Article: Bad Advice Puts Babies At Risk

[Bathsheba]

QUOTE: "Yeah, just like if you get a mum or dad driving a car at really high speeds while drunk with a kid in the car there is a real risk of an accident - so we should ban kids in cars then?"

Exactly. More kids die in cars than beds... are we going to legislate against kids in cars? ppffft.

Guidelines are just that, and if you feel that you need to do something outside of the guidelines then consult a professional and there is usually a safe option to make everyone happy.

None of my children would ever sleep on their backs as babies. So I have never put them on their backs. However I have firmly abided by the "firm, clean mattress, no bumpers, ventilation etc side of things. Every time I have been in hospital with my babies the hospital staff have 'allowed' me to settle my babies on their tummies. On every occassion I have been told that my baby could be one out of every ten who just wont settle on their backs and this usually runs in families and is accompanied by a strong neck (almost able to support from birth). And what do you think is natural? Does a newborn human, after crawling up to the mother's breast after birth, have a drink and then roll over onto it's back to sleep? Just food for thought.

I wouldn't go around advising mums to settle their babies on their tummies though... it's not up to me to decide what's right, it should be sanity checked by a professional.

I also co-sleep and I agree with all the comments in here about more babies dying of SIDS in their own beds. Chloe: how frightening!!! More women should be encouraged to trust their instincts rather than subscribe to the "save my infant from me" syndrome.