Poppy Jones and Luke Gower were so excited to bring home their baby boy Vincent two days after he was born in November last year. He was the apple of both their eyes, and a delight to their families.
Luke offered to settle Vincent while an exhausted Poppy could get some much-needed shut-eye.
Little did Poppy know that it was the last time she would see her precious baby boy alive.
“I gave him one feed when Poppy went to bed and then I was walking around with him patting his back,” a devastated Luke explained at the coronial inquest into their son’s death in Kent, England.
“I was sitting with him trying to get him to go to sleep. I sat in bed with him.”
After pacing around the house to get Vincent off to sleep, Luke got into bed and held his son on his chest sometime between 10pm and 11pm.
When Luke woke at about 7am the next day their darling Vincent was lying lifeless on his stomach next to him on the mattress.
Darling Vincent died in his parents’ bed when he was just two days old.
“Co-sleeping is a dangerous situation”
Post-mortem results showed no physical abnormalities with the little boy, KentOnline reported.
Pathologist Kio Palm said Vincent had suffered “a sudden unexpected death in infancy in an unsafe sleeping environment”.
“Co-sleeping is a dangerous situation for a baby who is sleeping,” she added.
Luke offered to settle Vincent while Poppy got some much-needed sleep.
Baby Everett
Unfortunately, this is not the first time that newborns have passed away through tragic co-sleeping accidents.
Michigan mother, Angela spoke out about losing her baby boy Everett James in June last year to warn parents everywhere about the dangers of co-sleeping, in the hope that she can prevent further tragedies from occurring.
Little Everett was just five months old when he died, curled up in bed with his sleeping mother, Angela. The pair was discovered by Everett’s father, who immediately called for an ambulance and began CPR - but it was too late.
Tragedy of a nine week old girl
In another tragic case, a New Zealand woman walked free from court in November 2013 after admitting to suffocating her nine-week-old baby girl when she fell asleep while breastfeeding her on the couch. Ngapoura Jannessa Tuheke, 28, been drinking with friends, and had also smoked during her pregnancy, another risk factor for sudden infant death.
The judge was unable to convene a jury to hear the case and found that it was not in the interest of the court to pursue a prosecution. The heartbroken woman sobbed as she faced the court and was released without conviction.
Alesha’s cause of death will never be known
In a well-known case back in September 2014, it was never determined whether two week old Alesha Roberts died from accidentally being suffocating while she slept or from SIDS.
The tiny baby, who was born prematurely at 36 weeks, was crammed into a single bed with both of her parents in Blackpool in the UK. Her parents had been drinking vodka and smoking cannabis earlier in the evening.
Alesha’s mother Letisha, 22, had been taught about ‘safe’ co-sleeping yet allowed 16-day-old Alesha to lie between herself and the baby’s father Ahmed for a cuddle. At about 4am Letisha woke to find her baby girl lifeless. Little Alesha died later in hospital.
The young mum was charged with ‘overlaying’ – accidentally suffocating the child while she slept – however a separate doctor’s report suggested the baby may have in fact died from SIDS due to the temperature of the hot room or the parent’s drug and alcohol consumption.
The assistant coroner in the case concluded that the exact cause of Alesha’s death may never be known.
Co sleeping with your baby
Eighty per cent of Australian babies share the bed with a parent at some time during their first six months of life - and most of these babies sleep for at least 2 hours out of every 24 in bed with a parent. Sharing the bed is more common in the first 12 weeks of life than at any other time.
Why should I share my bed?
Some parents enjoy sharing the bed with their baby because they believe that it helps to build a strong bond between them and that their baby will sleep better in a safe and secure environment.
Others do it for more practical reasons: with their baby in bed with them, they can quickly respond to their waking child and easily breastfeed during the night. With baby in bed with them, they also believe that settling is quicker and easier too.
Safely sharing the bed
Despite popular belief, there is no evidence that bed-sharing can reduce the risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), in fact it has been connected with SIDS and other fatal sleep accidents when:
You or your partner smokes;
You or your partner drinks alcohol, or takes drugs - including sedatives.
How to co-sleep as safely as possible
Kidspot previously reported:
- Do not drink alcohol or take drugs of any description, particularly if you’re also breastfeeding
- No smoking anywhere near the baby, ever
- Never leave your baby face-down on the bed
- Do not co-sleep in a water bed
- Do not use quilts or heavy blankets
- Tuck the sheets in low, so they cannot cover the baby’s face
- Keep all pillows off the bed when your baby is in bed alone
- In autumn and winter, turn the heating up
- Do not co-sleep if you are obese, as obesity reduces physical sensitivity
- Never put your baby between you both, because your partner is not hormonally primed to respond to her during sleep
- It has been recommended that formula-fed babies room-share rather than co-sleep, as bottle-feeding mothers are less responsive in their sleep
- Never leave an older baby alone on the bed without bed rails, as she can roll off
- Ensure that you are never exhausted beyond vigilance. Take care of yourself always.
For more information on SIDS and safe sleep articles click here
