Ok, I canfess that my 6 onth old son has always slept in bed with my husband and I. I built him a "retaining wall" at the top of the bed on my side, between me and the wall. Honestly I felt more secure with his every movement or noise being right in my face.
Now, he is too big nad strong, and moves himself all over the bed. Also he sleeps on his side, and there in no way to flatten him out! He recently is able to flip over to his stomach too, but not back.
I am using his crib now, and it is next to our bed, but I have an overwhelming fear of him covering his face (which is a habit he has asleep or awake) or turning on his stomach face down.
I never put him to sleep on his stomace (until recently his littl ehead was so flat in the back)
How to I cope with this sleeping situation? How safe is my baby in his crib? He pushes himself all over the mattress! How do your babies sleep?
I haven't read all the responses so I may be repeating somethings but if you are worried about him covering his face with blankets then don't use them. Layer clothing on him or use a sleep sack. You could also purchase an anglecare monitor. It's basically a monitor that is placed under the crib mattress and goes off if no movement is detected for 20 seconds.
Hi S., I know just how you feel, I was the same way....Once my daughter was too big for her bassinet I was worried about putting her in her crib, in fear I would not hear her, But we put the monitor as close as we can took out the bumper pads and Yes she rolls in the middle of the night and is all over the place in her crib,she rolls on her stomach not too much you can do about that but we make sure there are no blankets or toys in her crib when she goes to bed...and of course always checking on her when we awake during the night....I am sure you will have a few restless nights, but I am sure your son will be fine, We worry much more then we should, It is only natural!!
Hello S.,I know every mother has the same fear. One thing you mentioned is that your worried he will cover his face while in the crib. One of the things you should do is NEVER put a child in the crib with a blanket,pillow or a bumper. The cribs now adays have the bars measured just right. No need for a bumper. It's just to make the crib look nice. Waste of money.
Put a cotton pajama on your child. The blankets and pretty pillows are just that, pretty. NOT necessary. If you put him to sleep and he turns over then there is nothing you can do about it but at least you know he's safer without blankets, bumper or pillows. My 21 year old daughter knows more than i do about updated technology and research.She said if the articles she read said the room temp should be about 68 degrees. Over heating a child can lead to SIDS. She used to put my grand daughter in the crib with light cotton pajamas on and a "wearable blanket" that she bought at Babies R Us OR the fleece pajamas with the feet. The wearable blanket is a zip up one piece fleece type blanket that's sleeveless. The bottom is OPEN not sewed shut. This allows heat to escape so the child isn't too warm. If you go to Babies R Us they'll know what it is.
Don't worry about his head being flat in the back. It will get back to shape later. Best wishes to you on getting a good nights sleep.
D.
Hi S.,
I have a 2 1/2 year old boy. My son was in his own room in his crib at three months old. He slept with us his first week, then his bassinet by the bed then his crib. We transitioned smoothly into his crib. As for him covering his face, we bought a monitor so we could still hear everything that was going on. My son cried whenever he covered his face. As for worrying about SIDS, it doesn't just happen when a child is in a crib, or in their bassinet. It is a scary thing for us parents and the fear NEVER goes away. My friends baby died of sids while it was laying on the couch next to his dad. You just never know.
My son was also all over his crib, he would get his chubby legs stuck in the rails all the time. We took the bumper out of the crib because he got his head stuck between the bumper and the rails. We never really had any other problems after that.I hope this helps.
-J.
My daughter slept right beside our bed from birth, first in a wooden bassinet (that has slats like a crib, not the kind with cloth sides), and then in her own crib. I believe that's the safest place for a baby to be, as your son could still get stuck in between the wall (the bed shouldn't be right up against it) or push his face into your pillows or bedding.
First of all, I wouldn't use any crib bumpers. My daughter also rolled around all night, and an arm or leg would occasionally stick out through the slats a bit, but it never bothered her! Either I would gently push it back into the crib, or she would just move it back in when she started rolling around again. All you need in the crib are a firm mattress and fitted sheet.
When it was cold, I put my daughter in footed pajamas and a Halo zip-up blanket to keep her warm. Until she started standing up at 9 months, this was the only way we could put a blanket on her (she always kicked out of the swaddling, too)!
Hey, cosleeping is no deep dark secret to "confess" to! ;) Most cultures all over the world do it just fine.
By the time they can roll and move around, SIDS isn't as much of an issue. It peaks around 2,4, and 6 months, and then drops drastically after that. And the biggest risk factor is not having been breastfed, and sleeping away from the parents (because hearing someone's breathing helps them regulate their own).
http://www.nd.edu/~jmckenn1/lab/ has a lot of good info on safe cosleeping. :D
well...as I am sure I will be yelled at for-when Max was about 6 months old and able to pick up his head with gusto we let him sleep on his belly. He would not sleep if he was on his back. And now he sleeps with Milo (cat stuffed animal bff) on his face which if we move it off he wakes up freaking out so we just let him and hes everywhere now so its fairly pointless for us to try and take it away.
I say do what you think is right talk to your dr and see what they say. if you cant controll how your baby sleeps there isnt much that you can do aside from duct tape (AND THATS A JOKE) to keep them in one place once they figure out they can move.
lots of luck,
K.
Hi S. :)
Even though your son is not able to flip from his tummy to his back, is he strong enough to raise his head up? Once a baby has reached this point, the risk of SIDS decreases dramatically. To reitterate what some of the others have said, make sure there's no extra blankets, toys or other items in the crib for the baby to get trapped under. Be sure that he is not too hot in his jammies - overheating and dehydrating is a real danger for babies. If you use a blanket, use one lightweight one that is not large - just enough to cover your baby, or better yet, invest in a couple of those sleepers that babies wear, that are kind of like a really long tank top that goes all the way past their feet and zips up so they can't kick it off.
Is your baby still in your room? There are studies that indicate that sleeping with a parent in the room also dramatically decreases the risk of SIDS. In lieu of this, you can also keep a baby monitor on, and if there is something strange or suspicious, you can always get up and check.
Also, please know that there is nothing to be ashamed of in terms of co-sleeping. As long as a mom does not drink, smoke, take drugs (in particular, ones that cause drowsiness) or have a sleep disorder, cosleeping is actually safer than a crib - there are 10xs more injuries and deaths which occur from being in a crib than being in a bed. Even SIDS is reduced when co-sleeping. Most other cultures sleep with their babies - ours is really pretty weird in that we don't, and frankly, I think even if not every mom has done it every night, most moms have done it at some point, even if they are too afraid to admit it :)
-R.
