For those who have an Amby

[odoole]

I just heard about this today: http://community.babycenter.com/post...mby_bed_recall

So now I'm wondering what to do. We've been using the Amby for the past month. My son is 3.5 months now, was a preemie with some reflux issues, and the Amby has been the only sleep situation that has worked well for us and him (after trying quite a few other things).

I'm just wondering how other Amby users feel about the safety of the hammock. Honestly, what this father describes in the link above -- finding his baby with his face smashed up against the side under the mesh -- also happened with our son when we first got the hammock. Though he slept really well, I was constantly finding him sleeping with his face right up against the sides for the first week, until I finally got it adjusted in a more balanced way such that I have not seen it happen for the past 3 weeks.

I probably should have been more concerned at the time, but I guess I was just so happy with how well he was sleeping, and I probably also deluded myself into thinking that if this product actually WERE so unsafe, it would be recalled. Well, now it has been.

So I think we're going to give the crib on a slant next to our bed another whirl and see if he does better. If not, I honestly don't know what to do. It's such a bummer -- we loved the Amby!!!

[Louisep]

Wow. I can't find any info on Amby baby's site, can you? It's really tragic and I'm kind of shocked because we on several occasions found our baby in bad positions. I was never concerned about the side material though, as even the cotton below the mesh seem pretty breathable. The scariest thing for me was finding DS on his BELLY, face down in the mattress. That was when we stopped using it. Ever since we stopped using it, DS has only slept 1-2 hours straight. When we were using it, he STTN!!!!

The thing is, do we know whether the baby died of SIDS or from suffocation? It seems like the Amby has been pretty well tested.

[odoole]

Thanks for the response. It looks like Amby shut down their US website (ambybaby.com). The post from the father made it sound like suffocation, not SIDS.

You found your son flipped over? How did that happen? How old was your son? I know my son was going to outgrow it anyway, but I was hoping to get another month of good sleep with it at least. I don't know if I'll be able to sleep soundly though, now that I know that there are problems with the hammock. We'll see how the crib goes.

[frogger]

Odoole, there hasn't been a recall on the product. Not sure if that was my friend posting on that other site or not, but a dear family close to me did loose their baby in August. The father contacted US Product Safety Commission and with thier help, Amby posted on their website as of OCT 16th, they stopped selling the bed (only in the US though) and had posted a checklist and new video to make sure the bed was properly tied/adjusted/etc. Just this past week or so, the website has disappeared and phone numbers have been disconnected.

The only way for parents to know of these changes now are word of mouth. And unfortunately, I know I didn't save the checklist, so there are many that don't know if their bed is tied properly or bolts adjusted right.

Knowing that the company has left parents without access to this vital info, I personally wouldn't put my child in the bed. Who knows what else could be wrong with the bed that no one knows about.

[Siar]

if anyone is interested, I just emailed the UK distributors of the hammock and got a response which might alleviate some concerns. We bought the amby for our now 8-month-old, but didn't get on with it. They suggest that in this tragic case the hammock was purchased secondhand without instructions and that it was hung incorrectly, from the ceiling, rather than using the amby frame. Obviously I cannot vouch for the reliability of their claims. Apparently the reason the US have taken down their site is because the US commission want them to enforce to all of their previous customers the importance of following the instructions, so they have put a hold on everything until the instructions have been re-done for new customers and all past customers have been notified.

[Louisep]

Originally Posted by odoole

Thanks for the response. It looks like Amby shut down their US website (ambybaby.com). The post from the father made it sound like suffocation, not SIDS.

You found your son flipped over? How did that happen? How old was your son? I know my son was going to outgrow it anyway, but I was hoping to get another month of good sleep with it at least. I don't know if I'll be able to sleep soundly though, now that I know that there are problems with the hammock. We'll see how the crib goes.

he was active from a young age and I guess wanted to sleep on his tummy so somehow managed to roll over! He did this twice before we stopped using it. Amby said babies can't turn over but clearly ours did. They do so not to use it once baby can sit up - which doesn't gel with their statement that you can use it up to one year.

I'm kind of freaked out by this. So many nights DS's face was smushed up against the side. I guess we were lucky.

We hung it correctly, no problems there.

[odoole]

Thanks everyone for all the information. Frogger, I am so sorry about the tragic death of your friend's son. I agree it is rather absurd that Amby users are hearing about this via online message boards rather than a more official route. I will be interested in seeing the company's response once they do go back online. The thing is, we did have the instructions for our Amby, but we still had the problems with our son rolling to the side of the hammock. It sounds like the same was true for LouiseP.

Well, I knew the day would come when we'd have to transition him to a crib, so I guess this is as good of a prompt as any. Thanks again for everyone's insight, and I'd still be interested in hearing other people's experiences (good or bad) if anyone else has used an Amby.

[dogretro]

We borrowed an Amby from a friend for our last foster daughter, who wanted to sleep in her bouncy seat w/ the vibrate on all night. The friend had used it for two babies and hung it for us. Never had a problem w/ it, but dfd way preferred her bouncy, so she did not use it much.

Having had 2 reflux babies (one pretty bad), I highly recommend having them sleep in the bouncy seat or swing if the crib incline does not work. Because of the crotch straps, I never walked in to see one of them in a bad/dangerous position & both slept v well (for newborns, lol!) like this.

[odoole]

Thanks dogreto. We actually don't own a swing for him. We have one small bouncy seat that he's getting too big for (despite being a preemie, he's a real chunker now!), and I don't think it supports him well enough anyway. But I will look into that as an option if the inclined crib doesn't work. We had a snuggle nest type thing that we could incline and bring into bed with us. That worked decently, but it left DH and me with very little space to sleep on the bed. Plus, he's already getting too big for that too!

Last night he slept in the inclined crib for about 1.5 hours before he woke up and realized he hated it. It was a struggle for the next 2.5 hours, and then we eventually brought the snuggle nest INTO the crib and let him sleep like that on his side -- even though his feet were dangling over the edge of the nest.

From there he slept a good 3 hours, nursed, then had another 1.5 hours of fitful sleep where I had to wake every 15 minutes to settle his hands down before he fully woke himself up.

After that, we brought him into bed with us, as we usually do in the mornings, and got another 2.5 hours of sleep with him on our chest.

So overall, it wasn't a terrible experience. With the Amby, though, he slept so well, and woke himself up every 3 hours like clockwork for a 10 minute nursing session and then went right back to sleep. It was in every way ideal.

[frogger]

Originally Posted by Siar

if anyone is interested, I just emailed the UK distributors of the hammock and got a response which might alleviate some concerns. We bought the amby for our now 8-month-old, but didn't get on with it. They suggest that in this tragic case the hammock was purchased secondhand without instructions and that it was hung incorrectly, from the ceiling, rather than using the amby frame. Obviously I cannot vouch for the reliability of their claims. Apparently the reason the US have taken down their site is because the US commission want them to enforce to all of their previous customers the importance of following the instructions, so they have put a hold on everything until the instructions have been re-done for new customers and all past customers have been notified.

Siar, I know that you are passing along this info, I just want to say that this info is incorrect.

[vbactivist]

Originally Posted by odoole

Thanks everyone for all the information. Frogger, I am so sorry about the tragic death of your friend's son. I agree it is rather absurd that Amby users are hearing about this via online message boards rather than a more official route. I will be interested in seeing the company's response once they do go back online. The thing is, we did have the instructions for our Amby, but we still had the problems with our son rolling to the side of the hammock. It sounds like the same was true for LouiseP.

Well, I knew the day would come when we'd have to transition him to a crib, so I guess this is as good of a prompt as any. Thanks again for everyone's insight, and I'd still be interested in hearing other people's experiences (good or bad) if anyone else has used an Amby.

Why can't your baby sleep in the bed with you?

[Dandelionkid]

Originally Posted by Siar

if anyone is interested, I just emailed the UK distributors of the hammock and got a response which might alleviate some concerns. We bought the amby for our now 8-month-old, but didn't get on with it. They suggest that in this tragic case the hammock was purchased secondhand without instructions and that it was hung incorrectly, from the ceiling, rather than using the amby frame. Obviously I cannot vouch for the reliability of their claims. Apparently the reason the US have taken down their site is because the US commission want them to enforce to all of their previous customers the importance of following the instructions, so they have put a hold on everything until the instructions have been re-done for new customers and all past customers have been notified.

Interesting but sounds like a load of poop. They are not acting like a company concerned with fixing their mistakes but saving themselves. If they wanted to get proper instructions out to everyone it shouldn't be too hard to update the site instead of taking it down. I have lost all respect for them.

[odoole]

Originally Posted by vbactivist

Why can't your baby sleep in the bed with you?

We co-sleep part time. Right now the crib is right by my bed (it's a mini), as the Amby was, and I'll usually bring him into bed to sleep with us for a couple hours in the morning. And we do all naps together. Basically I'm comfortable doing light sleeping with him, but there have been a few times where I've found him in an unsafe position in the bed during a deep sleep in the middle of the night and that has been enough to spook me away from full-fime cosleeping. DH isn't keen on the idea anyway.

Plus he needs some elevation for his reflux. As I mentioned in my other post, we did do the snugglenest in the bed for a while, but he is too big for it now. Plus it took up too much space in our bed and unfortunately we're not in the market or a new one.

He actually did REALLY well in the crib last night. I was shocked. If the crib turns sour in the future I'll revisit the cosleeping idea. I know there are ways to make it more secure.

[mercy589]

subbing I need to know if a recall issues for this, we just bought one off of Craigslist. I'm worried about using it now for my baby due in Jan.

[mercy589]

I just emailed the CPSC to ask them what is going on. I'm not sure if I'll get a reply or not, we'll see.

[odoole]

Let us know what you hear. I don't know if you noticed on the link above, but the father who was posting about his son just learned that two other babies suffocated as well last year. I'm so grateful he is making an effort to get the word out; I would have never known about this otherwise.

[firewoman]

I just called the JPMA (Juevenile Products Maunfacturers Association). On the American website they were the certifying body that tested the Amby for safety. I spoke with a woman named Linda from the public relations office within JPMA. When I first started explaining she thought I was talking about a recall that affected drop down cribs and I had to explain all that has been going on. I told her that we are all flying blindly with the only information being on message boards and that there was definitely a death associated with this product that they certified as being safe. She honestly seemed to have not heard anything about it or to even know what an Amby Baby motion bed is. She took my phone number and name and said she would look into it and call me back. I'll post if/when she does.

I also e-mailed both the English and Australian distributors and asked some pointed questions. We'll see if I get a response.

I'm disturbed that there are so few posts on this thread and want to get the word out. It seems that this is getting brushed under the rug and I fear that many people who own an Amby are not aware of the risks associated with the bed.

[Rose-Roget]

I'm curious whether those whose babies rolled over or ended in bad positions had a sleep positioner with theirs? My dd is only a week old. and we use the Amby for some naps when I'm on the same house level as her, so I feel I could usually supervise her, although I've ended up taking a few naps at the same time, and tragedy can only take a minute. We bought ours 2nd hand, but it was barely used, fully equipped, had instructions, and has an Amby sleep positioner that I keep around her hips.

[odoole]

My DS was in the sleep positioner around his hips when I found him facing the sides. In fact, when I stopped using the positioner, he stopped facing the sides -- though that may just be coincidence. It may just be that I finally managed to adjust it the proper way.

So we started using the Amby when he was 2.5 months old, probably around 12.5 pounds or so. The experience may be different with a lighter-weight newborn. I know it's easy to say that if your baby rolled, you're just not using it properly, but honestly getting it level is VERY hard to do. It took quite a bit of time and finesse to get it so he was 1.) elevated enough so that his reflux didn't bother him but 2.) flat enough that he wouldn't roll from one side or another.

Plus it's kind of hard to eyeball it and know whether or not the bed is truly even. It may look even, and the baby may not tip to the side initially, but as the night progresses, with fitful sleeping or whatever else, it's pretty easy to end up there.

That said, as I mentioned in my first post, DS went 3 full weeks without any problems with side facing or anything like that (and this was without the sleep positioner). We probably could have gone much longer without any problems, but as pp said, tragedy can only take a minute. I suspect as DS gained weight and mobility (he's now up to 16 lbs or so), it would have been even more dangerous. (Imagine being faced against a piece of fabric like that and having your whole body weight pushing you in that direction.)

That cotton does seem fairly breathable, though -- I personally would be comfortable letting him nap in there as long as I could check on him regularly. It's too bad it wasn't designed so the mesh goes all the way to the bottom.

His transition to the crib has gone surprisingly well, though, so I think we're packing up our Amby for good.

[csteely]

Originally Posted by Rose-Roget

although I've ended up taking a few naps at the same time, and tragedy can only take a minute. We bought ours 2nd hand, but it was barely used, fully equipped, had instructions, and has an Amby sleep positioner that I keep around her hips.

I really can't understand even wanting to take the risk. There's enough to worry about with newborns without feeling completely secure about where the baby sleeps.