Fears of Smothering During Co Sleeping

"toypup" skrev i en meddelelse
news:Hy2fc.135727$K91.349880@attbi_s02...

"Dagny" wrote in message
. ..

"Carol Ann" wrote in message
news:QKYec.30382$xn4.57099@attbi_s51...


Last nite I had the bed to myself (with the Chihuahua of course) and
was
able to place Morgan further away from my body thus reducing the risk
of
my
rolling on top of her.

You just plain aren't going to roll onto her.

That story about the woman kicking her comforter onto the baby who died,
I
just don't buy it. Look, that was an "I know someone who knew someone
who
said..." story.

It's not that far removed. I know the lady who did the prints of the dead
baby who died from being smothered by the comforter. You think she made
it
up?

She probably heard it. I have never ever heard of one single baby dead from
co-sleeping in my own country, and everyone sleeps with down comforters.

OK, I know we only have a population of 5 mill, but anyhow.

Tine, Denmark

"toypup" wrote in message
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"Dagny" wrote in message
. ..

"Carol Ann" wrote in message
news:QKYec.30382$xn4.57099@attbi_s51...


Last nite I had the bed to myself (with the Chihuahua of course) and
was
able to place Morgan further away from my body thus reducing the risk
of
my
rolling on top of her.

You just plain aren't going to roll onto her.

That story about the woman kicking her comforter onto the baby who died,
I
just don't buy it. Look, that was an "I know someone who knew someone
who
said..." story.

It's not that far removed. I know the lady who did the prints of the dead
baby who died from being smothered by the comforter. You think she made
it
up?

Probably not made it up in the sense you mean. She got some information
about a dead baby and she believed she understood what happened. Who did
she get the information from? The parents themselves? That's not very
reliable.unless she is aware of their moral character, and even a good
person who say, goes to bed drunk one night would be tempted to write off
that detail as immaterial so she can live with herself. Somebody else at
the hospital? Then we have to wonder how many sets of ears it went through
to get to hers and how the information was changed at each telling -- as we
all do, subtley, to meet the goals of the teller.

Here's an interesting comparison, or at least interesting to me at 6am, in
the US we have been led to believe that air bags kill children. But when I
looked at the actual US gov agency collected facts, the number of in front
seat, but properly restrained children killed by air bags seemed to me
pretty insignificant. The children being killed "by air bags" are by and
large riding unrestrained, usually in the lap of a front seat passenger.
Now is this information part of the message? Nope. So let's see, do you
think these children would be less injured by the windshield or being thrown
clear than the air bag?

-- Dagny

toypuppy writes:

"Dagny" wrote in message
. ..

That story about the woman kicking her comforter onto the baby who died,
I just don't buy it. Look, that was an "I know someone who knew someone
who said..." story.

It's not that far removed. I know the lady who did the prints of the
dead baby who died from being smothered by the comforter. You think she
made it up?

No, but I did wonder about it myself, because you said she said the baby
was 6 months old. Now my DS is 5.5 months old, and I just cannot see him
quietly smothering or overheating under anything I put over him - I find it
very hard to believe that he wouldn't wriggle enough to wake me, even if he
couldn't get it off him on his own, which he probably could. If the story
had been about a 6 *week* old, I'd have found it more plausible. I'm not
saying it's definitely false, but I'm very sceptical. People do, I'm
afraid, both consciously and unconsciously alter stories to make themselves
sound closer to the action than they were, so it's quite likely that she
heard it from someone else.

Sidheag
DS Colin Oct 27 2003

Couple of ideas:
When my first was tiny and I was not an expert at co-sleeping, I put him on
a very flat pillow that I smushed against me so he was a little higher than
the mattress. I would also have my arm around him the whole time. I felt
his every wiggle but it didn't feel as though he could move into my side. I
did sleep under the covers (blankets, down comforter, DH the furnace on the
other side....) It was very, very warm. Probably too warm.

I'm having a mental block about my second child but we also co-slept and I
was experienced and comfortable enough right from the beginning to just
spoon up together.

This is my third and I've changed a bit. For one, we got a new, very plush
top mattress that made me a bit nervous when the baby was a newborn. Also,
this baby doesn't like to sleep the whole night through with me. It's a
shocker :-) but he seems to actually prefer his bassinet. So unfortunately,
I have to *get up* in the night and pluck him out of his bassinet and put
him in bed with me. My DH has also decided he's more comfortable in the
guest room during this period (particularly since I'm up and down a few
times) so we have the whole bed to ourselves. I have taken to sleeping on
top of the comforter using a light quilt for myself and another for the
baby. Often, he does end up sleeping part of the night with me. When he
was really little, I had both of us on top of one of those waterproof pads
from the hospital, which seemed to provide stability. When I'm under the
covers and quilt on top of the plush-top, the bed feels unstable and that
made me nervous.

You have to do what feels comfortable for you and the baby, but if you are
like most people, you will find co-sleeping to be a life-saver. I completely
understand how you feel - it's so tough when it's your first and you are in
awe of your responsibility (my DH used to keep the monitor next to him
downstairs so he could hear every single breath - and he'd fly upstairs if
the pattern changed!). As you begin to gain the courage of your
convictions, your child thrives, you thrive....you will be hard pressed to
remember what freaked you out in the first place. Relax! You are doing
great.

Karen

"Carol Ann" wrote in message
news:3nJec.24357$_K3.62604@attbi_s53...
Tell me again that it is okay to co-sleep. I'm worried that I may smother
Morgan.

~Carol Ann