How to Decide on Sleeping with a Newborn
Newborn sleep patterns are for the most part very predictable and regular. Newborns spend most of their first few weeks either sleeping or eating. As they grow and spend more time awake, regular patterns of naptime and bedtime become easier to establish. Sleeping with a newborn presents some real safety issues for baby, so it's important to think carefully before making this choice.
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Instructions
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Determine whether your desire to have the baby in bed with you is based on the baby's needs or your own wants. Some new mothers go through separation anxiety and are afraid to let a new baby sleep without constant supervision. Babies sleep better in their own basinet or crib, and you'll sleep better as well.
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Discuss baby's sleeping options with your pediatrician. Your pediatrician can go over all the dangers of keeping a newborn in bed with you, and the advantages to having them in their own crib or basinet.
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Keep the baby in the bedroom with you for a while after they are born, as long as they sleep in their own basinet or crib.
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Place babies on their back to sleep. Since pediatricians began making this recommendation to parents in 1992, the incidence of SIDS, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, has decreased by more than 50%.
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Breastfeed in bed during the nighttime hours only until the baby is satisfied and ready to go back to sleep. Remove the baby from your bed and return her to her basinet or crib. Nursing a newborn in bed is difficult, as they may not have gotten good at latching on right away. Use this method only when your baby is much older and has taken to breastfeeding well.
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Tips & Warnings
It is never a good idea to allow a newborn to sleep in the bed with you. The dangers of suffocation and accidentally rolling over on a baby are very real and dangerous. As your baby gets bigger, there may be times when you will let the baby sleep in bed with you. When they are sick, fussy or just need a little bit of extra comfort. Do this only for a short time and always put the baby back in his own bed as soon as he is asleep again.
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Comments
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darkangellt
Dec 11, 2009
Im a new mother my baby is 7 week almost 8 and i feel comfortable with her in my bed with me... when she is in my bed i have her laying beside me... and i make sure im on my side instead of my back or stomach.. I make sure im facing her instead of away from her... when she is fussing i dont know what else to do... specially when i am really tired and it seems to work.. that and i only sleep an hour to 2 at the most when she is in my bed with me... It just frustrates me when people try to tell me how to take care of my baby... i know what is best for my baby... and if this works so she can sleep then i will do it... i dont do it all the time... also every mother has an instinct and they know when their baby is there... i dont fall in a deep sleep even if i have someone watching her so i can sleep... im always listening for that cry... that tells me she needs her mom... -
vanessar309
Jul 02, 2009
This is a one-sided article on parents sleeping with their newborns. For centuries parents have made their own decisions on parenting and the results were quite well. Centuries later we as parents take the back seat while the professionals instill such alarming fears due to alarming statistics. We parents follow these articles closely, please tell us how to best sleep with our newborns in our beds ( if that is what we chose to do). Please don't tell me that I may kill my baby I have enough fears already.
