[blparent] falling asleep?

Fri Feb 5 14:31:24 UTC 2010

Hi,

I always put my son to sleep on his back, but as soon as he was able to roll 
over on his tummy he did, and I would find him in the morning sleeping with 
his head in the corner, knees up underneath him with his butt up in the air. 
I couldn't understand how that could be comfortable, but apparently it was 
for him, and we never had any problems.

Tammy
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Melissa Ann Riccobono" <melissa at riccobono.us>
To: "'NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List'" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 8:12 PM
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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