sleeping on tummy overnight

well my DD2 is a tummy sleeper. during the day i dont mind cause i go and check on her frequently and when she was little she used have her main bed time sleep around midnight so i would just put her into bed with us from the beginning. however, now she is going down around 9 for an hour or so (well most times) and sometimes i would just like to go to bed myself and leave her in her cot. i am a bit nervous though cause of her being on her tummy and i wont be able to check on her while i am asleep. so i usually just go and pick her up out of her cot and bring her in with me wheni go to bed. when we are in bed together she alternates between tummy sleeping and side sleeping and very rarely on her back.

do you think that it is safe to leave her unsupervised on her tummy? she is very strong and can roll from front to back and back to front. she pushes right up on her arms so they are fully extended. she moves about the cot and floor by pushing and pulling her self.

they say that its ok when find their own sleeping position, however my DD2 wont fall asleep by herself so its not like i put her down awake and she rolls over and falls asleep by herself. its more she falls asleep on me and i put her on her tummy. but she is really good at rolling over.

is there an age where tummy sleeping is considered a bit more safe? or is it a no go all the time.

wow, that is a bit long.. thanks for reading LOL

if your concerned, which i would be too. Invest in a breathing moniter. They are designed that when your babys breathing per minute slows, an alarm will sound, which u keep in your room. The moniter is placed under the babys mattress.

Or get a moniter with a screen, so u can see her in her room while she sleeps.

Our kids are belly sleepers and we have a breathing monitor. I doubt that I would be as relaxed about them sleeping on their belly's without one ;)

You are usually pretty safe(ish) when bubs can turn their head from side to side and have good neck control - but I'd rather play it safe :D

Heck, I still check aricyn's breathing and he's 2.5 years.. LOL

hmmm.. more money i have to spend! these kids are money eating machines!! LOL but yeah better safe than sorry.

so what are some good brands and do you just get em from normal baby stores? are they good? i have heard that they can be a bit touchy so if bub rolls over or moves off the spot they can send the alarm off.

Hi Hollo,

We have an Angelcare one. It's one of the more expensive ones but I've used it for both girls. I haven't had any trouble with it going off when they roll off the pad. Totally worth it for peace of mind.
:-)

We have a babysense one.

just did a quick search on the angelcare one and it says will alarm after 20secs of no breathing... isnt that a long time to not be breathing for?

and how does the pad which goes underneath the matress sense their breathing? thats pretty cool.

hi hollo
My DS slept on his tummy from birth.
We had the mat in there until he was about 5 months and rolling.

It is so sensitive even under a mattress. Even the fan can be sensed as a breath (you can adjust it though). So you need to be aware of this when it is summer.

But i wasnt concerned as DS had a very strong neck and would turn his head from side to side from 2 weeks old.

:)

I'm hesitant to say "Don't worry" but I know the risk of SIDS etc is very real. But I thought I would just share my story. Essentially none of my children would sleep on their backs when they were babies. With my first two i felt guilty but if I am honest I didn't worry too much as I knew that there were no other risks: their mattresses were new and firm, there were no cot bumpers or toys in with them when they slept, DH and I didn't smoke etc. Also my children were very healthy and strong from birth. They could all hold their heads steady within days of being born and could also lift them off the cot within a very brief time frame of being born.

With my first child I was discharged the day after I gave birth so the nurses/doctors didn't get a chance to pull me up on the fact that my DD was exclusively tummy sleeping. With my second child I was in a private hospital for a week and they did kind of mention it... but agreed that my DS was very strong and after checking that i knew about all the other risks I think they seemed ok about giving me a blind eye.

With my 3rd child I fessed up straight away. I told the paed that did my discharge examination that my previous 2 children both tummy slept and that this child too was showing strong signs of resisting being put on his back. Well she lowered her voice and said "From my experience about 1 in 10 babies refuse to sleep on their backs. They are almost always very strong babies and I have noticed a tendency for this to run in families". She went on to say that I had to very seriously remember all the other guidelines about safe sleeping. Also if there was any sign of a respiratory infection to explore side sleeping as SIDS babies often have a history of chest infections. But to me it finally sounded like i had an endorsement to allow my baby to tummy sleep. BUT it was given after a personal consultation. I would be very hesitant to say that any child who fits the profile of my children be freely allowed to tummy sleep. ETA: we never used a monitor, our babies either co-slept or slept in a bassinet beside my side of the bed.

I think I have heard that once they have the ability to roll over in the night that it's not as important to place them down on their backs... but I could be wrong.