More City Infants are Dying in Bed

JSOnline ^ | July 2, 2007 | Kawanza Newson

[Tired of Taxes]

Hi, nmh. :-)

This is an old thread, but I came across it searching for a different story. I don’t know what the experts say nowadays. But, I remember the “experts” telling us to take our babies to bed with us back in the mid-90’s. I remember doctors, nurses, and lactation consultants advising matter-of-factly: Lie down with your baby and nurse so you’ll get some rest, too.

In the hospital, the nurses and consultants would even show us how to position ourselves to nurse while lying next to a baby. The nurses in the last two hospitals let my babies sleep with me during the night. So, the professionals and experts saw nothing wrong with it.

Of course, what can happen when you do that is mama falling asleep with baby. But the hospitals didn’t seem to consider that a danger at all at that time. They were more concerned with baby falling off the bed, so they’d put the bed bar up. I guess they’re changing their advice now.

My husband and I kept a bassinet next to our bed, and we would pick our babies up when they wanted to nurse and put them back. But, we’d always end up falling asleep with them at some point during the night. I’ve never met a nursing mother who never fell asleep with her infant. Cosleeping with infants seems to be a product of breastfeeding.

The bottle-feeding moms I knew always had a good night’s sleep. Breastmilk is digested quickly, so infants nurse through the night. I’ve never met a mom with an exclusively-breastfed infant who slept at least 2-3 hours without crying during the night. If you were able to do it, kudos to you!

But, I have a strong suspicion there is much more to the story in these tragic cases. Notice that the article said: “an unsafe sleeping environment may have been a contributing factor.” That doesn’t sound so certain. It doesn’t mention the other factors. Just some food for thought.

[Dead Dog]

We were taught that it is the soft cushy pillows or bedding, their face lays in the crater that fills with C02 from their breathing. As long as they are sleeping on something firm enough not to leave a divit, they should be fine.

Once they can lift their head they were supposed to be safe enough not to worry about it, if they got low on Ox they would just move.