Mothering Responds to NY Anti-Cosleeping Campaign - Page 3

[christyc]

We have a similar campaign going on here in some DHEC districts in South Carolina-- The ABC's of Safe Sleep-- alone, on my back, and in my crib. Grrrr!

[Annoia]

Question

Really just out of curiousity - when caregivers can't afford a crib, do the ABC'ers provide a "safe sleeping environment"? Do they endorse or provide a particular sleep environment as safe (not in a vague sense - like an infant should sleep in a crib - but in a concrete sense - as in "oh, you don't have a crib? to prevent the possible death of your child, let us give you THIS crib")?

Just Pondering,

D.

[latinalonestar]

Originally Posted by Turquesa

(Cross-posted in Family Bed Forum!)

Is anybody here from Ohio? I know that Ohio has had an anti-cosleeping campaign going on for some time, ("On their back. In the crib"), and you may want to research the counter-efforts going on there.

If you can keep your cool (good luck!), you may view an example of NY's propaganda here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPF_IA8Qbk4

Here's an Ohio-based piece: http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?I...ubCategoryID=0

ETA: New Yorkers, I dare you to call that 311 number "for more information" and give them some information! Just as PP suggested, they're your public servants!

I live in Ohio and they gave me a stupid "ABCs of Safe Sleep" onsie at the hospital. Alone, on Back, and in a Crib. So annoying...

[Treece]

OMG!! It's infiltrated Oklahoma!!! These pictures are infuriating: "I Sleep Alone" is the campaign. OMG!! Both of my kids have (and one is) slept with me.
This isnt a link to this program but to one by the Tulsa Police.
http://www.tulsapolice.org/childsafe...pingbabys.html

Why are all of these propaganda so BRIEF????

[ThisLove]

It's rampant in KY, too.

At the hospital, the nurses continued to take Calloway out of the bed and put him in that stupid little plastic bassinet thing. Every time, I'd take him out, and they eventually told me that they'd take my baby to the nursery and put him on formula if I didn't stop. (He was sent the NICU on the day I was discharged, but that's neither here nor there.)

At the pediatrician's office, the pediatrician about crapped his pants when I said we coslept. He then told me that he would call CPS for 'endangering Calloway's life' if he heard about it again.

The WIC lady about had a fit when I said we co-slept ... And I ended up with some kind of booklet about how I was definitely, without a doubt, going to smother my child to death in the middle of the night (or my husband would).

Yeah, special.

[Angi]

Personally, I probably won't co-sleep when I have kids because I toss and turn quite a bit. And yes, I'm one of those that fall out of bed on a regular basis. I'll probably do a sidecar arrangement for awhile.

I think this campaign is ridiculous. It sounds very similar to some of the info you find in Babywise. Did anyone else notice that they recommend that you "Keep the room temperature between 65 and 70 degrees."

Are they going to pay my electric bill? It's summer in Texas. The night time lows are in the 80s.

[midwestmeg]

Originally Posted by Angi

Personally, I probably won't co-sleep when I have kids because I toss and turn quite a bit. And yes, I'm one of those that fall out of bed on a regular basis. I'll probably do a sidecar arrangement for awhile.

Right- the idea isn't that co-sleepers think everyone should hop into our family bed.... the idea (from my point of view anyway) is that my PERSONAL CHOICES should be respected. It isn't a black and white issue.

My dd is a great cosleeper, my ds didn't like any movement from me or dh when he was little. A crib next to my bed worked well for him. I have really really great IRL parent friends who do not cosleep but are close to their children and respond to them- but they still would never say 'oh, they just sleep on their back, in their crib, alone.' It takes a little more work than that!

The trouble with big billboards with the whole ABC thing is that they are not very helpful to a new mom with a baby who does not want to go from the womb to their own room. It just isn't very parent friendly to say 'In a crib. On the back. The end.' What would be nice to hear are 'these are the options, you as a parent must determine what works for you...' But I guess that would require the assumption that people can think for themselves.

Hey, maybe that could be a slogan- 'take 'em from the womb to their own room!' I'm calling NY!! Just kidding.

[DentedHalo]

Originally Posted by Treece

http://www.tulsapolice.org/childsafe...pingbabys.html

Why are all of these propaganda so BRIEF????

Because it's difficult to write long and poignant statements when you have nothing to say.

A few comments on the statements on Treece's link:

Where are the sources used for this and why are they not referred to in the statement? If a local government agency is making a statement, I want to see what that statement is based on in order to make an informed decision. I have no reason to rely on someone's word alone, no matter how well meaning that person\agency may be. Don't tell me that there is evidence and walk away, show me the evidence.

They list it as a fact that babies do die in co-sleeping arrangement.

Fact: Babies do die in non co-sleeping arrangements.
Fact: Babies do die.

Stating the obvious, much?

14 deaths within 26 months, as sad as they may be, are statistically insignificant for a city with the population of Tulsa. If those deaths are listed as 'unexplained', then why are they attached to a warning about co-sleeping? If they are unexplained, then we don't know what caused them, thus their use in such a warning is entirely arbitrary. I would also like to see the reports on those deaths, and examine them for the appearance of words such as "cocaine", "meth", and "tranquilizers". Actually, considering the rest of the contents of this warning I would like to see the reports on general principles, just to figure out how many of them were conveniently pulled under the blanket of SIDS.


Not a mom at the moment, but I had a conversation with a very close friend of mine this morning about co-sleeping. Just like the pedi of one of the previous posters, her pedi flipped a breaker when she told him they co-sleep and threatened to call CPS. He also informed her that her baby had a much bigger chance of dying from SIDS if he was not in a crib.

When she relayed that to me, my first thought was - "Er...I thought the common name for SIDS was crib death..."

:

[kblackstone444]

Originally Posted by gothmommy

I agree--that is stupid!! I am overweight, and used to be super tired (night shift nurse) but guess what? I have co-slept with all of my kids and never rolled onto any of them! Although DS#2 used to have a habit, as a very young infant, of trying to burrow underneath me. When he would do that, I'd wake up IMMEDIATELY. I also have that strange sense for tornado warning sirens--I can hear one from miles away even when in the deepest deep sleep.

When I was cosleeping with my son, even when he was a newborn and I was exhausted, the slightest movement- just him simply turning his head in his sleep or letting out a little cough, would be registered in my brain, while I slept. Even when I was sound asleep, I was fully aware of him at all times. It was my instinct. Of course, i didn't drink or do drugs...

Originally Posted by UmmIlyas

Really just out of curiousity - when caregivers can't afford a crib, do the ABC'ers provide a "safe sleeping environment"? Do they endorse or provide a particular sleep environment as safe (not in a vague sense - like an infant should sleep in a crib - but in a concrete sense - as in "oh, you don't have a crib? to prevent the possible death of your child, let us give you THIS crib")?

Just Pondering,

D.

Been there, done that. I couldn't afford a crib when I has my son. He had a bassinett (mine from when I was a baby) and a crib mattress on the floor between our bed and the wall (my mattress was on the floor as well). I only used the bassinett twice (first afternoon nap and then for an hour the first night ) and the crib mattress was pretty much where we played. Anyways, I was warned by the visiting nurse (a fellow AP Mother as well), that if I didn't at least have a crib to pretend he sleeps in, CPS could cause all sorts of problems. Luckily, it never came to that, because nobody was offering to give me a crib for my baby and when you're so poor you sit down to a bowl full of canned peas for dinner, the last thing you're thinking about is going crib shopping.