Bed Sharing.

2 blog posts in one day? Yep. I'm going crazy!

I read an article today about bed sharing and had to comment. The article basically says that bed sharing increases your childs risk for SIDS even if you aren't drinking, doing drugs, smoking etc. in children under 3 months of age.

I know people who are pro bed sharing and people who are anti bed sharing. We bring Layla into bed with us every morning for about 1-2 hours depending on what time she first wakes up. She's not great at getting herself back to sleep and I'm not planning to let her "cry it out". There are safe ways to bed share, and unsafe ways to bed share. Layla is unswaddled, kept away from loose blankets and pillows. Sometimes I put a small blanket over her to keep her feet warm but she's basically a blast furnace and is usually warm enough unless the room is uncharacteristically cold. I NEVER let her sleep on her belly unless I'm there to make sure she's ok (and this weekend was proof of why I do that! Story to come later!). I keep her on the outside. Keeping your baby on the outside is safest. Right now, Layla can't roll over. If she still needs to come to bed with us when she CAN roll over, I'll be buying a bed rail. Right now, we don't have one because I use my arm to keep her safe. I NEVER put her in the middle because Matt isn't super "aware" while asleep. I, on the other hand, am awake and asleep at the same time while Layla is in bed with us. If she moves, I move. I NEVER turn my back to her. I try to put my hands on her as little as possible. Bed sharing can be very safe and still snuggly if done correctly. I researched a TON before I brought her in bed with us because I wanted to be sure I was keeping her as safe as possible while still giving her the "close" feeling she needs to fall back asleep. 

Now, on to my "belly sleeping" story. Typically, if Layla is napping during the day and I'm right there to watch her, I'll let her sleep on her belly. It's how she sleeps the best by herself and I always want to be sure she's comfortable and doing what she needs to do to get sleep. For the past few days, I've noticed she's been quite congested. I'm pretty sure it's her formula getting into her sinuses, which is fairly common- especially in formula fed babies. This weekend, as she was sleeping, she lifted her head to rub her eyes (which she does often) and I was watching her to see if she would wake up or go back to sleep. I heard a disgusting noise. I jumped up to grab her and what I saw literally, made my heart race. A thick white paste had come out of my girls nose ALL over her face, all in her mouth and she was now, wide awake and looking scared. I cleaned her up as quickly as I could and got all the nastiness out of her mouth. All I could think was "thank God I was awake for that". Imagine if I hadn't been and she had breathed it in or swallowed it? Yes, we let Layla sleep on her belly but, I check on her about every 2-3 minutes while doing so. We don't do it often but when we do, we are careful. Extremely careful. When she's in bed with us, I let her work herself into a comfortable position and she typically ends up on her side, but out and hands above her head. She sleeps pretty well in that position but, I have a feeling she'll be rolling over soon and we'll be purchasing a small bed rail.

There are products that make bed sharing safer than you ever could on your own. I've researched a lot of them but, we ultimately made the decision not to buy them. We likely won't need them for much longer with Layla (with the exception of possibly a bed rail) and, we may not need them at all with our next baby(s). So, although I'm sure their "research" indicated that SIDS is increased by bed sharing, there are safe ways to do it. As long as you research and put them to practice, you and your baby will be safe, comfortable and more at peace with sleep.