What pediatricians for the protection of infants advocate | EUROtoday

On May 10, 2025

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PTo have her two kids, Laurence, a viticulturalist within the Ardèche, practiced the co-dodo. “I had installed a pretty half-open wooden bed, which clung to my box spring, to have the baby very close to me for nap or at night,” she remembers, expressing the necessity to really feel all of it towards her, to listen to her breathe and be capable to breastfeed her on demand, with out having to rise up each two hours.

She concedes having generally fallen asleep with the kid in her arms or towards her. “All mothers, breastfeeding or giving the bottle, are very tired after childbirth and in the first months. So we recommend that you never sleep with your baby, ”asserts the D^R Romain Basmaci.

The pediatrician, head of service on the Louis-Mourier hospital (Colombes, AP-HP), remembers that this observe of bed-sharing (Bed sharing) represents “a real risk of suffocation or crushing, causing a sudden death of the infant, and which still arrives too frequently”.

In forty-five years of profession, the D^R Arnault Pfersdorff has skilled two instances and “it is the most terrible thing that can happen,” he mentioned, nonetheless marked by previous dramas. Such a tragedy occurred on April 29 in Nanterre. A mom discovered her sixteen -day toddler who died by his facet when she wakes up. With her confession, she fell asleep by giving her the breast in mattress.

Never within the mother and father’ mattress, even for 2 minutes

“This is the first thing we remind young parents in maternity,” explains the pediatrician, creator of Baby, first person handbook* : Never make your child sleep within the mother and father’ mattress, even for 2 minutes within the nap. A precaution all of the extra necessary if one is below the affect of sleeping capsules or alcohol.

“As soon as you feel sleep arriving, you get up and lay it in your bed, respecting all precautions. “Arnault Pfersdorff specifies:” If you even get up for a few moments to go to the toilet, never leave your baby alone in your bed. Put it back in its basket or in your bed, safe. “Depending on the breastfeeding position, or to give the bottle, it is better to a dedicated chair. “Do not hesitate to ask his spouse, friend or family member to sleep the baby correctly when the other parent falls asleep. »»

The baby should not risk falling, and nothing should clog his respiratory tract. No cushion, headband, bumper, blanket or stuffed animals in bed, which is chosen at bars to European standards: a height of the bars greater than 60 cm as long as the child has not yet learned to move, and a spacing between 4.5 and 6.5 cm. The mattress must also be adapted to the size of the bed.

Suffocation because of the bars of the bed

These standards are not to be taken lightly, especially with the return of vintage fashion. “Mortal suffocation still arrive because of the bars,” said the D^R Basmaci. The baby must therefore be well lying on the back-neither on the side nor on the belly-and dressed in a turbule, in a room at 19-20 degrees to avoid hyperthermia. “The first four months of the baby are very at risk,” recalls the D^R Basmaci, because he does not know how to breathe through the mouth, and does not have the reflexes necessary to struggle or turn around. Also pay attention to the pet that can jump on the bed and risk stifling the child.

Work carried out in the United States shows that out of 8,207 infants, co-seeping (or shared sleeping) is linked to the deaths of approximately 75 % of infants from 0 to 3 months and around 59 % of infants from 4 to 12 months. In France, sudden death still affects 250 to 350 babies from birth to the age of 6 months, and particularly in their first 3 months of life.

“It is currently estimated that in the age of 50 % of unexpected cases of infants would be avoidable. [Et ce]by respecting the recommended prevention measures, particularly in terms of environment and sleeping, ”it’s also capable of learn on the France Public Health Site.

Other components are clearly concerned, equivalent to respiratory infections (bronchiolitis and darling), towards which the mother’s vaccine is really helpful throughout being pregnant as a result of the child can’t be vaccinated earlier than his 2 years. If the respiratory tract could be very crowded, we take the kid within the arms and we wash his nostril effectively. “The premature baby is also particularly affected by sleep apnea,” explains the D^R Basmaci. Hence elevated vigilance on his respiratory.

The co-dodo, in the identical room, lowered the instances of sudden deaths

Sleeping the toddler in the identical room as her mother and father is a really helpful observe for the reason that Nineteen Nineties. “She has greatly lowered the number of sudden deaths,” remembers the pediatrician of the AP-HP. The co-dodo has many benefits: ease of surveillance, listening, “and close contact with his child who is priceless”, in response to the D^R Pfersdorff. “It is handy for the rise of milk, when it was not fully achieved after childbirth. »»

The pediatricians advise towards the co-dodo cradle that’s hooked up to the mother and father’ mattress, as a result of a motion of the leg or arms can come to strike the toddler, a quilt may come to suffocate it. Approaching the cradle or mattress, 50 centimeters or a meter, could be very ample to be as shut as attainable to the child.

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Answer

What is the perfect length of this co-dodo? If it is extremely lengthy in sure cultures, as in Japan the place the entire household sleeps on the identical tatami from beginning to adolescence (with the identical dangers of crushing and suffocation for toddlers), it’s advisable to cease it on the age of three months. This makes it attainable to introduce the bottle in case of breastfeeding, a interval at all times sophisticated for the mom and the child. “Baby’s odor is tremendous developed. In his mom’s room, he feels milk completely, and he wants his dose of endorphin, “explains Arnault Pfersdorff. If the parents take parental leave, you can extend, and make the pleasure of room sharing last.

* Arnault Pfersdorff, Baby, first user manual (Ed. Hachette), 24, 95 €

https://www.lepoint.fr/societe/co-dodo-co-sleeping-ce-que-recommandent-les-pediatres-pour-la-securite-des-bebes-10-05-2025-2589277_23.php