Why children under six months it is impossible to share a bed with their parents than dangerous for the baby’s sleep sofas, couches and armchairs, in its recommendations, explained American pediatricians.
Familiar to many parents the picture: they put the newborn baby in his crib, and he closes his eyes. And then again opens and bursts out crying. And, perhaps, the only thing that scares stronger long sleepless nights, the fact that the child may one day never Wake up at all.
Only in the USA annually dies in her sleep about 3.5 thousand babies, including for reasons related to illness, accidental asphyxiation or due to the so-called sudden infant death syndrome — death of a healthy baby from respiratory arrest. Different SIDS also called cot death. SIDS was included in the International classification of diseases, 1975, and to study it began over 15 years prior to that.
However, the exact cause of death of infants is still not installed.
The researchers said factors that correlate with the syndrome: sleep on the abdomen, too soft bed, the poor health of the mother and birth complications, problems in fetal development. Most at risk are children up to six months, they account for 90% of all cases. Still do not have accurate data on whether the risk of sudden death sleep in the same bed with their parents — in the book “Children’s sudden death. Handbook of the practitioner” (Unexpected death in childhood. A handbook for practitioners) Peter Sidebotham and Peter Fleming mentioned that there is a culture with a reduced risk of SIDS in which it is customary to sleep together with the children and with elevated.
But some cases are unexpected at first glance, deaths occur due to negligence of parents.
Children die from suffocation, which often can be prevented.
In one room, but not in the same bed
Members of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) as part of a report on SIDS made up based on modern studies, a list of recommendations that will help to reduce the risk of death of the baby. The list was presented at the National conference & exhibition AAP 24 Oct 2016. It includes the following items:
— cot needs to be a firm mattress with tight fitting sheets;
— avoid soft bedding: blankets, pillows, soft toys. Bed should be empty;
— the child must not be exposed to tobacco smoke, alcohol and drugs;
in the first six months to a year the child should sleep in the same room with their parents, but in her crib. This measure reduces the risk of sudden death by 50%, which is confirmed by repeated studies.
“We know, as parents overwhelmed with concerns about their newborn and want to give them a simple and clear guide on how and where they should put the baby to sleep, says Dr. Rachel moon, lead author of the report. — Parents should never put baby to sleep on the couch, the couch or in an easy chair, whether single or with someone. We know that all of these surfaces represent for the child a danger.”
The explanation of why the child is at least six months after birth, and preferably before year should sleep in a separate bed, a whole Chapter is devoted to the new recommendations.
“There’s evidence that sleep in the same room, but separately from parents reduces the risk of sudden death by 50%”, — stated in the document with links to statistical data.
This fact must be decisive in the choice of parents where to put the baby, as if neither wanted to stay with him and feed the night feeding.
Statistics inexorable: the most frequent cases of unintentional suffocation when a child accidentally cover with your hand or a blanket, have for the first six months of life, when the baby still can’t remove obstructing items.
Despite this, the majority of Russian sites dedicated to motherhood, insist on the use of baby sleep with mother (although usually with her still asleep and dad), the arguments are almost never used in scientific or at least pseudo-scientific data. “In that case, if mom and baby are sleeping together, the baby may receive a long deep sleep. Sometimes month-old baby starts to sleep from nine at night until nine in the morning, “like a log”. In this situation, the long deep sleep of a child is a protective response to stress. Stress for the newborn is sleeping separately from the mother, — writes one of the most popular sites for moms. — Co-sleeping mother of a child is vital for the formation of a balanced psyche, to build confidence in the outside world and, above all, his own mother, for a stable sense of security.”
The authors of the report suggest to offer the child a pacifier before going to sleep, just do all vaccinations, breastfeeding and looking after him when he lies on his tummy.
The Academy recommends that physicians talk openly with parents about how those customary to put the child to sleep. Booklets and advertising can also play an important role in providing parents information.
“We want to share this information with parents so as not to scare them, but to explain the real risks posed by an insecure place to sleep, explains Dr. moon. — We know that we can significantly protect the child and without spending money on a special device for monitoring, but with the help of compliance with simple safety”.
A guide to reducing the risk of SIDS is not the only, released AAS. So, for example, was recently updated recommendations regarding the time spent by children and teenagers in front of TV, monitor, or other device.
To 18 months, experts advise generally avoiding contact with digital devices. With 18 months to two years — let’s say-view channels in the presence of parents, who should help the child understand what is happening on the screen. To five years the time spent in front of the screen should not exceed one hour. To leave at this time, the child still should not be, he still need parental assistance in understanding what is happening and how it relates to real life. After six years, parents should set time limits for device usage. In addition, children should not use them to the detriment of healthy activities such as sleep and exercise.
Also, parents are advised to allocate technology-free time for family communication.
