Dear friends,
I'm very glad Jeanette reminds us of this. I for one, in my enthusiasm of finding the occasional admitting-coseeping mom will easily forget to check this kind of safety issues.
Warmly,
Gonneke, IBCLC, retired LLLL, MOM in southern Netherlands
--- On Wed, 8/5/09, Jeanette Panchula <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
From: Jeanette Panchula <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: [LACTNET] Side lying and safety
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Wednesday, August 5, 2009, 4:28 PM
I didn't see discussed in the request for videos and side lying is safety -
and as IBCLCs we need to be sure we address it EVERY TIME we talk about
side-lying - where will they be? What kind of safety is planned as mom
dozes off (as I ALWAYS did when breastfeeding and lying down, the exhausted
mom of 2 or 3)?
During home visits, if a mom tells me she plans to sleep with her baby
and/or lie down with him/her (yes, there are still some who are in denial,
and tell me they NEVER will, so I have no excuse to check out the bedroom),
I ask them to take me to WHERE they plan to lie down with their baby.
I know, we have ALWAYS said "be careful of water beds" - but now this
caution needs to be expanded. At 2 mom's homes I found that the mattress, a
new foam that sinks with the weight of the mom and shapes itself around the
baby, prevented the baby from rolling BACK as they usually did in my bed,
when they were done or wanted to get away from the breast.
Another time the new "egg crate" style mattress cover (we used to use it to
prevent dicubitus ulcers in the elderly, but now it's being used by many
others) did the same thing - kept the baby's head from being able to roll
even a minute amount AWAY from the breast.
I usually ask the question "where would your baby go if you fell deeply
asleep?" when they say they are planning on using couches, recliners, etc.
I want them to think about this whenever lying down with their baby. I also
discuss the presence of blankets, toys, siblings, spouses, etc.
One place I often recommend, especially to the mom of more than one, is
lying down in the floor of the sibling's bedroom (in my case all 3 kids
shared one, so I "napped" there). No fear of falls, it's easy to jump and
run if necessary with the baby safely unable to fall, and you can keep an
ear (if not an eye) open for what is happening with the other kids.
I am certainly NOT saying FORBID breastfeeding lying down - but as IBCLCs we
also should be providing leadership in safe co-bedding.
Jeanette Panchula, BSW, RN, PHN, IBCLC
California, USA
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