New AAP Guidelines for Preventing SIDS

blueberry312 · October 2016

Hey everyone, in case you have not seen this, wanted to put it out there. The AAP now recommends that babies room in with mom and dad (but do not cosleep in the same bed or in a cosleeper) for the first year of life, and especially for the first 6 mos. More information here:

https://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2016/10/24/the_aap_s_new_advice_on_sids_prevention_makes_parents_lives_easier.html

Will this affect your plans for your nursery or after LO arrives? Or did you plan on keeping LO in your room anyway? Do you anticipate you will follow these guidelines or put baby in his/her own room before the 6 mo/1 year mark?

bacorrea · October 2016

I'm a second time mom, I was planning on having the baby in my room anyway, especially with breastfeeding. This has been the recommendation for awhile, I'm surprised it's just now "official".

NotAPlaya-JustCrushAlot · October 2016

We moved DD to her own room at a little over 6 months. Prior to that she slept in the pack n play in our room. I'm all about safe sleep practices, but a 12 month old makes so much noise when they sleep! I'll probably play it by ear and see how this kid does.

SKZW · October 2016

bacorrea said:

I'm a second time mom, I was planning on having the baby in my room anyway, especially with breastfeeding.

Same here. LO will be in our room in a little crib or rock-n-play, for 6 mos (or more, depending).

NotAPlaya-JustCrushAlot · October 2016

bacorrea said:

I'm a second time mom, I was planning on having the baby in my room anyway, especially with breastfeeding. This has been the recommendation for awhile, I'm surprised it's just now "official".

@bacorrea I think this most recent change was to bump it from 6 months to a year.

@skzw We did an RNP last time too. Since then, I've heard alot of horror stories about kids suffocating in them. I don't know if we will use an RNP at night again, but I did love it as a "baby jail" during my showers. My boss has offered to loan me her Halo bassinet this time around. But, gosh, the RNP was just magical for infant sleep.

bacorrea · October 2016

@NotAPlaya-JustCrushAlot gotcha! That makes sense, I was wondering why everybody was making such a big deal.

ETA I'm thinking about getting a halo bassinet, or a mini crib.

mamatowildones · October 2016

We usually do 3-4 months. This time likely 6. 4 years ago our pedi told us to have baby in room and a circulating fan to prevent risk of SIDS.

mcvgal · October 2016

We have a fullsize bed in the nursery. Therefore it's more like I will be sleeping in with baby.

chickyclg · October 2016

We were going to use a PnP this time for a while(wasn't planning a whole year though), we used RnPs last time for a few months but stopped after my son was diagnosed with torticollis and plagiocephaly and he started PT. He was born with both but the incline of the RnP made it worse.

Jellybeanqueen13 · October 2016

My daughter slept in our room in a packnplay from birth to a little over 1 year. It made it easier to wake up in the middle of the night with her and gave me peace of mind, especially in the early days.

I had a few family members give me a hard time saying things like "She needs her own room", so now that the recommendation is room sharing to 1 year I feel even more so justified in our decision.

We plan to do the same with our twins, even though we won't have much room in our bedroom.

RainyDays86 · October 2016

I haven't read the full recommendations but just wondering why they say no co-sleepers. Are they referring to co-sleepers where the baby is actually in the bed with you, or are ones like the halo where they have their own space ok?

pshaortao · October 2016

chickyclg said:

We were going to use a PnP this time for a while(wasn't planning a whole year though), we used RnPs last time for a few months but stopped after my son was diagnosed with torticollis and plagiocephaly and he started PT. He was born with both but the incline of the RnP made it worse.

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@chickyclg We went through the same thing with DD. She started out in the RnP and slept so wonderfully in it, but we eventually realized she was starting to get a noticeable flat spot and would only keep her head turned one way. After tons of research, we transitioned her to her crib by 8 weeks and it turned out to be okay. We also did PT to strengthen the weak side of her neck.

Because of that, we will be going straight to the crib with this one, or a PnP. We had a guest bed in DD's nursery at our last place so I stayed there for about 6 months. It was just easier for everybody since DH is a horrible sleeper when disturbed and he needed to be focused for work. Once she turned 6 months and we started the sleep training process, I moved back into the master room. I haven't thought about what we will do for LO2 yet in term of set up. I have said something to DH about having the crib or PnP in our room and he was less than thrilled about the idea, since like I said before, he needs to be rested enough for work. I guess we will see when we start to get serious about house hunting.

Squirtgun · October 2016

We did the bassinet in our room until about 4mo with our 1yo and plan to do the same with this one. (2.5 yo slept in her own room from first day out of NICU, but it's right next door and we had the door open, so could still hear her pretty easily). As PPs have said, little baby sleeping noises woke me up a lot! It is convenient for nursing, but not so much for me sleeping!

MrsFreeman2010 · October 2016

We used a RnP last time until she started trying to roll and then we moved her to a PnP in our room for 4ish months maybe closer to 6. I don't know I can't remember. We will probably do the same thing again this time and maybe try and make sure it's at least 6 months.

saric83 · October 2016

We used a RnP and a PnP and are just now moving our son (16 mo) into a different room (doc recommended waiting and just switching straight to a mattress on the floor). We'll do the same with this one until a year old.

Louise_Belcher · October 2016

Yeah probably not gonna follow that. DS was in a bassinet then moved to crib in his room before 3 mo. Will probably do the same-ish or earlier this time. He started napping in his crib pretty early, one month or so. He is a loud sleeper and we have a tiny home so we can still hear him grunting even without the monitor on. Also although not getting out of bed to breastfeed was kinda nice, I found it uncomfortable and preferred the rocker in his room and it woke my husband less.

IvyMagic828 · October 2016

I think we kept DS in our room for maybe about a month and then moved him into his own room across the hall - he made so many noises throughout the night while sleeping that it was really hard for us to get any sleep. He also slept in a rock 'n play because he would not go down for us on a flat surface. He wouldn't even sleep in the bassinet in the hospital so we had to take turns holding him all day and night for the two days/nights we were there. We'll see how things go with #2. Ideally, it'd be nice to keep #2 in the room with us sleeping on a flat surface but I'm not going to torture us all to make it happen.

achays11 · October 2016

DD was in her own room in her crib before a month. We will probably do the same with this one since we don't have room in our bedroom (our kiddos have the master bedroom). We will also be getting an Owlet monitor for this babe which monitors their breathing patterns and we keep a fan on low.

vrj0522 · October 2016

We'll probably keep baby bedside in the RNP until he starts to roll and then he'll go in his crib in his room. It happened at around 5 months with both kids previously and I expect it to be about the same this time. I'm surprised that they extended the recommendations to a year just given how much lower the chance of SIDS is once they are past 6 months. Also, it makes me sad they are saying no sleeping in swings or bouncers. DS only napped I n the bouncer the first 2-3 months and DD only in the swing.

WombThereItIs · October 2016

I think I actually blurted out "fuck that" when I heard about rooming in for 6-12 months.

By 3 (or was it 4?) months baby and I were waking each other up and he slept better in his own quiet space. Same plan for this one.

MrsFox2008 · October 2016

We'll be keeping this LO in our room for the recommended time. We kept DD in our room for a year and it worked out well for us with breastfeeding!

psherman42wwsa · October 2016

My DS is still in our room in a crib and he is almost 15 months... I keep planning to move him to his room but I just like having him close by. Our master bedroom is on the first floor and his bedroom is upstairs. If we were all on the same level he probably would have been in his room by now. I really dislike having to tip toe around at night because DS is a light sleeper.

MoshiMoshi7 · October 2016

DS slept in a bassinet in our room for the first 4 months and then moved to a crib in his own room right next door. I can't really imagine having him in our room any longer than that because he was such a loud sleeper and I am such a light sleeper, that I would wake up for every.single.noise. Everyone was happier and much more well rested. Also, it was nice for DH and I to have our own space back.

So I guess I'll play it by year with this LO, but I definitely don't see myself doing it for a year.

Kipperoo · October 2016

Similar to WombThereItIs , I had a very vocal (and negative) reaction to this recommendation. While I applaud lowering the risk of SIDS and promoting healthy sleep habits, I think the recommendation fails to point out WHY proximity is a game changer. There are many things you can do in their own room to mimic your room's conditions (air circulation, good temperature control, flat surface with no obstructions, etc) and with a really good monitor turned on and next to your bed all night, I struggle to see how that is different from them sleeping in your room. I really wish that the recommendation was clearer in it's background studies. I read the ones that were sited and I'm still confused.

I transitioned my son at 5 weeks to his crib and never looked back. He slept SO much better, as did I. Now at 2 years old, he's still a rockstar sleeper with no separation anxiety at bedtime. As many of you are, I am a full time working mom and there is NO WAY I could have gone back to work as a productive employee at 3 months with my noisy infant shifting around in his crib all night.

That said, I think every family has to do what's right for them. I'm just saying I hate another added layer of mom guilt without a proper explanation...

Wildflowers and Ferns · October 2016

I was planning on a roomshare but not bedshare type arrangement already. (My husband is a large man and a somewhat active sleeper... I've taken an elbow to the boob or face more than a few times. Not certain it would be safe for baby to bedshare under those circumstances.)

This does somewhat vindicate my gut feeling that a nursery is more cute than it is functional, honestly. I think having the baby with me for the first year will bring me a lot of comfort and better sleep, as I tend to have insomnia from anxious thoughts/worry!

Louise_Belcher · October 2016

@kipperoo and @WombThereItIs very much yes! Audible and negative was my response too. To each their own, but this is not for me. At least not in this house. I have not seen how having him 5-7 steps closer will keep baby safer.

schnitz9 · October 2016

NotAPlaya-JustCrushAlot said:

We moved DD to her own room at a little over 6 months. Prior to that she slept in the pack n play in our room. I'm all about safe sleep practices, but a 12 month old makes so much noise when they sleep! I'll probably play it by ear and see how this kid does.

Amen to this. My son did not sleep soundly. All the snorting and sniffling. UGH!!! And then by the time he was 8 months the loud snoring (ended up needing his adenoids out at 12 months). Sounded like a freight train. He slept in our room til 4 months and then we moved the bassinet into his room. Think we are gonna do the same with this baby.

Laurieday10 · October 2016

Both DD1 and DD2 were moved from our room to their own at about 6 months and we'll do the same with this one. We have no room for a crib or PnP in our room, so there's no way he/she could be in our room for an entire year.

firstbaby2013 · October 2016

Co sleeping all the way. It's safe if don't correctly. Much like using a car seat

NotAPlaya-JustCrushAlot · October 2016

firstbaby2013 said:

Co sleeping all the way. It's safe if don't correctly. Much like using a car seat

Not at all like using a car seat....

pshaortao · October 2016

Lol I dont see how a car seat and cosleeping have anything to do with each other. Nothing wrong with cosleeping if youre careful, although its not something I'm comfortable with for personal reasons. Car seat safety is a whole 'nother ball game that everybody should know.

MoshiMoshi7 · October 2016

Umm...cosleeping and its safety is still being debated. Using a carseat is not? I'm not going to get into a cosleeping debate, but I don't see how these are related at all.

Eta for terrible punctuation

MrsFreeman2010 · October 2016

Part of the problem are the terms co-sleeping and bed sharing being used interchangeably. Really co-sleeping is sleeping in close proximity to each other (i.e. In the same room) which is very safe and recommended, which it seems like we all agree on. Bed-sharing is a whole different issue with its own set of concerns. But in today's world people assume those words are synonymous which messes up the correct information getting out there.

pshaortao · October 2016

@MrsFreeman2010 Well put. When I hear the term cosleeping I do think of bedsharing. I wonder about others on the use of the term. It would be a great way to separate the two on this BMB, starting with me

NotAPlaya-JustCrushAlot · October 2016

Based on the context, I suspect the original "co-sleeping" comment was referring to bedsharing. But, I agree. Co-sleeping=fine Bed sharing=lots of areas of concern.

MrsFreeman2010 · October 2016

@NotAPlaya-JustCrushAlot I agree about pp and context. And totally agree with everyone else, bed-sharing safety and car seat safety are two TOTALLY different things!!

flychick-2 · October 2016

We're going to go off whatever works best for getting the most sleep, both for us and the baby. With DD, I was adamant that she sleep in her own crib in her own room and it was a disaster. She is just by nature someone who wants to be around people all the time, even at night. Once I finally broke down and let her sleep with us she slept through the night.

For DS I was all prepared to have another child who needed to be with us all the time. I got one of those bassinets that attached by the bed. He used it for maybe 6 weeks and was an awesome sleeper so we moved him to his own room just to see if he'd sleep there. He did and slept through the the night after a few months and we never looked back.

So with baby 3, we'll just do whatever works best.

bacorrea · October 2016

@FlyChick you give me hope! Currently DD at 2.5 is still in our bed

my husband deployed shortly after she was born and the only way I could get her to sleep was holding her. She literally slept in my arms every night. I'm going to do everything possible to have 2.0 in their own bed! When DH was deployed though, I had to get sleep. I know bed sharing is frowned upon, but it was either that or die of lack of sleep. I couldn't do it all by myself going on no sleep.

livin541 · October 2016

@bacorrea If it makes you feel any better my 2 year old is still in bed with us too!

I understand the concern over bed sharing, but we've always done it safely and it just works for us.

Although I imagined him in his own room by now, I work more than full time and love the snuggle time. I'm actually going to have a harder time with the transition than he will, I'm sure. That being said, we will have to see what works with this new baby and make the decision from there!

NotAPlaya-JustCrushAlot · October 2016

ETA: TW

DD was a Velcro baby that hated sleep for the first 18 months of her life. We tried everything except bedsharing because I just don't believe it can be done safely. Had she been in my bed, she would have slept great but I wouldn't have slept at all because I'd be too consumed with worry. My friend is a NICU nurse and had a baby that spent months fighting as premie go home and then get suffocated by bedsharing. That scared me enough to keep me from ever doing it. Now that DD is three, she does find her way into my bed on occasion. So I get the older kid snuggle factor.

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