# Co-sleeping when Mom has sleep apnea



## 7swans (Nov 5, 2009)

Hello all,

I'm relatively new to MDC, but I have done my research and can't seem to find much info on this topic. I'm currently pregnant with my first and have my heart set on co-sleeping. My in-laws got us the Arm's Reach sleigh bed (which I am SO excited about), so we are planning on using that. I have mild sleep apnea and sometimes use a CPAP machine. It is very quiet and the hose is pulled back behind my head (nowhere near baby's bed). I use it only occasionally because it's very hard for me to sleep while wearing it.

My concern is that I've been reading about how co-sleeping babies regulate their breathing by listening to mom's breathing. I don't stop breathing for very long periods of time, but it does happen a few times an hour on some nights. I am really worried that this would affect baby's breathing pattern.

The only info I could find was that people with sleep apnea are sometimes more difficult to rouse, but I am a pretty light sleeper. The other concern that was mentioned was babies being suffocated by the fat rolls or breasts of severely obese parents. I'm overweight, but not severely obese. I don't really have any extraneous rolls and I'm only a small C cup so my boobs are probably not going to cause an issue. Either way, I would be using the co-sleeper so I don't think that's an issue. It's really the breathing that worries me. What do you guys think?


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## Straggletag (Dec 4, 2009)

Sleep apnea is the one circumstance where I would personally recommend against co-sleeping. I've known many people with the condition, at varying levels of severity, all slept too soundly to wake if a small baby began struggling (heck, I have no apnea, and lately I've started sleeping through the milder fussing). Many of the friends and family I've known with sleep apnea also had a tendency to roll out of bed, which is my personal red flag. If your in-built "edge detector" isn't working in your sleep, than chances are that the part of us that keeps us from rolling over other people in the same bed with us isn't either. For this reason, the 3yo has at least one adult between her and her little sister every night.

I honestly don't know how your breathing disruption would affect your child's breathing, but I believe the mechanism behind mom's breath regulating the baby's is that our exhaled puff of co2 raises the co2 level in the baby's blood just over the threshold that triggers an inhalation reflex. In other words, so long as there are no long interruptions, I wouldn't worry about "teaching" the baby to have sleep apnea herself. The equipment you sometimes need is a whole other can of worms.

I'm sure that there's a compromise solution. I'd assume that a co-sleeper would prevent you from rolling over onto the babe, so long as they stayed in side the remaining three walls and off your mattress.


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## 7swans (Nov 5, 2009)

We definitely won't be bedsharing in the traditional sense. I only plan on bring the little one over to our mattress to nurse, then we will put her back into the cosleeper. I have never rolled out of bed and I wake up as soon as my SO moves into my personal space (much to my annoyance), but I really don't want to risk having the baby sleep in our bed. Not to mention that our bed feels small enough right now!

As for the CPAP machine, I sometimes go several months without using it, and I have no problem putting it aside when the baby is born. It gives me a little more energy on the nights where I actually manage to keep it on for more than an hour or two, but my doctor doesn't believe I'm at risk of having complications from not using it. I'm thinking that I could perhaps use it once a month or so by sleeping on Dad's side of the bed. I know that Dads aren't usually supposed to sleep on the baby's side, but if she is in her co-sleeper I imagine it would be fine?

Thank you for the info on breath regulation! That makes me feel quite a bit better about sleeping near her.


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## JudiAU (Jun 29, 2008)

If you know that bedsharing might not be safe, then make sure to buy a good insert for the co-sleeper. The Arm's Reach has a mattress only a grinch would love. There are various latex/wool options out there. Very helpful in making the co-sleeper work. Also, their sheets are pretty scratchy so we use a small, short velour pile binky type blanket that is cut the exact same size as the co-sleeper. It is backed with cotton fabric and never any risk of movement/suffocation etc. Seems to make a big difference in her willingness to sleep there.

I, personally, wouldn't worry about the breath regulation issue. And a lot of dads sleep next to their babes just fine, it really depends on the personality of the the father/sleep.


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