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Dangers of Co-sleeping with infants and small children
I hope all new parents are learning about this. I know the DoD Hospital system and AMEDD are briefing all new mothers and families while in hospital.
If you can't access the link:
MILWAUKEE -- A 2-month-old Milwaukee baby boy was found dead Sunday morning in bed with his 18-year-old mother.
On Monday the medical examiner's office conducted an autopsy on Tyler Winston. The cause of death is believed to be accidental -- the third case of a co-sleeping infant death in the past six weeks.
In the first case, a 6-day old girl died in her home in the 2900 Block of N. 29th Street on March 8th. Then on April 5, a 3-month-old boy suffocated while sleeping on a couch in the 2300 Block of N. 53rd Street. The latest infant death occurred in an apartment building at 50th and Hopkins streets Sunday.
According to the medical examiner's report, the mother came home Saturday night after working two jobs and fed and changed Winston.
She then got in bed and put the baby next to her on a pillow, even though there was a bassinette in the room, the report said. A 3-year-old child was also sleeping in the bed.
When the mother woke up at about 8:30 a.m., Winston was faced down and not breathing.
The medical examiner's report said there was no sign that drugs or alcohol were involved.
The case is still being investigated.
Barrett Calls For Increased Education on Co-Sleeping Dangers
Mayor Tom Barrett coincidentally was attending a program Monday on reducing teen pregnancy.
"Don't sleep with your baby. Give your baby a chance. This is the third death we've had since March of people sleeping with the baby and the baby suffocating," Barrett said. "One of them occurred seven blocks from where I live, which is not a high poverty area. It's a situation where people have to realize that our bodies are much larger than an infant."
Barrett is calling on the Health Department to further step-up education efforts on the dangers of co-sleeping -- offering posters to all 1,300 daycares in the city and telling them to discuss it with their moms.
"We're going to continue to hammer on this issue because these are senseless, senseless tragedies," Barrett said. "They can be avoided; they must be avoided."
Social Worker Reiterates Safe Sleeping Guidelines
Social Worker Reinterates Need For Safe Sleeping Spaces
Tricia Burkett is a social worker at Wheaton Franciscan St. Joseph's Hospital in Milwaukee, where more than 4,000 babies were delivered last year. She said the dangers of co-sleeping are stressed from the time the expectant moms are admitted.
“What their safe sleep options are, if they need a crib, if they do have a crib -- all of that is talked about at admission with nursing staff. That is followed through at discharge; at discharge it is again reiterated," Burkett said.
With the mothers of newborns, Burkett said they talk about sleeping without pillows or toys. If the mom says she doesn't have a separate place for the baby to sleep, it will lead to a social worker referral. Once the babies are home, though, the parents or caregivers sometimes don't take the advice.
“You hear that often, that breast-feeding moms think it’s more convenient,” Burkett said. “But it's simple; it's happened three times in the last two months. It's happening. It can happen to you, and all we can do is continue to get the education out there that people have to put babies in a safe sleeping space.”
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With as many dangers to infants as there are out there, it's a wonder we survived as a species. When I was a baby, this is just what parents did, especially when my dad was on WESTPAC. When I was a new parent, we never did this with our kids, but nobody ever told us of the dangers either. Of course as your kids get older, the danger of letting them sleep in your bed becomes you not getting any sleep.
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Heh Heh....I miss those childless years...
Regarding the OP, though. We co-slept our first child because it was the ONLY way he would fall asleep at all. We set-up a buffer zone around him so that my wife wouldn't accidently roll over on him and made sure he had plenty of space so that he wouldn't get his head under a pillow by accident.
In short, we were paranoid about the aforementioned scenario.
But we also broke another child-care taboo. We let him sleep on his stomach. Again, he refused to fall asleep in any other position.
He's still here, an alive and healthy 7-year old who's about to earn his first belt in taekwondo.