Tragedy when breastfeeding mother falls asleep on jet

[RandiFlowers]

How incredibly sad.

Apparently, the mother fell asleep while breastfeeding her infant on an airplane.

And the ignorant "experts" are already renewing their cries against breastfeeding babies in bed.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ng-asleep.html

[Ldavis24]

I just love how the article shows a picture of a mother breastfeeding and then in the foreground a picture of a bottle!

So sad for the mother, she must have been utterly exhausted not to feel her LO against her, DD has always slept right next to me since day 1 and she barely has to sniffle and I am wide awake.

[lifeguard]

That picture is irritating.

I don't see how this has anything to do with bfing in bed? Am I missing something? Why are people so intent to demonize bfing mothers?

[Baby_Cakes]

It's sad b/c it's more like "don't fall asleep and smother your baby," not "don't breastfeed b/c you'll smother your baby," but nobody is really going to see it that way. The first few weeks are so exhausting, I'm wondering why the heck she was travelling on a plane alone??
What a sad time for her and her family.

[justKate]

How awful. I can't imagine what she must be going through.

It was rediculous to put a bottle in the foreground of that photo. Maybe it's a stock photo or something. Bleh.

[caro113]

Originally Posted by Ldavis24

I just love how the article shows a picture of a mother breastfeeding and then in the foreground a picture of a bottle!

Well obviously the bottle is there for when baby is still hungry and she doesn't make enough milk. Because soooo many mothers just don't make enough milk. Plus, what if she gets tired and just doesn't want to breastfeed anymore? That bottle will surely come in handy.

[Eligracey]

Did anyone see that the article also talked about a British mom who had accidentally smothered TWO of her children that way? Sounds more that a bit suspicious to me. Are people just expecting breastfeeding and cosleeping to be so dangerous that they aren't surprised by that at all?

[hippiemommaof4]

this has me raging peed off because its all over the place on news outlets on the net...do they ever show crap like this when people prop a babys bottle and it chokes or a bottle feeding mom who has something similar happen? noooo because then its just a tragic accident which it obviously is either way but why does it matter that she was breastfeeding? just another shot at nursing moms from the media! its not some huge media hoopla on the net when it happens to those bottle feeding people so wtf???? :i rked
i mean i have been reading peoples responses to this and I just want to punch some of them, the lack of knowledge on BFing alone makes me want to puke!
nak

[AnnR33]

So I'm a little confused. She was sitting up and nursing and must have slouched over? She could not have been laying down so why all the rhetoric about sleeping and nursing? This has nothing to do with nursing and laying in bed.

A tragedy, yes, but nothing to do with co-sleeping/nursing which the article makes it sound like.

[StoriesInTheSoil]

The article doesn't even specify that the baby suffocated. It's propaganda and sensationalistic.

[eclipse]

They said they're treating the death as "unexplained." Isn't that just what SIDS is? I don't understand why they're saying the mother smothered the baby? I'm confused.

[JMJ]

Wow... The article says that you shouldn't cosleep because you might roll on top of your baby. How could a woman in a plane seat roll on top of her baby? It sounds like they're talking about a bunch of ideas unrelated to what actually happened. It's conceivable that the baby could have gotten into a bad position, but sounds like it's just as likely to be SIDS to me. I've heard that autopsy results for smothering and SIDS are the same. They call it SIDS when the babe is in a crib and smothering if there is a parent sleeping with the baby.

[Magical_Mama]

Hate the way the media is using this story

I'm already so bothered with the way the media is using this as an excuse to warn against co-sleeping (and even breastfeeding). I wrote a slightly snarky article in response, warning about the dangers of holding your baby (at least without government approved safety devices). http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-2...ing-your-baby#

It's such a terribly sad story. I really feel for the mother. No matter what caused the baby's death, it's every mother's worst nightmare. It's just inane to jump on this tragedy as an excuse to hammer co-sleeping though.

~Alicia

[TXmom2]

a very sad story, had nothing to do with breastfeeding or cosleeping (imo)

Did you read this comment??
"Very,Very sad,but baby,aircraft?Can some people just not give up flying for a few years until the baby grows up?I would never have dreamed of taking one of my babies on an aircraft,not until they were 4 or 5 at least"

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz0Ybz1ThRV

Yes, because having a baby means you must not go anywhere until they are school age...

[Plaid Leopard]

Airplane seats are so narrow and uncomfortable. It's a struggle to find a good postion to nurse a baby in. The armrests are too high, there's no footrest, there's another passenger or two practically in your lap as well. It's possible that she fell asleep while nursing - or just after- and her arm slipped and her baby got wedged between her body and the armrest.

It is a terrible tragedy and I can't imagine the pain and heartbreak this woman is going through now. RIP baby.