Agreed, though this sounds fishy. I can't imagine how anyone could roll over on to a baby and not wake up.
Owl_Eagle
(If what I just wrote makes you sad or angry,
When they went on the SIDS sleep on the back kick a few years ago, my wife said, "the babies will be startling awake all night!" Now I hear they don't really think it helps all that much in the prevention of SIDS. But think of all those sleep deprived parents who for the last decade had their babies on their backs.
Oh man, this is so horrible... I would sleep next to both of my children when they were infants, quite honestly it is one of my favorite memories. That being said, I don't really think I ever "slept"... My eyes might've been closed but the sleep was by no means anything deep, I'd have woken up at the drop of a feather...
This happens more often than gets reported. It's very sad.
Only modern economic progress in the US has made separate rooms and separate beds a standard. While I certainly grieve for this family, I also view this kind of occurrence the same way I view those incredibly rare malarial deaths in the US, a chilling reminder of how different (and more advanced) we are from the rest of the world. There but for the Grace of God...
DUH.........
If co-sleeping is deemed dangerous, what about putting your baby in a car? I bet far more babies have died in auto accidents or because someone left them in a hot car.
My aunt who is 61 still talks about sleeping with a baby duck when she was five years old and rolling over and killing it. I can't imagine how much worse it is for this man, and it will probably haunt him.
He must be devastated. Prayers on the way.
Wow! There ought to be a law! People should have plenty of laws to advise them on their sleeping arrangements. This is an opportunity for a progressive lawmaker to right one of society's wrongs — actually two wrongs: (1) lack of adequate guidance on family management and (2) insufficient number of laws.
My "candles and sandals" BIL & SIL do this. Their boys seem perfectly fine to me at nearly three and almost one; the older one has a near-genious IQ for his age though he is on the quiet side, and the little one is pretty darn articulate for eleven months; he's ready to walk, no, RUN, already. :)
Their Papa stays home with them and their Mama works. All sharing a bed seems to work for them, though I know (as they've stayed with us) that they do have a barrier-type thing they used when the boys were newborns to prevent a tragedy from happening like this family must now endure.
The sleeping arrangements probably have nothing to do with it, though. What probably makes the difference is that these kids are totally loved and cared for by their own parents (who "spell" one another) and were not institutionalized at birth.
Sad that what used to be a normal, everyday family is now the exception, isn't it?
I, too, will pray for this father. BUT...
What aren't they telling us? Was this father obese? Did he go to bed sober? Was he on medications? Not trying to blame the father, but one senses that we are not being told the whole story. [Why would any FREEPER believe that?]
Our babies usually slept between my wife and me. Although it as been a few years, I distinctly remember times when I would start to roll over towards the baby, and all it took was the slightest touch and I was suddenly wide awake. [Could this be "intelligent design?"]
While others complain that the babies would keep them awake and thus advocate babies sleeping in another room, I feel very strongly that sleeping with parents actually helps infants. Every once in a while I would come out of my normal sound sleep to realize that the baby was troubled. And then a little hand would touch me, and there followed an enormous sigh. I understood. The baby was having a bad dream or something, and as soon as the baby confirmed that Mom or Dad was there, everything was better.
If the little baby needs to be between parents because it is sick or needs to be watched, I would roll a big towel or small blanket on each side of the child so no adult could roll over on the kid. Could have been prevented that easily. Should not have been an issue.