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?

As people say nothing but a clear cot will be approved. I bought a sleepyhead with dc1 as he wouldn't sleep unless on me, I scared myself silly by nearly falling asleep with him on the sofa (sat up) several times. I deemed the risk of the sleepyhead was lower than the risk of me/him asleep on the sofa.

@Pebblexox

Yes, I prefer to look at science though, not just some reports where you've no idea if the parents smoke/drink etc and therefore there isn't actually any hard evidence that a sleepyhead causes death.

I can fully believe that the sleepyhead has caused deaths having found my baby boiling hot and hard to wake in one after attempting to use it over night.

@2155User there will never be a scientific study looking at a sleepyhead. Researchers would never get ethical approval to test a dangerous product especially with babies.

I honestly think if you haven't experienced a full on Velcro baby you just can't really understand

I agree with this. Obviously it’s preferable to have a baby that sleeps on a flat mattress but that just won’t happen for a lot of families.

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?

@Sunshinegirl82 Oh good, more judgmental crap about bottle fed babies - just what we need. How is a bottle fed baby more “at risk” than a breastfed one exactly?

[quote Pebblexox]@2155User
There are reports of it being linked directly to death, so perhaps you need to do your own research. [/quote]
I think all they can say is that it was present when a death occurred, I don’t think there’s any evidence of it being the cause is there?

I can find a report which says a sleepyhead (or dockatot) was linked to 2 deaths in America, which is utterly tragic but even if it was the cause, a very low number and it would be perfectly reasonable to decide this to be a safer option than staying holding a baby in bed, which has definitely caused no shortage of deaths.

We experienced exactly what several others on here have. Absolute Velcro baby who could not be put down. Wouldn’t even bed share if that meant being on the mattress. Six weeks of staying awake in shifts to hold him (and like a pp I developed a terror of DH falling asleep on the sofa, so I couldn’t sleep even when not holding baby), or trying to prop myself up in bed with pillows. I bought a sleepyhead the day I almost crashed the car. In that situation it is literally impossible to follow all the safe sleep guidelines, you basically have to choose which one to break. A sleepyhead was our choice.

DC2 on the other hand, is not a Velcro baby! So the sleepyhead is being used as an occasional daytime nap spot, or safe awake spot (eg on the bathroom floor so I can pee without leaving them with toddler). At night they’re either in the next to me or cosleeping (following all bed sharing guidance). I’m sure they’d sleep even more soundly in the sleepyhead, but the balance of risk is totally different with this child.

Another to add that I had absolutely no problem transitioning out of a swaddle.

OP my baby is only 19 weeks old but ive learnt parenthood is all about weighing up the pros and cons of things. You'll need to decide for yourself what you'll do when your baby gets here. You may have a baby that will be put down, you may not. Whatever decision you make you'll ALWAYS get someone who'll criticise you or make you feel like you've done something wrong. My advice would be to make sure you know about guidelines, then weigh up if they work for you.

@peasoup8

It's not judgemental, breastfeeding lowers the risk of SIDS.

www.lullabytrust.org.uk/safer-sleep-advice/breastfeeding/

I genuinely couldn't care less whether people bottle or breastfeed, it's none of my business. The point I'm making is that sometimes it is necessary to deviate from the "Gold standard" and that there can be a real resistance about that when it comes to sleep. That leaves people who don't have any choice in quite a difficult position and feeling quite judged.

Health visitor asked my friend if she had bought any form of sleep pod. The reason she asked this is that a baby very local to them had died of asphyxiation due to using one of these.
This is just in the next borough from me.
Definitely a no no for a sleepyhead or any other form of sleep pod!

@WheresMyMilk

Exactly!

Can you imagine if a health professional recommended something unsafe and then your baby died if cot death. They just can’t give the unsafe options.

To co-sleep but that is the more natural solution than trying to stay awake holding them all night. But it is not recommended really, but there are guidelines to do it more safely. Many friends swear by sleepyheads and cot bumpers. A friend of a work colleagues baby died after becoming tangled in a cot bumper, it breaks my heart to think of it.

As pp said motherhood/parenthood is all about risk assessments. I used a sleepyhead because ds would not sleep on his approved cot - we were so tired DH had a minor car crash with us in. Sleepyhead meant we got some sleep and we were extremely cautious - constantly checking and ds was just in a nappy and best usually (summer baby). I chose not to use cot bumpers. I felt even the mesh ones could be too risky and as we check ds and use a video monitor we can keep an eye out for knocks and trapped limbs. Some parents would avoid sleepyheads and bumpers or would use bumpers but draw line at sleepyhead. If my next baby sleeps ok on just mattress then I won’t bother with sleepyhead.

@Bochabuns well said. How horrible re. the car crash... he/you just have been so exhausted! Sometimes striving for the gold standard can lead to more risks being taken. Weighing up the least possible risk overall for you/your baby is the only way. Dor those people who have Velcro babies, I really feel for you as taking risks knowingly is not an easy decision but sometimes the only way.

@Sunshinegirl82 Yes you're right about breastfeeding reducing SIDs - there are definitely studies on this. I think one I read said it makes more of a difference when bed-sharing though - something about a breastfeeding mother being more likely to be in less light sleep and more aware of the baby in bed. I can well believe that (though we mever bed shared) - I breastfed my first born for 7 months and woke at the slightest sound he made at night... as soon as we switched to formula I hardly roused and it was my husband that had to deal with him at nihht after that! I suspect that's why my husband is steonflt encouraging me to breastfeed as long as possible this time round (we have a newborn)... 😂

Breastfeeding does reduce the SIDS risk that’s not a statement designed to shame anyone just a fact

@selfishteenagers but not in the way @Sunshinegirl82 said it. Breastfeeding and not smoking will offer no protection from sleepyheads!

@CostaCosta I think you've misunderstood the point @Sunshinegirl82 was trying to make.

The idea is that in practice, if you're a breastfeeding non smoking mum then the chances of something happening to your baby who sleeps in a sleepyhead is no worse than a formula feeding smoking mum whose child sleeps in a clear cot with a firm mattress.

It's just risk evaluation and figuring out what works best for you.

I'm firmly in the camp that you shouldn't just be told "firm mattress clear cot is the only way" because that simply isn't what happen in real life

It's like the whole "breast is best". That's great, but that mantra clearly doesn't work and it doesn't help formula feeding mums who needs more help.

@2155User I need to read up! I've never heard that by formula feeding and smoking you put your child at risk... in a cot!

@CostaCosta

A child who is formula fed, whether they then co-sleep, have a sidecar cot, a separate cot in the room or a separate cot in another room have higher risk of SIDS than a breastfed baby

I'm with @CostaCosta Yes I know exclusively breastfeeding for the first 2 months reduces the risk of SIDS by 50% for a number of reasons. But if a baby suffocates in a sleepyhead that has nothing to do with your formula or breastfeeding! It's due to the sleep pod! 🙄

@Metallicalover

We aren't saying breastfeeding prevents anything, we aren't saying if you breastfeed there is no risk, but if you're evaluating the risks and weighing them up they might go "Im not getting any sleep. Baby won't settle in the cot and I'm not happy to co-sleep, and because I breastfeed and don't smoke the risk is therefore very minimal when using a sleepyhead and it's a risk I'm happy to take to prevent something worse happening"

This is because the sleepyhead is the only risk factor.

However, a formula feeding mum might think "Formula feeding already increases the risk, and therefore I don't want to increase it further by using a sleepyhead when it is already slightly elevated"

@2155User

Yes, that was pretty much exactly what I was trying to say. Every family will have their own risk profile. It's not one size fits all.

When a health care professional tells you that a baby in the next borough died due to asphyxiation from a sleepyhead or sleep pod. Im sure this risk assessment may differ. Breastfed/combination feeding/formula it's the sleep pod at fault. I don't see how the fact that a non smoker breastfeeder stops a baby from suffocating from the side of a sleep pod! (I am a non smoker and I did breastfeed). Guidelines also say that babies who take dummies reduce SIDS but it isn't advised when your breastfeeding to introduce a dummy.

@surreygirl1987 it was minor and fortunately no injuries but it wasn’t a nice experience as new parents with a 11 day old! We were on our way to pick up thrush medication for ds! First time I’d been involved in a collision too DH was just so exhausted he didn’t see a car, I saw it and shouted. Both cars were moving off from stop so it was extraordinarily slow collision but still not good!
I wish the midwives had explained about safe co sleeping (as in..if you’re going to do, it this is the best way...) instead they just said absolutely do not bed share with your baby. I understand why they say it, but it doesn’t help anyone in real life. Funny enough we had a healthcare assistant who said we are the only species who are told don’t sleep with their babies, all other mammals curl up with their babies at night. She was the only person to speak some common sense - it was also her who sat with me for ages helping me and baba learn to breastfeed. She was a good’un!
I’m waffling on now but I hope OP manages to get something from this thread - only a parent can make an informed choice for his/her family based on the circumstances at the time.
Also @GBBO45 just gonna say I didn’t buy much at all before the birth just basics like nappies, a cot, bouncer chair, some plain newborn clothes. I decided to wait and see how my baby was before I bought more which is how I came to buy a sleepyhead nearly two weeks after the birth! You save a fortune that way because you don’t buy all these “essentials” that you end up not using!