Medical Doctor, Olufunmilayo, Counsels New Parents On What Is Considered A Common Practise In Nigeria
A Nigerian medical doctor and social media influencer, Dr. Olufunmilayo has taken to twitter to counsel new parents and guardians on the common practise of sharing same bed with their newborns.
According to the doctor, new moms and dads should stop sleeping in same bed as their baby as it can cause sudden infant death, head injuries and falls among other things.
Below is his twitter thread:
”As a new mom/dad:
NEVER sleep in same bed as baby.
NEVER lie the baby on its chest.
NEVER smoke around baby.
NEVER over-wrap the baby.
These causes SUDDEN DEATH in babies and children under one year.
Please don’t blame your mother in law. Or village people.
Some people also say that sometimes adults move during sleep leading to the baby being pushed to the floor from bed/sofa and the parent not knowing. The baby could suffer head injuries and die. A baby should sleep face up in its own cot or in a safe Moses basket. That’s it.
Also putting a baby face down could lead to suffocation and difficulty breathing which could easily lead to death- if this position was to be for a long period of time like a whole night of say 10-12 hours. Again, all babies should lie in their own cot, on their back, facing up.
Because sleeping on the chest can cause difficulties with breathing as the nose presses against the bed. Spending a whole night in that position can kill them before morning.
Smoking (or smokes) around a baby is very dangerous. The lungs of a baby are still immature and inhaling secondhand smoke can easily cause suffocation, very serious damage and severe chest infections like pneumonia that can become life threatening and kill the baby.
Over-wrapping a baby is unsafe because once you overwrap a baby too tightly it makes it difficult for the baby to move. Now if the baby is faced down and suffocating already, inability to turn head and move to breathe will ensure the baby’s death.
Wrap a baby. But don’t overdo.
Finally, as a new parent/guardian, Follow all these advice, Take your baby far from smokers or places with smoke, far from people who randomly kiss/lick babies, far from overzealous people who will overwrap them and far from any unsafe practice.”
