assessment we all need to make. In my case I deemed it safer than falling asleep while holding him, so that's what I did.

LT co sleeping guidelines still require you to lay the baby on a mattress (just the one in your bed rather than theirs) which doesn't work if your baby will only sleep being held. I honestly think if you haven't experienced a full on Velcro baby you just can't really understand.

As others have pointed out, for me, I had to make a risk assessment of whether it was worse for me to fall asleep holding my son or to use a sleepyhead. I was beyond sleep deprived. The sleepyhead won and saved my sanity for the first few months. Yes, I knew what the advice is but I also needed to be able to function to ensure that I could could properly care for my son.

I used a sleepyhead for night time once and woke up to find ds sweating and feeling so hot to the touch, it was not a hot night either. It will be tempting when you're sleep deprived but they are not safe. Co sleeping is better (worked amazing for us for the first 3 months) if you follow all the safety guidelines as they can be right next to you, or even better, a swaddle.

It is tricky. I have a 4 week old. When he came home from hospital he wouldn't sleep in his cot or.moses basket, only in arms or sleepy head. My husband and I weren't prepared to risk anything happening to him so we took turns staying up in the night to supervise him sleeping in the sleepy head. Not ideal, especially as I was recovering from a c section, but something we both felt strongly about. We managed because there were two of us and I didn't mind staying up half the night to ensure his safety. If I was a single mum or didn't have my husband around, I would probably just risk the sleepyhead overnight though, as actually it would be even more dangerous to risk falling asleep while breastfeeding the baby on the sofa out of overtiredness. You have to pick your level of risk but also think about other repercussions - and falling asleep with the Baby in an even more unsafe place is a pretty big risk when you're overtired and exhausted, in which case the sleepyhead may become the safer option.

Thankfully we've managed to coax my son into his moses basket now so no more half night shift sleep!

Ive not used a sleepy head but my first did use his cheap Moses basket (£20) for 7 months. I’ve had to by a new cheap Moses basket for my second. Who so far is happy in it. Mine was £23 from Asda website. So that might be a cheaper option to try first.
If they don’t go down easily warm the mattress first with a hot water bottle, it usually fools them.

Sorry just to add, I didn't even put a blanket on him as I was worried that it can increase his temperature, and omg it did. If you just think, it's like having the heaviest duvet possible around their back and sides, there's nowhere for the heat to escape

Sleepyhead should only be used for supervised naps.
I used one when dd was newborn, just on the sofa so I could tidy around her without having to move her Moses etc. However they're extremely dangerous when left unsupervised, such as night time when everyone is sleeping.

@Sunshinegirl82 I don't want to get into a competition of who is the most tired, whose baby was the most 'velcro' or how many uninterrupted nights sleep we've had. I just personally wouldn't recommend a sleepy head to someone who asks.

Have you tried baby sleeping without it first?
I personally would never choose to use one but I do understand why some people make the decision to.
However if baby will sleep without one then I wouldn't even contemplate it.

I loved mine.

Those who say it is "extremely dangerous" etc, find me 1 study that has a direct link between death and a sleepyhead. Oh yes, you won't, because there aren't any.

OP, motherhood is, you will soon learn, a long road of risk assessment.

If baby will sleep soundly in a sleepyhead, that is less dangerous than you risk of you being so sleep deprived they fall asleep in your arms and you also fall asleep.

I used the purflo. It's great. Never left unattended though and always slept in a next to me crib at night. Then in bed with me once old enough.

I used a sleepyhead with my ds. Well aware of the advice and sids risk. You have to make your own mind up but be fully informed. I had a next 2 me cot with the proper mattress but ds hated it and like most newborns only wanted to sleep on me or dh. I accidentally fell asleep holding ds and decided that it was less risky to place ds in the next 2 me in a sleepyhead than for us to be sleep deprived. We also took in turns so sometimes I’d stay up a few hours with ds and dh would do the same.
The sleepyhead was totally worth it and as ds got older and bigger I changed to bed sharing. He still sleeps in our bed for the last part of the night at 12 months and I love it. Bed sharing is also against LT advice however the studies actually say bed sharing is ok if done safely and there was no greater sids risk than baby sleeping in own cot but it’s co sleeping in unsafe situations which leads to sid. E.g alcohol smoking drugs, or co sleeping on a sofa /armchair. However the official line is no co sleeping to cover all eventualities so as I said all parents need to read all the info available and make informed choices that are right for your family. I also tried an amby nest as it is supposed to recreate baby’s womb environment but ds Hated that too

My only point is that I'm concerned that new mums are terrified into not asking much about sleeping arrangements because when they do they receive a blanket response that the baby must sleep in a clear cot on a firm mattress. That isn't actually practical guidance a lot of the time.

It would surely be better to approach the whole thing as what is, a risk assessment. Is a baby who is bottle fed and has a parent who smokes but who sleeps in a clear cot on a firm mattress more or less at risk than a breastfed baby of non smoking parents who sleeps in a sleepyhead?

There is 100% best practice, every deviation from that is a risk. The question is how big is the risk and how many deviations are there?

If you look on the sleepyhead website, the bigger one is safe for overnight sleeping from 12 months? You can also just take the mattress bit out the back of the sleepyhead and place on a normal baby mattress when baby is asleep in cot (this is what we did). My baby has outgrown the sleepyhead but we used it on the sofa when a newborn and in the middle of the bed if baby needed to sleep somewhere other than the sofa. We now have a different make but same style pod thing for the cot because transitioning from Moses basket to cot is a big move. Also please think twice about swaddling - whilst it may help in the beginning, it will probably become a hinderance later on. We swaddled and bought every item on the market to transition out of swaddling and it was near impossible.

@croberts1208

That's a shame to hear about swaddling!

We LOVED swaddling and transitioned really easily with an ergopouch

I do love it when people suggest co sleeping as an alternative when your baby won’t sleep in a crib or basket. What if they, like mine, wouldn’t co sleep either? We made it to nearly five weeks taking it in turns to sleep holding her upright before we caved and tried a Sleepyhead.

She still at 20m will not cosleep. Says ‘mumma go’ to get me off the bed! Not all babies love it.

I had practic as only no problem transitioning my baby out of a swaddle. And Love To Dream even sell transition swaddles where you can put on arm out/one arm in while they adjust - although we never needed this.

Good advice above about waiting and seeing how your baby sleeps first before rushing out to buy a Sleepyhead. If nothing else, you might save yourself a lot of money!

OP, if your baby isn't here yet, don't buy a sleepyhead. Wait and see, if they sleep happily in a cot or moses basket you'll be quids in. It's much easier and safer this way.

If baby turns out not to want to sleep on a flat mattress, then you can always get one a few weeks or months in.

To me... the fact that the manufacturer says they should only be used supervised shows the true story.... it speaks volumes

Op, the times your baby is asleep is the only time you'll get to get anything done. Sleep, dishes, hoovering, ironing, having a shower..... You cannot be supervising your baby doing those things.

You need somewhere the baby can be left safely, unsupervised. Yes you'll be popping in and out as per safe sleep guidelines but u cannot have your eyes on the baby supervising to that degree to follow the manufacturers guidelines.

I would suggest don't buy one. If u end up in a nightmare scenario like some of the posters here and have no other option then that is a different call.... but it's not an essential piece of kit in my eyes. Try safe sleep recommended first

*practically no problem

@Nightmanagerfan I had a google and it's been linked to 12 deaths.

Worrying.

We tried to put DD down to sleep in her crib and she hated it, woke immediately and never slept. I was a bit distraught in the beginning and remember sobbing to my mother about when would I get to sleep ...
we moved her to a Moses basket upstairs and let her sleep in her carrycot downstairs for naps so I could wheel her from room to room. I asked the midwife about the carrycot and it was approved for sleep with a proper mattress and was a clear flat surface so was ok (reclining push chair was a no no). She has never been a great sleeper although slept much better in that Moses basket - transitioning her out of it and into anything else was just a nightmare and she doesn't sleep well now as a result.
Go with a Moses basket - they are approved and safe and cost considerably less than a sleepyhead!

@2155User
There are reports of it being linked directly to death, so perhaps you need to do your own research.