ID - Twins Gabriel & Tryce Medrano, 3 wks, die while co-sleeping, 21 Nov 2011

[Belinda]

Family beds are just not safe. Too many babies are dying from this. Babies should be sleeping in a crib. I suppose there are many people who don't know better. This information needs to be gotten out there, like the safe haven laws.

 

[pistolina]

I just don’t understand the concept of a family bed. I know some people swear by it and say if it is done properly that the baby is safe but I just don’t trust that I will know what I’m doing in my sleep. I also can’t sleep very well when I am worried about rolling over onto the baby next to me. We have used a bedside bassinet with both girls. One side comes off and it pushes right up to the side of the bed (it also has something to secure it to the bed). Little K is right next to me but in her own safe bed.

 

[butwhatif?]

I just don’t understand the concept of a family bed. I know some people swear by it and say if it is done properly that the baby is safe but I just don’t trust that I will know what I’m doing in my sleep. I also can’t sleep very well when I am worried about rolling over onto the baby next to me. We have used a bedside bassinet with both girls. One side comes off and it pushes right up to the side of the bed (it also has something to secure it to the bed). Little K is right next to me but in her own safe bed.

Sadly babies die in cots too. There's a lot of info out there on how to make a cot safer, but not so much about how to make co-sleeping safer.
We didn't decide to have a family bed, but there were times we'd bring our babies into the bed. But only with the special co-sleeping little bed thing.

This is the kind of thing that can be used to make co-sleeping much safer for those who want a 'family bed'.

 

[MsFacetious]

I guess if you are sleep deprived enough you could not realize you rolled over on them?
I still wake up if I roll over onto my cell phone... because it is instinct for me, to make sure I don't roll onto anything.

For the first two years... I very rarely slept without one or both kids. Feeding them, or they were sick, or that's the only way they'd sleep.
Maybe everyone just has different levels of awareness... and mine have always been really high?