Milwaukee Ads Wake Parents Up to Risks of Co-Sleeping

[nanette1985]

Wow, I wish I'd seen that ad back when my kids were little. I'd have made sure they had a cleaver in bed with them. That little one in the picture looks like he's sound asleep. If a cleaver helps babies sleep, I'm all for it.

As sleep-deprived parents of young children know, I'm not completely kidding.

 

[polarmystery]

That's my issue with it.

It seems that parents do it more to make themselves feel better, or feel that they're being a better parents by keeping their baby close versus actually helping the child out in the long run.

It gets to my whole pussy comment above. We are raising a generation of pussies in America. Couple that with helicopter parents, and we're all going straight to hell

With every friend I have who has had a recent child, this is invariably the case.

 

[blackdogdeek]

That's my issue with it.

It seems that parents do it more to make themselves feel better, or feel that they're being a better parents by keeping their baby close versus actually helping the child out in the longrun.

It gets to my whole pussy comment above. We are raising a generation of pussies in America. Couple that with helicopter parents, and we're all going straight to hell

we only did it because it meant more sleep for everyone. with the first one we formula fed so the baby slept longer because she could have as much to eat as she could or she just had a smaller appetite. she was the one we were able to keep in a crib and take turns waking up and feeding. with the second one my wife nursed so the baby could only eat what was there or she just had a bigger appetite and that meant she got hungry more often. couple that with the wife being the only one who could feed the baby and having to take care of both kids during the day and she became a zombie.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Now Milwaukee needs to come out with an ad that addresses the dangers of a diet that consists entirely of cheese and beer.

 

[NFS4]

With every friend I have who has had a recent child, this is invariably the case.

I'm just trying to figure out what's going on in America. In the past 30 years:

1) Children have become behavior nightmares (especially in school)
2) Parents have regressed when it comes to discipline
3) Kids are now allergic to everything under the sun (what the hell kid had food allergies in the 80s?)
4) Kids are smothered to the point to where they can't be kids (can't play kickball, can't get on a merry go around, school taking out monkey bars on playgrounds, etc.)

It's like kids today are growing up in a sanitized, overnannied version of America.

Man, I hope I don't screw up my kid

 

[lokiju]

Install a cheap slide bolt or chain high up on the door.

Doing so this coming weekend actually.

 

[DougK62]

Looking at that ad I just see a big waste of money.

 

[NFS4]

Looking at that ad I just see a big waste of money.

Yeah, that kid could have grown up to be a lawyer or a doctor and contributed plenty of tax revenue

 

[sourceninja]

I sleep with at least 4 cats in bed every night, even when they were kittens, not one has died. If your child isn't as resilient as a kitten, then too bad.

(I'm joking, if you know you toss and turn, maybe you shouldn't let your kid sleep in your bed with you)

 

[TechBoyJK]

Sad.. I remember readin this thread and then just saw this today.

http://www.fox2now.com/news/ktvi-so...ally-smothers-infant-20111117,0,5717717.story

 

[SearchMaster]

we only did it because it meant more sleep for everyone. with the first one we formula fed so the baby slept longer because she could have as much to eat as she could or she just had a smaller appetite. she was the one we were able to keep in a crib and take turns waking up and feeding. with the second one my wife nursed so the baby could only eat what was there or she just had a bigger appetite and that meant she got hungry more often. couple that with the wife being the only one who could feed the baby and having to take care of both kids during the day and she became a zombie.

This. I slept with my first because I could never get back to sleep if I had to (a) wake up to the crying, (b) get out of bed, (c) traipse down the hall, (d) feed him, (e) get him back to sleep, (f) get back to my own bed. I tended to take care of him at night because my work schedule was more flexible than my wife's early schedule and I required less sleep to function than her anyway. I ended up just sleeping with him for the last month or so (before he finally slept through the night). Thank God my 2nd and 3rd were much easier than my first, I don't know if I could have handled another like him.

 

[Ns1]

yeah so this is why you don't "co-sleep"

A newborn baby was found dead after his mother rolled over on top of him in bed, Northern California officials said, saying the incident appeared to be a "horrible, horrible accident."

The boy's mother woke up about 9 a.m. Monday and discovered she was on top of the baby, who wasn't breathing, said Deputy Royjindar Singh of the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department. Emergency crews went to the home, located in Waterford near Modesto, and began CPR before taking the boy to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The mother, whose name was not released by authorities, didn't know how long she had been on top of the baby, Singh said.

There were no signs of foul play, trauma or anything suspicious at the home, Singh said. Investigators are waiting for the coroner's office to finish the autopsy and toxicology tests, but until then, he said, they believe the death was an accident.
Singh said news of the baby's death had already stirred response in the area, which saw several similar deaths in recent years. According to the Modesto Bee, a dozen infants in Stanislaus County died from accidental suffocation while sleeping with parents or family members in an eight-month period in 2007 and 2008.

The uptick prompted a public safety campaign led by a county task force, which created videos, posters and billboards warning parents about safe-sleeping habits, Singh said.

"It must have worked for a while," he said. "Hopefully it's not a trend we're going to see again."

Officials have received some calls on the recent death, Singh added, wondering why the mother wasn't arrested.

"It looks like just a horrible, horrible accident," he said. "If something changes, we'll take appropriate action."

 

[NFS4]

yeah so this is why you don't "co-sleep"

Yeah, it's crazy. Our son, born May 9, sleeps in his own crib. He does just fine. Sure, he cries like any other baby, but we just get our asses up and go check on him. He wakes up every 3 to 4 hours at night, and we take turns getting up to feed/change him during the night. It's actually not so bad.

 

[nanette1985]

With my oldest, the hospital brought her in so that she could share my hospital bed. Even though she was tiny, by the time we got her home, she was strong enough to kick us both out of bed. NYC apartments are tiny, there wasn't any way for her to have her own bed. Other three kids slept with us for years. You gotta remember that when they're born, mom has already slept with them for a ridiculously uncomfortable nine months.

 

[Ns1]

With my oldest, the hospital brought her in so that she could share my hospital bed. Even though she was tiny, by the time we got her home, she was strong enough to kick us both out of bed. NYC apartments are tiny, there wasn't any way for her to have her own bed. Other three kids slept with us for years. You gotta remember that when they're born, mom has already slept with them for a ridiculously uncomfortable nine months.

this is not the same.

 

[ImpulsE69]

The fearmongering in this generation and century is great.

Besides..babies make good pillows.

 

[NFS4]

this is not the same.

LOL, no kidding

 

[Doppel]

I think the co sleeping risk is overblown. A lot of people, like me, are totally aware of when they move at night and I wouldn't be concerned about rolling onto a kid.

 

[NFS4]

I think the co sleeping risk is overblown. A lot of people, like me, are totally aware of when they move at night and I wouldn't be concerned about rolling onto a kid.

Do you have a kid? How is it possible to be totally aware of when you're moving at night... YOU'RE A SLEEP!

My wife rolls over and pops me in the head with her arms every now and then. And me, I roll over, pull sheets off the bed, etc. Damned if I know I'm doing it in a deep sleep.

 

[slayer202]

I understand the people saying that the did it with no problems. But you have to remember that it's OK until something does happen.

This, exactly. Only takes one mistake.

 

[waggy]

our kids spent like the first few months in a bassinet in our room then off to the crib in a separate room.

i don't see the point of having our room or bed.

 

[Pulsar]

we're on child #3. we didnt co-sleep with the first one. we did with our second and we are currently cosleeping with our third whos three months old.

the nurse went over the risks of cosleeping when we left the hospital and by the time we got home, my wife was so paranoid she didnt want to do it. But in the end she gave in (because you get a lot more sleep) and it works out fantastic. My wife is always aware of the baby in bed. Ive gotten use to it and curl up on the edge of the bed and dont really move from that spot. the baby will wake up, eat and fall right back asleep. And I strongly believe it makes the kids feel more secure.

So cosleeping does have its risks, but its a pretty natural way of doing things. Different strokes for different folks.

Absolutely. We won't even go into the fact that doctors still can't really clarify what causes SIDS, so they are falling back on the good old mantra of 'blame everything we can think of, from parents to cats to the bumpers in the cribs'.

 

[Pulsar]

Do you have a kid? How is it possible to be totally aware of when you're moving at night... YOU'RE A SLEEP!

My wife rolls over and pops me in the head with her arms every now and then. And me, I roll over, pull sheets off the bed, etc. Damned if I know I'm doing it in a deep sleep.

I have 3, my wife is a labor and delivery nurse who delivered with a midwife rather than doctors because, frankly, doctors do what is convenient and not what is right. We co-slept with all 3 of our kids. We were very aware (and I still am) at night of where I am and what I'm doing. It's a matter of training yourself.

I'd be the first to tell you it isn't right for everyone. Of course, neither is rocket science or ice skating. This ad campaign is folks being overly protective and overly generalizing. THINK OF THE CHILDREN.

I'm certainly not going to *puts on sunglasses* lose any sleep over it. Yeaaaaaaaaaaaah.

 

[Pulsar]

Officials have received some calls on the recent death, Singh added, wondering why the mother wasn't arrested.

These are the same people who are pushing the ad campaign. You can bet on it.

 

[Markbnj]

Our doctor always said that unless you were drunk or otherwise incapacitated it was very unlikely you'd roll over on and suffocate your infant. We never "co-slept" but from time to time one of the kids would end up in bed for awhile while my wife nursed, and they would both fall asleep. We never had any issues.