[blparent] falling asleep?

Wed Feb 3 06:30:45 UTC 2010

Well I don't know that the nurse is saying that.  a lot of doctors say that 
you should not sleep with your child on you now.  I don't agree.  They also 
say you should keep your child on her or his back to sleep.  If I did that I 
would have been up all the time and never slept.  I just watch her really 
well.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tammy, Paul and Colyn" <tcl189 at rogers.com>
To: "NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 8:00 PM
Subject: Re: [blparent] falling asleep?


> Hi,
>
> Totally agree with you here.  This issue may be a long-standing issue but 
> being a new parent will make it worse, not better, and the insensativity 
> of some professionals due to their general lack of information or due to 
> their own inadequacies is very very annoying to say the least.  It sounds 
> to me like the nurse you're dealing with is trying to find reasons why you 
> can't take care of your child and this is not what she should be doing. 
> She should be trying to help you, or if she can't help you she should find 
> somebody who can.  Remember that you're not supposed to know all the 
> answers right now, you're supposed to be the one asking questions and 
> she's the one who should have all the answers.  If she doesn't, then she's 
> at fault, not you.
>
> hth
>
> Tammy
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Dena Wainwright" <dena at envogueaccess.com>
> To: "NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 6:17 PM
> Subject: Re: [blparent] falling asleep?
>
>
>>I get that. My only point is that if you are worried about falling asleep, 
>>there are precautions you can take to make the environment/situation safer 
>>so that when it happens, it isn't as dangerous for your baby. It makes me 
>>mad when nurses and other "professionals" try to terrify us into thinking 
>>we can't take care of our children. We have enough doubts about that as it 
>>is - both because of our blindness and our lack of experience as new 
>>parents. I'm not saying the nurse's concern isn't valid, but she could 
>>have offered solutions, instead of just saying that it should never 
>>happen. I mean, get real. Anyone who has a newborn knows that you are like 
>>the walking dead. I think we'd wonder about someone who didn't fall asleep 
>>at the drop of a hat :). I know the issue is a long term one in this case, 
>>but I'm sure it's compounded by new motherhood and the body trying to make 
>>breastmilk. I was hoping to put some of her fears at ease by giving her 
>>some things she could try for when it does happen.
>>
>> Dena
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "sharon howerton" <shrnhow at att.net>
>> To: "NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 3:51 PM
>> Subject: Re: [blparent] falling asleep?
>>
>>
>>> Dena, I think your points are well taken and great; however, it sounds 
>>> to me, and I don't know this for sure, like Leslie has had a problem 
>>> with this sort of thing long before she had Michael. I don't know if 
>>> it's a blind thing, but it's happened to me, kids or no, and I know it's 
>>> definitely happened with my significant other who was sighted until 
>>> about 14 years ago. He can knock off at the drop of a hat and attributes 
>>> it to getting up early (4 AM routinely) and having worked early mornings 
>>> for many years requiring that he get up at 2:30 AM, but he hasn't done 
>>> that in many years. I have been better with this in recent years but 
>>> will admit that I have had this sort of problem even at work; it was 
>>> just something I could not control and needless to say, it was 
>>> embarrassing.
>>> Sharon
>>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>>> From: "Dena Wainwright" <dena at envogueaccess.com>
>>> To: "NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
>>> Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 2:42 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [blparent] falling asleep?
>>>
>>>
>>>> OK...First, falling asleep while holding your baby isn't necessarily a 
>>>> bad thing if you prepare for that possibility. Yes, you absolutely must 
>>>> be more careful initially, both because he is extra tiny, and because 
>>>> he lacks head control. Yes, you could smother him - if you fell asleep 
>>>> with blankets over you both, tons of fluffy pillows all around you, 
>>>> with his face smushed into your body or clothing so he couldn't 
>>>> breathe, etc., but falling asleep with your baby in your arms does not 
>>>> automatically equate to a suffocation hazard.
>>>>
>>>> For the first several months of Elise's life, the only way she would 
>>>> sleep is literally on my body. Maybe there are those who would disagree 
>>>> with this strategy, but if you've never had a child who absolutely 
>>>> would not sleep without physical contact (I mean for more than 10 
>>>> minutes at a time...ever) then I'm not really interested in hearing how 
>>>> horrible you think it is. I thought (before I had this kind of baby) 
>>>> that cosleeping was stupid. I couldn't understand why anyone in their 
>>>> right mind would want to do it, especially when their child had a 
>>>> perfectly good crib or bassinette... Then I found myself in the 
>>>> situation where I probably wouldn't have gotten more than 2 hours of 
>>>> sleep a day if I wasn't holding my baby, and suddenly it didn't seem so 
>>>> dumb.
>>>>
>>>> Here are a couple of things you can do.
>>>>
>>>> If you do want to sleep with him:
>>>> First, you can lay in the middle of your bed (with every blanket but 
>>>> the fitted sheet taken off of it). You can place a very firm pillow 
>>>> under your head (no other pillows of any kind should be on the bed). 
>>>> You can wear warm (but non-bulky) clothing to keep yourself from 
>>>> getting cold. If you really want to, you can put a bed rail on the bed, 
>>>> but I found that given that I was a good couple of feet from the edges, 
>>>> I didn't really need to. However, if you don't have the luxury of your 
>>>> own bed (we have a guest room, which made shift-taking easier in the 
>>>> beginning), you might want a rail on your side. Then you can place your 
>>>> baby on your stomach. He will be laying tummy to tummy with you, with 
>>>> his head between your breasts. This is very soothing for mom and baby, 
>>>> and can increase milk production if done skin to skin. You won't need 
>>>> to put a lot of clothing on him if you're doing this, as your combined 
>>>> body heat will keep him very warm, and it is actually better to keep 
>>>> babies on the cooler side as opposed to the warmer side.
>>>>
>>>> Another thing you can do is wear him in a pouch on your front. This 
>>>> would allow you to sit up with him, but still be able to hold him 
>>>> securely. I will preface the pouch suggestion by saying that you should 
>>>> *never* *never* put a newborn baby with no head control into a sling of 
>>>> any kind in the cradle position. The cradle position is where he is 
>>>> laying on his back across the front of your body (like he would be if 
>>>> you had one of your arms behind his head, and one under his bum and 
>>>> knees. This is an extremely dangerous position for such a young baby, 
>>>> because their chin can be pushed forward into their chest - cutting off 
>>>> their air supply. Because they are not able to move their head to 
>>>> accommodate this decreased air supply, they can literally suffocate to 
>>>> death in your arms. If you think I'm being overly-dramatic, my friend 
>>>> saw a 2 week old baby die in front of her because of this exact thing. 
>>>> If you want to use a pouch, the safest way to wear your baby is to put 
>>>> him in so that his body is parallel to yours. His stomach will be 
>>>> against your chest, his head will be under your chin, and his legs will 
>>>> be folded froggy-style (with his heels resting against his bum and his 
>>>> knees bowed outward). Even very tiny babies have the ability to 
>>>> minimally shift their head from side to side, even if they can't lift 
>>>> it up on their own. This position makes it less likely that his chin 
>>>> will be pushed down into his chest, and it will also make it easier for 
>>>> you to hear him breathing, because his face will be about 8 inches away 
>>>> from your own. Again, he won't need more than a onesie if he's in a 
>>>> pouch, as they are very warm. I got mine from
>>>> www.kangarookorner.com
>>>> Their staff is very helpful at describing their products, and assisting 
>>>> you with placing your order. They actually apologized to me that their 
>>>> site wasn't easier for me to use.
>>>>
>>>> Hope some of this helps.
>>>>
>>>> Dena
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>>>> From: "Leslie Hamric" <lhamric930 at comcast.net>
>>>> To: "'NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List'" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
>>>> Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2010 8:54 AM
>>>> Subject: [blparent] falling asleep?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Hi All.  I was wondering if you could give me any ideas, as I'm 
>>>>> running into
>>>>> a problem that could be potentially serious.  Its happened a few times 
>>>>> where
>>>>> I've fallen asleep with my baby in my arms.  The first time it 
>>>>> happened, one
>>>>> of the nurses saw it and she informed me that I could potentially 
>>>>> suffocate
>>>>> my baby by doing this. The problem is that I don't always know I'm 
>>>>> getting
>>>>> sleepy unless someone tells me I am or until I start nodding off.  I 
>>>>> had a
>>>>> sleep study done in 2004 and the specialist said I have a non 24 hour 
>>>>> sleep
>>>>> cycle and the only way to remedy that is to get a full 8 hours of 
>>>>> sleep at
>>>>> the same time every night.  Well, we both know that's virtually 
>>>>> impossible
>>>>> now that I'm a new mom.  Have you ever had this problem and if so, 
>>>>> what
>>>>> kinds of things did you do to stay awake while holding your baby?  One 
>>>>> thing
>>>>> I've tried was having the radio on and that doesn't seem to help. 
>>>>> Andy's
>>>>> really worried about me too. He doesn't want me to fall asleep and
>>>>> accidentally smother the baby.  I don't want that either.  I'm just at 
>>>>> a
>>>>> loss of how to solve this issue.  I've heard other blind people having 
>>>>> the
>>>>> same problem since they don't get the light stimulation.
>>>>>
>>>>> Leslie
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> blparent mailing list
>>>>> blparent at nfbnet.org
>>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blparent_nfbnet.org
>>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>>>>> blparent:
>>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blparent_nfbnet.org/dena%40envogueaccess.com
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> blparent mailing list
>>>> blparent at nfbnet.org
>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blparent_nfbnet.org
>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>>>> blparent:
>>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blparent_nfbnet.org/shrnhow%40att.net
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> blparent mailing list
>>> blparent at nfbnet.org
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blparent_nfbnet.org
>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>>> blparent:
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blparent_nfbnet.org/dena%40envogueaccess.com
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> blparent mailing list
>> blparent at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blparent_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>> blparent:
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blparent_nfbnet.org/tcl189%40rogers.com
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> blparent mailing list
> blparent at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blparent_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> blparent:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blparent_nfbnet.org/dianna24%40earthlink.net