[blparent] falling asleep?
Jessica Lucken
pete1744 at umn.edu
Wed Feb 3 17:33:07 UTC 2010
I agree with Tammy, I actually slep with Owen last night, because he is
going through a growth spurt and was at the breast all day yesterday and I
needed sleep. I have a co-sleeper which I really like too as it is at the
level of the bed mattress so I can roll him in/out and change him and
everything without getting out of my bed. They are kind of pricy, but I
know they have cheaper ones on Craig's list, I just got mine before I
thought to check there. They go up t olike 20 lbs so you can also use them
as a portable crib too, though, they aren't as versatile as a pack and play,
but they are skinnier so ift into more places. I think mine is the
co-sleeper mini.
-----Original Message-----
From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Tammy, Paul and Colyn
Sent: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 9:10 AM
To: NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List
Subject: Re: [blparent] falling asleep?
Hi,
I don't agree with that either. I think that what works for one parent
won't always work for another parant, and if you are careful and patient
you'll find what works for you.
Tammy
----- Original Message -----
From: "DIANNA ALLEY" <dianna24 at earthlink.net>
To: "NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 1:30 AM
Subject: Re: [blparent] falling asleep?
> 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
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
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>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>
>>>>
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>>
>>
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