Having a baby Old Style???

Tondella

Hi all
Some good tips which, although not directly related to my short term ambitions, I will be passing onto a close friend who is embarking on parenthood.

I just wanted to add a slight caution, from a health perspective (my background), when recommending buying second-hand items for new babies. An increased risk of sudden infant death (or cot death, as it is sometimes called) has been shown for babies who sleep on second hand mattresses from babies outside the family. ie not when reusing baby's big brother's or sister's cot but when it's been bought from a stranger. There is also some evidence to show risk of sudden infant death for babies that sleep with your parents. I don't want to scaremonger, and I know that lots of healthy babies slept with their parents, but there is evidence to suggest it adds an extra risk. For second hand cots the risk is thought to be associated with the mattress, not the actual frame of the cot, and so a compromise might be to buy a second hand cot and replace the mattress.

I hope that this message is helpful, rather than threatening, it was certainly only meant as such.

Tondella

squeaky

Hiya

Do you know of any websites where we could read up on these things please?

jellyhead

i was reading something similar in a magazine recently but can't remember where sorry. they do say not to buy a mattress 2nd hand, or a car seat. the sleeping together thing is an iffy one though. baby should sleep in your room until 6 months prefereably, as for sleeping in your bed that depends on a number of factors - if you're a smoker, if you have been drinking or taking drugs, or are ill/tired. i don't wish to start a debate about breast or bottle but research also shows that mums who breastfeed automatically sleep in a certain position in relation to their baby, and that's safest. i couldn't say, i've never breastfed.

financial_filly

I noticed this baby in bed debate was also on ITV's Baby House last week (:o i only watched a bit!) and they couldnt agree on what was right or wrong..one midwife said not to some "expert" said it was ok as long as not a user of drugs,smoking,alcohol etc. so in the end they decided to go with the world health organisations view which is its best not to have them in bed except when feeding then put them back in cot/moses basket.

Having breastfed for a short while i dont remember sleep :rotfl: . I found it so much easier just to feed then put baby back in moses basket and just crash out.

On the subject of second hand car seats/mattresses i do agree this is one area which money saving shouldnt be made really. Now i know it may seem like a bit of an expense but even though our car seat has never been in an accident it took a hell of a lot of wera and tear and we will be buying a new one. I know i just would feel safer/happier if i bought a new one.

Spendless

When I had son in 2000 some advice that came out for 1st time then (from FSID) was to not fall asleep with baby on sofa. Bed advice was not if overly tired or been taking drugs/alcohol. I think this was the same in 2003 when I had youngest.

Is anyone able to give current advice from FSID for any of our members who may find it helpful.

Back on to moneysaving and tax credits -you can have a high income and still qualify for tax credits though it might be that you just receive the family element of £545p.a. For the 1st year of babys life you also get an extra £545p.a (called the baby element). Roughly tax credits start to tail off when you have a joint income of around £50,000 but is higher for someone with a newborn roughly £60,000.

For anyone who has any benefits in kind eg company car/fuel/BUPA you have to add on the value of these benefits to your income for the benefit of tax credit purposes (you take the amount off your P11D).

Tondella

squeaky wrote:

Hiya

Do you know of any websites where we could read up on these things please?

Hi

Unfortunately cos I'm "in the biz" I got the information from long-winded papers published in the Lancet and BMJ. If you fancy a headspin you can find them here

http://www.pubmedcentral.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=12411359

for the mattresses and here:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T1B-4BYNSV4-1B&_coverDate=03%2F20%2F2004&_alid=297263253&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_qd=1&_cdi=4886&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=aea6d333f54765d582604eaaa3a599a3

for the shared sleeping.

Not being a mum or mum-to-be I wouldn't want to recommend any maternal advice websites but plenty of other posters may????

Hope it helps!

Tondella

Hi Guys

I've just briefly reread the papers at the links I provided above and the sleeping together study recommends that mums and dads do not sleep with their babies when under 11 weeks old, even if non-smokers.

ancasta_2

im so proud this post has got me a vote in the top thread thingummy :j

SomersetPrincess

You deserve it Ancasta - this has bene such a useful thread!!!

ancasta_2

its got like 9,200 views! OMG!