[blparent] falling asleep?

Thu Feb 4 12:45:41 UTC 2010

Isn't that the truth! Austin was known to nap in his highchair once in a
while simply because he fell asleep there, he was strapped in and safe, and
if I tried to move him he would wake up screaming and be impossible to get
back to sleep.  And, he would be crabby for the rest of the day!  So, even
if he looked uncomfortable, I learned to let him sleep there.  Now, of
course I did what I could to prevent this from happening in the first place,
but if it happened my moto was, let sleeping babies lie!
Melissa

-----Original Message-----
From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Jo Elizabeth Pinto
Sent: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 9:46 PM
To: NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List
Subject: Re: [blparent] falling asleep?

That's the craziest thing I ever heard.  Here's advice from the 
trenches--never disturb a sleeping baby!

Jo Elizabeth

Until lions have their historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify 
the hunters.--African Proverb

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Melissa Ann Riccobono" <melissa at riccobono.us>
Sent: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 6:12 PM
To: "'NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List'" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [blparent] falling asleep?

> That is absolutely crazy!  I've always heard that as soon as a baby is
> strong enough to roll him or herself over onto his or her tummy in the 
> crib,
> then he or she is strong enough either to roll back over onto the back, or
> to turn the head to help with breathing.  I am glad you didn't lose sleep,
> literally, by checking her.
> Melissa
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Pickrell, Rebecca M (TASC Inc)
> Sent: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 10:40 AM
> To: NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [blparent] falling asleep?
>
> I had a nurse tell me "Get up at night and check your baby and if she's
> not on her back, roll her back onto her back". When I asked how and when
> I was supposed to sleep, she said "I don't know".
> I think the nurses and doctors too though more so the nurses deal with
> the lowest common demonator in terms of patent intelligence, so they
> have to doll out their guidance accordingly.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org]
> On Behalf Of DIANNA ALLEY
> Sent: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 1:31 AM
> To: NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List
> 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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