OT-belly sleeper

[inloveindisney]

We have been very careful about putting our baby to sleep on her back and have followed all the SIDS safety recommendations, however, this week she learned how to roll from her back to her belly. She now only falls asleep on her belly and one side of her nose is always against the mattress. We roll her over once she gets asleep, but she usually just rolls back over. She is only 3 1/2 months old and I have read that the risk factors for SIDS goes up at this age. I'm nervous about this to the point that I wake up several times at night just to check on her.
Should I be concerned? My mom and the babysitter say she'll move her head if she can't breath, but from what I have read, this may not be true. I don't know what to do.

 

[hoosiergirl7]

Our son did the same thing but I don't remember if he was that young. I tried everything and there wasn't anything I could do about it. I just made sure there was absolutely nothing in the crib - no blankets, no bumpers, no animals. We even tried the sleep positioner to get him to at least sleep on his side instead of his belly and it didn't work. We also made sure we kept him dressed in reasonable sleepers and kept the house cooler than normal. A fair number of cases of SIDS was because the room was too hot and the kids suffocated due to heat.

You also might ask your pediatrician. Unfortunately you can't control it.

 

[DISNEY4XMAS]

NOT TO WORRY, my son was 2 weeks old yes two weeks old (I'm not fibbing) when he rolled over, and started sleeping on his tummy. My DR said that was fine as long as I still put him down on his back. If he rolled over than he knew enough to turn his head.
So sleep tight and don't fret to much!

 

[kacaju]

my kids, 13, 11 and 7 ALL slept on their bellies from the day we brought them home.
My oldest it was still the norm. to put them on their bellies, they were just starting the *side to sleep* back then. I just did the same with the other two.
I have heard that once they can roll over you really can't do anything about it.
It's funny, I see my niece and nephew sleep on their backs and I think they must be so uncomfortable.. to me it looks so strange to see a baby sleep on thier back!

 

[ardig123]

It is also my understanding once a baby can roll over it is okay for them to sleep in their stomachs. To be safe check with your pedi. Also like mentioned above keep everything out of the crib... no blankets and toys and make sure your baby is wearing proper sleepers. I have recently read a lot regarding pacifers helping to protect against SIDS...does your baby sleep with one? Might be something to consider. Here is an intersting article...
http://www.webmd.com/content/article/113/110685.htm

By the way when my DD was an infant she refused to sleep on her back...she literally cried for hours if we layed her on her back...it was horrible and we were to afraid to let her sleep on her stomach due to SIDS...so she pretty much slept on my chest in bed until she was able to roll over on her own and sleep on her stomach. It was a long few months until that happened!!

 

[lgncd]

our 1st ds would only sleep on stomach from day one. I was so nervous. He would sleep on dh chest alot. once we moved him from our room to his own I think I spent the first week sleeping on the floor next to his crib I always tried to get reasurrance from our pedi that it was ok but all he would say is he should really sleep on his back. anyway because of sleeping on stomach he was very quick to lift his head and then I stopped worrying as much. So this post is really no help to you sorry for rambling. Just know how you feel. Just remember dont put anything in the crib.

 

[LadyShea]

You can try one of those sleep positioners, it prevents them rolling over. My son was rolling onto his side at 6 weeks and tummy at about 4 months, and I just stopped worrying about it as I figured he was strong enough to roll back. Just make sure there are not pillows or blankets or stuffed animals in the crib, that the mattress is firm and the sheet tight.

 

[tadamom]

My DD looooved sleeping on her stomach. I had to use the sleep positioner to keep her from it until she learned to roll over. Once she was rolling over, the pediatrician said it was fine.

 

[dydrmr81]

I felt the same way when my son started rolling over and sleeping on his belly. It was nerve-wracking, but there really wasn't anything I could do. I tried a sleep positioner, but would roll over anyway. So, I just let him be, checked on him a lot at first, and eventually all was well I can say that once he was able to sleep on his belly, he slept MUCH better!

 

[Mommy2Abby]

My daughter is also a belly-sleeper. We have tried the sleep positioners, but she just cries until we move her. I was a nervous wreck every time she fell asleep until we bought one of the baby monitors with the motion sensor. You just slide the sensor under the sheet and lay the baby on top of it. It beeps if it doesn't sense any motion for 20 seconds.

That thing has been the single best investment we have made. It works great...at first I was worried that it wouldn't be sensitive enough to pick up her breathing, but it has been very reliable and has allowed me to relax and get some sleep too!

I highly recommend it to give you some peace of mind. It costs about $100 and we got ours at Babies R Us.

Mommy2Abby

 

[lisaj]

My DS now 9 also slept on his tummy, I became obsessive about getting out of bed in the night to roll him back because nothing else worked. Maybe that is why he didn't sleep through the night until he was 4!! LOL

Seriously, eventually I just bought a new baby monitor which allowed you to clearly listen in all the time and every time I woke I listened to him breathing before going back to sleep. I think it is one of the cases where the advice is based on an ideal world not real parenting.

 

[jodifla]

My DS loved to sleep on his stomach from the time we brought him home. We'd let him go to sleep on his stomach, then we'd flip him over.

But he was rolling over himself at about 8 weeks, and we just left him be.

 

[laceemouse]

my kids, 13, 11 and 7 ALL slept on their bellies from the day we brought them home.
My oldest it was still the norm. to put them on their bellies, they were just starting the *side to sleep* back then. I just did the same with the other two.
I have heard that once they can roll over you really can't do anything about it.
It's funny, I see my niece and nephew sleep on their backs and I think they must be so uncomfortable.. to me it looks so strange to see a baby sleep on thier back!

Agree, mine all slept so much better on their tummies, they look so vulnerable on their backs!

Just watch out for other risk factors, like smoking in the house and stuff. I am shocked by how many people I still see smoking around their babies. YUK!

 

[MissyBrenda]

My DD started rolling onto her tummy at 3mo 3wks, and now always sleeps on her tummy. I worry still and she's 6mo old. The pediatrician said as long as she can roll over on her own. I don't think I'm going to stop worrying about her until she's in her toddler bed.

 

[foltzy]

We really had no choice with either of our kids. My dd would not sleep for more than 1 hour at a time on her back. My ds (3 months) will not sleep at all if we put him on his back. I meantioned it to the doctor with my daughter and she said that if she wants on her stomach to sleep put her on her stomach, make sure her face is not pressed into the mattress and from that moment on she sleep peacfully all night long. With DS we make sure of the same things.

 

[inloveindisney]

Well, sounds like she'll be fine. I think I'll still worry though. I guess that's what Mom's are for! My husband bought me a new video monitor ( our old one quit working) and it has eased both of our minds. You can hook this one up to the TV, so every once in a while, we just change the channel and there she is! We watch for her back to rise and lower just to make sure she's breathing and then it's back to our tv show!

 

[bethbuchall]

My DD started rolling onto her tummy at 3mo 3wks, and now always sleeps on her tummy. I worry still and she's 6mo old. The pediatrician said as long as she can roll over on her own. I don't think I'm going to stop worrying about her until she's in her toddler bed.

Actually, you'll never really stop worrying...the worries will just change. It's all part of the mommy package.

 

[pumpkin5156]

You've got lots of good, wise mommies on here. I just wanted to add my story to maybe further ease your mind ( a tinsey, winsey bit ).

My Wes had colic, and would never sleep....ever! A good mom friend of mine said to sleep him on his tummy and he would go to sleep. I thought she was crazy! I didn't do it for two weeks, until finally, I couldn't take the lack of sleep (and neither could Wes).

I had a very firm mattres, tight sheet and nothing else in the crib (he was 6 weeks old). I laid him on his belly, and he turned his head to the side immediately to be able to breathe. I just laid on the floor in his room until he fell asleep, which was only 30 minutes! He's been a great sleeper ever since, and only sleeps on his tummy! I was worried, too, but don't be. It was only like 23 years ago that doctors reccommended every baby sleep on their tummy.

And I agree with PP, that SIDS is more common in smoking homes, too hot a room, too many blankets in bed, and co-sleeping.

*Side note: I am not bashing co-sleeping and I don't want a debate about it. I have lots of friends who do it and it works fine for them. It is just a stated fact. So please, no torches.*

Try not to worry and get yourself some sleep!!

 

[dyna]

To funny 30 yrs ago we was told to put babies to bed on belly so if they spit up they would not choke to death on the spit up.

Gross I know but that was the way it was put to me by my baby dr.

OT Between the time I had baby 1 and 2 a whole 18 months it had been dertermined that 2% milk in babies under the age of 2 it caused kidney problems later in life. So far they are 28 an 30 so far no kidney problems.

 

[TheDizMom]

I intentionally started my DS on his tummy at 3 months. He had such bad gas that I started doing it at nap time because he was so uncomfortable from it he couldn't sleep. When he was on his tummy it must have helped push the gas bubbles up and he slept better . I would check on him every 15 minutes and only do it in the day when I could watch him constantly. The problem was at night the gas would keep him up and he was still not sleeping through the night. One night we decided to put him down on his tummy in our room in his bassinet to see what would happen. We felt like we all slept on our tummies as babies and were still here so why not try it. Well we both woke with a start in the morning , looked at each other and said, " Did you get up with him?" Well neither one of us had and we were like, "He slept through the night! " We did this for several nights and every time he slept through the night. When we talked to the doctor about it she said go ahead if it enabled him to sleep through the night. She felt that the SIDS guidelines were important but that didn't necessarily mean they were set in stone for every baby. We kept up the tummy thing and he slept through the night from then on . My sister did that with 2 of hers too. I know how scary it is, but if you don't put anything in the crib and use blanket sleepers in the winter chances are he'll be fine. If you think about it when ever we sleep on our tummy we have one nostril pressed into a pillow and we can still breath fine with the other one. But I would of course talk to your own doctor and get their input before you do anything else. SIDS is a scary thing and should never be taken lightly, but we also can't control what the baby is doing on it's own when it sleeps. Sometimes those hard and fast rules just don't have to be so hard and fast.