Attachment Parenting

co-sleeping - 14 week old burying face in me

Hi! I am co-sleeping with my 14 week old daughter.  Usually I lay on my side, with the crook of my arm behind her head while she lays on her back or side.  Lately, even when I lay her on her back, she rolls herself towards me and buries her face into my armpit or into my boob.  Usually if she does it right away, I move her whole body further away from me so her head is more toward my forearm and she can't reach me.  Sometimes, though, I wake up and she has scooched herself over with her face on me again!

 It's making me nervous, I'm afraid I'm going to suffocate her!!  Anyone else deal with this?

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Re: co-sleeping - 14 week old burying face in me

  • DS does this to me, too.  His burrowing against me wakes me up all night long!  I don't know what the solution is.  Like you said, you can move them away from you, but they find a way to scoot right back...
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  • I co-slept with both of my kids. If LO is finding a way to get closer to you during the night then LO will also find a way to get a clear breathing path during the night.

    If you are still nervous about it you could roll up a small towel or receiving blanket and place it in front of baby, from about the chest down, to prevent him/her from rolling towards you.

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  • i co-sleep with my 13 week old, and i notice if i lay too close to her there will be a little hill between us since i am pushing down on the mattress more than her, so this causes her to roll toward me when she sleeps. i make sure there is plenty of room between us so that she is not sleeping on a little hill and is less likely to roll toward me
  • I used a safety wedge that stopped LO from scooting over to me.

    Now she's rolling it doesn't stop her, so I have her on one side and her 2 yr old sister on the other side both snuggling into me, and me unable to move or roll. 

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  • I was told babies are heat-seeking missiles, and they will constantly try to get as close as possible to you. Also, a babies first instinct is to breathe. Between those two things, it's not that much of a problem. As pp said, if they can make their way to you, then they'll find a way to breathe.
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  • Thanks for the advice, everyone!! I feel much better and will relax a little, lol.
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  • Just FYI--our pediatrician said that the #1 cause of SIDS is carbon dioxide re-breathing, which is where the baby is sleeping and has his/her face pressed up against something and is re-breathing the CO2, not oxygen.  Instead of "finding a way to move in a way that will give them better oxygen," instead, babies in this position just keep going into a deeper and deeper sleep, until they eventually suffocate.

    I don't say this to scare you--I just want you to know that the above advice is not universally believed, and that some medical professionals think what you are describing is a potentially dangerous situation.  Have you thought about getting an arms reach co-sleeper or a little "nest" that goes in your bed, but make sure that your LO has a separate space to sleep and that their face will not be pressed up to yours? 

     LOs are very immature at this age, and can't always act in their own best interests.  They might "feel" safer scooting closer to mom for warmth--when that position isn't actually safer from a breathing standpoint.  We don't trust our toddlers to always act safely (not sick stuff in light sockets, not run into a street), so we shouldn't  trust that our infants know how to sleep in a way that protects their airways.

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