Many parents co-sleep with their children for years of their lives. Children have a habit of sneaking out of their rooms and into their parents’ beds for added comfort and connection in the night.
But two Australian parents experienced a tragic and near-death incident that caused them to stop the practice altogether. Now, they are using their story to warn other parents of the potential dangers of sharing a bed with young children.
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Madi and Dylan noticed their son had stopped breathing in the night.
Madi Jones and Dylan Smith, both 23, were terrified when they woke to discover their 21-month-old toddler, Isaac Smith, had stopped breathing in the middle of the night, reported the Mirror. They realized that Isaac had rolled over in his sleep and his mother’s hair was wrapped around his neck. Not only was her hair around his neck, Isaac was struggling to breathe. For one moment, the two believed the toddler had died. Thankfully, even in their panicked state, they managed to free his neck in time.
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Madi said she was frozen with fear.
In order to get Isaac breathing properly again, Dylan ripped the hair from Maddie’s head. “My heart literally felt like it fell out of my body, my mind was racing I was in so much panic and shock and was frozen with fear,” Maddie said.
“If I moved it would pull the hair tighter and put Isaac at more risk or I could try to assist Dylan and try to get him free. I honestly couldn't keep up with my own thoughts."
Dylan had to rip hair from Madi's head to free Isaac.
Dylan, who works as a heavy machinery operator, described what happened that evening. “Isaac has co-slept with us since he was about 6 months old. He was in his own room and came into our room at around 11 p.m., which happens most nights,” Dylan told the Mirror. “About 4 a.m. I woke up to him crying and didn't think much of it and I looked at him and saw Madi's hair wrapped around his neck. He always sleeps as close as he can get to his mum as possible. He must've kept rolling around and rolled the hair around his neck,” Dylan explained.
“I started panicking and Madi woke up. I was trying to pull her hair out and he was crying. Madi said get the scissions then when I was getting up he stopped crying and stopped breathing.”
The next morning, the couple saw the extent of the injuries.
That’s when Dylan “yanked the hair off.” As soon as it was off his neck, Isaac started crying again. “When I made that last rip of Madi's hair and heard him cry, it was just a big sigh of relief. After that he cried for about five minutes and there were no marks around his neck. Then the next morning, Madi called me bawling her eyes out and showed me his face. There were marks on his neck and broken blood vessels on his face and neck," he explained.
Thankfully, Isaac made a full recovery.
Isaac’s injuries required a two-day hospital stay. Thankfully, he made a full recovery. Now, the couple are using their near-tragedy to warn other parents. “We don't co-sleep anymore,” Dylan shared. “We just get him to sleep in his own room. We'd say to other parents push through the hard stage and don't co-sleep, you might not be as lucky as us. You might not wake up and hear them crying like we did. Anything can happen so quickly. We feel very lucky."
Madi echoed the sentiment. "I count my lucky stars every day since that night. Someone was really looking down on us that night," she said.
