Ok, so I know its best for baby to sleep on their back. When my twins were little, they had bad reflux, and as soon as I laid them on their belly they nodded off. For the first night I kept checking on them, and they were fine. They have always been tummy sleepers. Im debating whether or not to try it with this next baby too. DH and I are both tummy sleepers (well I am when I dont have a bump in the way). I was thinking of trying tummy sleeping with bubba during the day so I can keep a close eye on him.
I always put DS on his back, and once he could roll he rolled to his tummy.
But he didnt have reflux, thats a whole new ballgame. My firend paed advised to to sleep her bub on tummy or side for reflux, so maybe if this bub has it as well, your dr will say aomething similar? Id go with their advice whatever it is.
I personally kept DS on his back until he was able to hold his head up..then roll over etc....Now he gets put down on his side and when I check on him he is usually always on his tummy! But I am confident that he is able to move his head and body to the right position.
when they are still unable to hold their heads up or roll over there is an increased chance that they may suffocate or choke on vomit........
After all the research they have done on SIDS I thought it would be sensible to follow their advice!!
BUT this is one of those situations you as a parent have to decide..............whats right for you........................................this is just my opinion!
Ashton was about 4 weeks old when I discovered that he would sleep longer then 40 minutes if he was on his tummy! And that is how he slept until he was about 4 months old when he decided being wrapped was better!
You really have to weigh the decision up when bub is born I think. Bub #1 slept fine, on his back, wrapped, no worries. Bub #2 was a windy baby, woke often on his back, slept through on his belly. So a no-brainer for us.
But there are many ways you can make tummy sleeping safer, and it would depend on the baby. In our case, bub #2 was quite strong, pushing himself up a bit on his arms and rolling at 2 weeks (I think it was the wind that agitated him enough to move about). So I could see that by about 5-6 weeks, when we made the tummy=sleep connection, he seemed strong enough to get himself out of trouble. You shouldn't wrap a baby who tummy sleeps, and the danger with tummy sleeping is overheating, so err on the side of cool, with good ventilation in the room, and always be aware of every other SIDS recommendation. Maybe think about sleeping bub in your room so you can hear the snuffles and monitor bub.
At the end of the day, you just need to weigh up the pros and cons. For us, I thought it was worth the tummy sleeping, because on the little sleep we got when bub slept on his back, I was so tired during the day and not alert, grumpy, clumsy, my milk supply suffered, and bub was tired too.
Each situation is different, and you never know, you might get a bub who only sleeps on his back!
Thanks for all the replies ladies. I remember the first week we had the boys home, Zac was in the lounge on a mattress where we could see him, and he vomited. He was on his back. He choked but luckily we could get him to stop.
What about on his side? I often put DD2 on her side because it helps her sleep better. Tummy worries me with the whole SIDS thing, in the day if you are there watching I wouldn't worry but at night being asleep I would worry.
I put DD on her side but make sure her arm isn't wrapped so she can't just roll over.
If he is on his back put his head sideways so if he does vomit he can't choke on it.
Tummy Sleeping
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks