Belly Sleeping

Over the last 6-8 weeks we've noticed our DD has a tendancy to prefer sleeping on her belly. From Week 2 and during the first few weeks at home she was very unsettled at night so I resorted to co-sleeping with her on my belly which she loves and would instantly go to sleep with.

Now DD is almost 10 weeks and she still seems to prefer being on her belly than on her back. She does get bad belly pains which has her in tears for hours but when she is unsettled or not self settling herself in her cot, if we bring her out and put her on her belly on a big thick pillow she'll sleep happily for hours and not wake but in her cot on her side or back she wakes regularly and cries. I've also found on her belly she doesnt want her dummy which is another bonus.

Obviously with all the SIDS talk and constant reminding of how babies must sleep on their back I'm wondering what I should do. DD is asleep now and woke after an hour of me putting her down, I rolled her onto her belly and off to sleep she went almost instantly. I have a monitor in her cot which is going but I'm not sure if i can just start to leave her to sleep on her belly if that is what she wants. She can easily move her face from left to right and holds her head up really well. She has no blankets near her face and has her arms wrapped but near her face so that aren't down and she can push up onto them.

Has anyone had a bubba that just wanted to sleep on their belly as a preference?? A friend of mine has two children and both slept on their side/belly from early on. She just had her 3rd and same thing has happened, bubba doesn't like sleeping on her back. I feel better having the monitor on her (but all it really does is tell you if there IS a problem, doesn't prevent a problem) but at the same time still worry about it but I want her to be comfortable and happy.

Love to hear from people whose babies did the same thing...

Hi Belinda, my little one always prefers to sleep on her belly ;) but I have the angel care movement monitor on her bed for her day sleeps (she co-sleeps at night with us), makes me feel at ease she has it on when she's on her belly. She hates being on her back, funny how they are all different.

Hi Belinda.
Can you get a angel care monitor? They have lots on ebay. My boy is a tummy sleeper but he was 6 months before he started. He sleeps so much better on his tummy.

DS1 was a tummy sleeper from about 4 months of age (once he could roll over on his own. He was very determined to sleep on his back LOL!). DS2 is just over 2 months and prefers to sleep on his side ATM.

As the other ladies have suggested, get the Angelcare monitor for peace of mind but if thats have bubs wants to sleep, then let her IMO. Just be very careful about all other risk factors for SIDS (i.e. firm mattress, no toys etc in cot, sleeping down the end of the cot etc) which from the sounds of it you are already doing.

Both my kids are belly sleepers. We have a breathing monitor, and we follow all the other guidelines too.

Although it doesn't prevent the problem - I'd rather be alarmed than not IYKWIM?

hi there

you are so lucky you worked out the belly thing early on.... it took me until my girl could actually roll onto her belly herself at 4 months to go to sleep... she was THE WORST sleeper and i can't help thinking had i not been so ridiculously scared, i would have tried to sleep her on her belly and maybe could have avoided some seriously difficult months that have taken a long time to get over... (she also would go to sleep instantly on her belly on my chest).

at 4 months when i asked my MCH nurse about her sleeping on her tummy, she said incredulously that you let them sleep however the hec they want to sleep, that the sids guidelines are exactly that, only guidelines... and at the end of the day you have to follow your baby's lead and do whatever works.... i wish someone had of enlightened me on that alot earlier...

i know the sids guidelines are helpful and meant to be in the best interests of the child, but i really think someone needs to demystify the whole tummy sleeping thing.... at the end of the day there is nothing wrong with it, ESPECIALLY in this day and age when you can use a mattress monitor thingimajig...

anyways, i think if your bub sleeps best on her tummy then that is the way she needs to sleep... i wouldn't even bother trying to settle her on her back... if you are concerned just get one of those monitor thingies....

I also have a belly sleeper. I didn't figure that out until DS was around 4 months and rolling over on his own. He had decent head control, so after a few nights of careful monitoring, we just left him.
We have a smoke free home, we follow every other SIDS guideline, except the belly sleeping.
I,myself am more of a tummy and side sleeper, and so is Hubby. I know I would get grumpy if someone kept rolling me over. hehe.

I would say just leave her. She is obviously comfy. Just make sure no blankets can get over her head, and she should be fine.
If you are really nervous, try one of those monitors, but I think having one of those would actually make me more nervous. hehe
Best of luck in the sleep department:)

Both my girls sleep on their tummies as do I. Now both of my DD's boys do the same. The youngest has from nearly the start as it was the only way he settled. As long as their is nothing near her face when she wriggles you need to do what you feel comfortable with. All I know is that when I am comfortable I sleep alot better and I'm sure its the same with babies/children.

Sorry to hijack your thread, but, I have a question regarding this matter as well.
My DS is a back sleeper but we have had a lot of trouble recently with his sleeping (2 hourly waking) after reading the lovely ladies replies here I am thinking maybe I should attempt getting him to sleep on his tummy. At the moment I am trying to get him to sleep without being wrapped so I have him in a gro-bag (sleeping bag), do you think he would be able to sleep on his tummy in a gro-bag??

Haha, I see Rivlas has already posted what I do. :p

Maybe try it for day sleeps Marlene, and see if you can see any potential problems? To be honest, at 5 months, I wouldn't be worried - he should be strong enough to get himself out of any difficulty.

Si, would wake hourly to 2 hourly from a very young age, maybe 3 -4 weeks, when on his back, but would sleep much better, either through or with only one feed when on his tummy. Considering he seemed exceptionally strong (pushing up onto arms at about 2 weeks), by a very early age I was sleeping him on his tummy.

He was a really windy baby too, and I think the tummy sleeping may have helped there with pressure or something...who knows. All I know, is that at 8 weeks he was sleeping through on his tummy, but if I tried him on his back we were right back where we started with an unsettled baby. Was a no-brainer for us (after checking that every other SIDS recommendation was followed).

Like I said for Marlene, try a tummy sleep during the day, and watch what happens - if bub gets into any trouble, can they push themselves out? Is there anything that can tangle on them? Is the mattress nice and firm so there's no face smooshing into the mattress?

Thanks everyone for the replies. I feel alot better about it now. I have the angelcare monitor and have used it from birth. Our hospital actually told us not to get them as they give a false sense of security and people tend to become relaxed even when they go off. Each time it has gone off (3 times now cause DD holds her breathe or the plates weren't in the right position) I've run like mad to her side and given her a good poke to get her moving. I mainly got it for the temperature reading in her room as we have a fireplace but I like having the little bit of reassurance.

DD has slept on her tummy today and happy with it. Tonight she has gone down on her side but before her feed she was on her belly. I'm going to see how she goes but feeling a little more relaxed about it.

We have a smoke free home, no stuffed toys in her cot, firm mattress and fitted sheet. Only thing she does do is sometimes works her arms free of her wrap and pulls the wrap on her head, but I am using muslin wraps now which are very thin so doesn't create too much of a suffication problem. Would have been early on when she was being wrapped in a blanket due to the cold.

Ah, if she's on her tummy, keep her arms out of the wrap - she'll need them for tummy sleeping to push herself out of danger. Just wrap her under her arms. That's what my MCHN told me (off the record, after she made sure I knew the SIDS recommendations, since that's what they have to advise).

My girls have both slept on their tummies from an early age too. Keep doing what you're doing and she'll be fine.

Marlene - he'll be fine on his tummy in his gro-bag. I've used the bags since birth and although they seem to get a bit tangled up at times, I've not had any problems.

We have the same problem, DS sleeps better on his tummy.
He sleeps for around 2 hours (max) on his back, but at 7 weeks, our paed told us to put him on his belly during his daytime naps to help him with his head that was a little mis-shapen. He slept for around 4-5 hours!

I still freak out about putting him on his tummy for the whole night, so when he wakes around 4-5am for a feed, I then put him on his belly.

Nic

I was told by a midwife not to tummy sleep my bub on his tummy before he could roll unless I was watching him. She said the big danger with tummy sleeping is overheating. Apparently they get hotter on their tummy than on their back (so she told me). If they can't roll over to cool down that's when it can be an issue.

I don't know how those monitors work so they could solve this problem.

To reduce the overheating risk I have been careful to not over dress him or put him in too heavy a sleeping bag whilst he's sleeping.

My son has tummy slept during the day for ages but I place him on the floor in our lounge and keep a close eye on him. Now that he can roll easily he's often on his side or on his belly when he wakes up after an overnight sleep in his cot despite me placing him on his back.

Forgot to say that both my DF & I tummy slept as bubs & it didn't seem to harm us.

Chloe has slept a mixture today of on her belly and on her side but with this heat she has been not too happy about the temperature. We both had a nap together this afternoon with her on my tummy so that was nice. She doesn't sleep in a sleeping bag, only bonds suit when it's cold or tonight I have her in a short sleeve/leg jumpsuit with socks and a light muslin wrap and cotton sheet.

I will ensure that her arms are out when she has a belly sleep, so thanks for the tip Nelle.

I had mothers' group today and we were talking about myths and one was about sleeping and I just mentioned that Chloe has been sleeping on her belly and the clinic nurse kinda gave me a frowned look and said "that is not advisable and against SIDS recommendations" and then turned to the class and announced that is is not recommended etc etc. She made me feel really bad for it actually and everyone kinda just looked at me but one mother said that it might be the issue her DS has also and she might try on his tummy.

We had our first accident at home with DD yesterday which really upset me so after the tummy sleeping response I got from the nurse, there was no way in hell I was bringing up our little accident to discuss. I know everyone is going to ask what happened but I'm embarrassed (failure as a mother on my behalf) and feel really bad about it so would rather leave it at that. Chloe is ok and not hurt which is the main thing but I feel guilty that it even happened in the first place.

:hug: Most people have incidents. Riv's fallen off a change table twice in 2 weeks, and off the bed twice in 2 days I remember! I felt a bit rotten about the bed incidents.

i just wanted to say that the accidents will happen, and they keep on coming... and once they are mobile they happen even more, you simply cannot be everywhere at once, and can't protect them from every bump or bruise...

just to make you feel a bit better here are a few of mine....

bashed head when putting in the car seat (a couple of times)
turned a blind eye to her jumping on the bed like a trampoline (she was having so much fun) which resulted in her falling off (not badly)
pulled a full length mirror which wasn't secure on top of herself... TWICE (it didn't break but gave her a fright)
climbed up on a outdoor plastic chair and it fell backwards in the backyard... while i watched and didn't click that it was about to happen...


think i'll nominate myself for mother of the year!!

Don't feel bad about Chloe having accidents. They happen at all stages of their lives, believe me. My 2nd DD would climb anything at any height. After the first few times you stop feeling guilty, pick them up, dust them off, give them a quick once over to make sure they are O.K and wait for the next time. As for the clinic nurse just remember that many feel their way is the only way, also it is just a SIDS recommendation. Its sad that she is not flexible as any mum loves a few words of encouragement especially when its your first. Just remember every child is different, thank goodness, so what works for some mums/children won't work for others.
All the best with your beautiful DD

Scout has slept on his tummy from about a week old. His brothers were tummy sleepers too and seeing as they were such big (over 9lb) strong babies I let them.
In my opinion it was all the books etc that say "baby on his back" when in bed that made me feel bad about it. I knew what worked for my baby, especially no3 as he was reflux and liked the pressure on his tummy.
Do with what works. You know what makes your baby happy and if tummy sleeping it is,so be it.

my little one has just started having little accidents. is pulling herself up so donks head regularly, has fallen out of toddler bed with slight carpet burn on forehead and has jammed finger in shower door. poor monkey. gets over the incidents super fast though.

Thanks for the encouragement about accidents, still doesn't help the guilt feeling though or the scare factor at the time. I'm sure my heart skipped a few beats. In all fairness from everyone sharing, DD rolled off our lounge onto the floor. No head banging but was on the floor all the same. She had been laying on our lounge since birth with no problems. She is now delegated to the floor and our doggie is outside when she is awake to avoid any tongue baths (the lounge previously avoided this). Today I noticed her while she was on the floor she is alot more "wriggly" so I'd say she wriggled so much that she rolled herself off. I'm sure there will be more bumps along the way but doesn't make the feeling any better especially when I should have known better than to leave her without watching her.

As for sleeping, she has been having a mixture of belly and side sleeping. She has been quite unsettled today but DH has a nasty flu and sore throat and I'm thinking that DD might have gotten it back as she had a cold a few weeks ago. She is snotty again and can hear she has mucus. I also have a sore throat again which sucks.

Thanks again everyone for your comments..

i have a tummy sleeper , as a newborn had terriable wind . and now 10 months on still wont have it anyother way .