Infant sleep: how to use it for the first few weeks

Returning from motherhood can be a time of anguish for new parents, especially the sleep stage, which can be a source of concern.

Doctor Arnault Pfersdoff, pediatrician and resuscitator and author of the book

(Hachette Famille), recalls some basics to prevent young parents from panicking, by answering questions from Mélanie Gomez and Jimmy Mohamed, in the program

.

Should we be concerned about the noises babies make when they fall asleep?

First, the pediatrician emphasizes the harmlessness of the noises babies make when they fall asleep.

If they can create anxiety in parents, who may then think that their child is choking, it is on the contrary "wonderful", according to Arnault Pfersdoff who encourages them to take advantage of these rare moments.

>> Find the entire program for more advice for young parents

"We are witnessing this taming of the first days, the first hours too, already in the maternity ward. You have to forget all your stress. You have to observe, listen to your baby. It's so extraordinary. [These noises], you have to record them. because they are going to leave quickly, they are essential, ”he insists.

These breathing noises, the baby makes them because he "was in a liquid medium just before arriving" and it is necessary "that everything is started", continues the pediatrician.

He reminds that the infant adapts, learns, and that he will for example not have the idea to breathe through the mouth if his nose is blocked, hence the importance of properly unblocking his nostrils.

How to fight against sudden infant death syndrome?

A well opened nose is also part of the advice of the doctor to avoid the dreaded syndrome of sudden infant death syndrome, or "the death of an infant occurring suddenly when nothing, in the known history of the infant, could have predicted it. ", according to the definition given by the National Observatory for Unexpected Infant Death (ONMIN).

It is the leading cause of infant mortality in France, and still concerns 400 to 500 infants each year in France.

According to Arnault Pfersdoff, this cause of death has decreased in France, in particular thanks to basic "good practices" which have made it possible to limit the risks.

Thus, it is strongly recommended by the pediatrician, in addition to clearing his nose, "not to heat a room too much".

It is also recommended to "make the baby sleep on the back and no longer on the stomach".

"No passive smoking and do not put anything in your bed: no blanket, no bumper", suggests the doctor.

"I've said it before, don't cover it up too much," he insists.

"All these elements have meant that today, we have reduced by more than half, I think it is 70%, the cases of sudden death in our country and that's good," he says. .

The importance of choosing a child's bed

Some parents, to be reassured, will invest in objects that allow them to better monitor their child, such as respiratory monitoring monitors that are placed under the mattress, to support the good old baby monitor.

But for Arnault Pfersdoff, "the principle is to put the fewest connected devices in a baby's room".

As for surveillance monitors, if he is not against, he specifies that it is a device "on prescription", in the case where we "are dealing with a former premature or former very premature under treatment".

Otherwise, "it is not essential".

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In addition, even if the parents had time to buy lots of toys and soft toys for their baby, "the greatest attention must be paid to the bed", insists the doctor, in particular to ensure a compliant mattress. .

And above all, "beware of parents who take beds transmitted by grandparents", warns Arnault Pfersdoff, because "there may be peeling paint, which is no longer up to standard, endocrine disruptors. J 'draws a lot of parents' attention to it. "

Co-sleeping yes, but not in the parents' bed

Finally, one of the practices to be absolutely avoided is to make the baby sleep in the parents' bed. "The co-sleeping is very good, but the co-sleeping in a bed specific to the child", nuance Arnault Pfersdoff. While it may be more reassuring for parents to have the child close to them, to hear it breathing, and to be able to breastfeed more easily for the mother, it is essential to avoid being in the same bed as the child. baby, at the risk of suffocating him. "Me, I had two children who died of suffocation by one of the two parents who fell asleep on him," recalls the pediatrician. "We have to be careful," he insists, stressing that there are today cots for babies that attach to the parents' bed, which offers a possible and safe alternative.