Moving 4 month baby into their nursery

[Sohorosesfan]

what are the pros and cons of moving a 4month old baby into their nursery, rather than keep them in parents' bedroom?

Con: increased risks of SIDS.

I moved my DD into her own room at three months for the following reasons:
Less disturbances to her in the night from us going to bed, tossing/turning/snoring!
She loved the nighttime routine of going into her room as it was dark, calm and she drifted off very quickly.
She can sleep until whatever time she wants in the morning without being woken up by DH getting ready for work at 0530.
She loves to stretch out! In the Moses basket she was a little cramped but in her cot she can stretch out all she wants!
Helped us sleep better - god she was noisy!

But - we use a monitor with sensor pad, with an alarm if no movement for 20 seconds. I couldn't be without it!

After seeing her smiling face in the mornings when I get her up I am so happy we made the move when we did - but as always each baby is different and I completely understand the SIDS risk stats, however I felt the 'own room' risk was small (with sensor monitor) esp if you were to compare with parental smoking/drinking (I do neither).

www.isisonline.org.uk/where_babies_sleep/room-sharing/

Carpenter et al looked at SIDS cases in 20 locations across Europe and estimated that 36% of SIDS deaths could have been prevented if the baby had slept in a cot in the same room as the parents

In the event of SIDS sadly a monitor with a sensor pad is of no use. Once the baby has stopped breathing due to SIDS it's too late. 20 seconds later won't make a difference.
It's the parents breathing/ general moving around and noise in bed etc that's thought to prevent SIDS.
The 6 month advice is there for a reason. Yes there will be lots of people along shortly telling you that it did their baby no harm, better sleep etc but unfortunately not all parents can tell the same happy tale. Only you know if it's a risk you could take for the sake of a couple of months.

What is the point of a sensor monitor then?

In just about to move dd to her own room at 7 months but if there is no point in the sensor monitor then I might keep her in win me a little longer

As others have said the big Con is increased SIDS risk. Once the sensor pad has alerted you it's too late.

Although there's only a small chance of it happening it's still too risky in my opinion.

Where is the evidence that the sensor pads are useless? I'm not saying your wrong, just interested to know where this has come from.

You're*

Also, I've been hearing a lot lately about the idea that the parents breathing helps regulate the babies'. Can anyone she any light on where this has come from also?

They are useless for SIDS as once a baby has stopped breathing due to SIDS they can't be revived. The monitor would be helpful for choking etc as a baby could be revived if he had stopped breathing for that or other reasons.
The idea behind the parents breathing/ noise etc is that it could stop baby falling into such a deep sleep and will regulate to parents breathing.

The main problem with SIDS is that they do not categorically know what causes it, but they do know what reduces the risk.

I may be wrong, but I believe that the breathing regulation thing is a theory because they know that sharing a room before 6 months does reduce the risk of sids (I think in the 80s about 3000 babies died in the UK a year, now it's about 300). Of course that is added with the other guidelines like breastfeeding, back to sleep, not overheating etc.

I don't have evidence about sensor pads and I should have added 'in my opinion' to my statement.

There is no evidence that breastfeeding prevents sids!

The risk of SIDS is very low, the main risks are smoking. Using a dummy also lowers the risk.

I had mine in his own room from 2 months old. I wasn't getting any sleep at all and neither was he. Once he was in his own room he slept through with only one waking. It's better for both of us.

I know very few people who've kept the baby in their room until 6 months.

It's up to you what risks you're comfortable with taking

www.lullabytrust.org.uk/file/Evidence-Base-updated-Oct-14.pdf

There is no evidence that breastfeeding prevents sids but it reduces the risk (see the table near the top). The lullaby trust are a trusted source.

I think I've seen before but SIDS is sudden infant death, hence why the monitors are irrelevant as it would be too late.

Its all about managing risks isn't it? Well it is in my world anyway. I fully accept that I could not eliminate all risk in life, so accept various things by acknowledging there is a risk and deciding that, on balance, I am happy to manage that risk.

For example I was still a smoker when I had my first two children. I still co-slept sometimes though. I knew it was a risk.

I also found that by around 5 to 6 months old my children were ready for "bedtime" since they were no longer napping late evening, they were going to sleep and staying asleep. So at that point I started putting the child to bed (cot in my room) at the child's bedtime and got my evenings back. recommendations state child should stay in same room as parent at all times until 6m, so this was a calculated risk

I have always swaddled quite tightly for the first 6 weeks - against SIDS recommendations.

Whilst moving baby's cot out of my bedroom before 6 months would be a risk too far for me, I would be hypocritical to say because it is against SIDS recommendations you shouldn't do it.

Managing risk in an informed and knowledgeable way is part of parenting. The only time introducing risk is inherently dangerous in itself is when that risk is accepted on ignorance, without realising the scale of risk being taken.

I moved my dc out of my room after they were 8 months old, but I did have a sensor monitor (while they were in our room and when they moved on their own) - I felt I would rather know straight away if they had stopped breathing than discover in the morning

Managing risk in an informed and knowledgeable way is part of parenting. The only time introducing risk is inherently dangerous in itself is when that risk is accepted on ignorance, without realising the scale of risk being taken.

Great advice. I won't co sleep because I'm on medication so to me that risk isn't okay, but I'm happy with my dc in his own room. It's what you're comfortable with isn't it? No right or wrong

I moved my son at 4 months. He was showing signs of wanting a bed time by not napping and staying asleep like fate said. We were also disturbing each other, every time he stirred I woke which in turn woke him. I could guarantee within 2 mins of me waking he would be awake. It wasn't sustainable for either of us so I moved him. I didn't use a sensor mat because I read the only real benefit is that you would be alerted and then be with your baby should a sids incident occur but you wouldn't actually be able to prevent it. I also read that they often go off in error which would scare the shit out of me so we didn't use one.