Sleeping on his tummy?

[flavorfull1]

So, day before yesterday I had my breast biopsy. Things went pretty well and while I am sore, I am not in as much pain as I thought I would be. I was able to nurse on the biopsied side at 8 hours and pumped 4 hours post biopsy. Anyway, I really wanted to try to get a little more healing in and rest so that night I put Malachi to sleep on his tummy. We cosleep so he was right beside me. He slept from 12:30am-5:45am. It was a huge help in recovery, the previous week he had been getting up to eat every 2 hours! So, here is my question , anyone else put their babes to sleep on their tummy? I did it last night too, not so long of a stretch of sleep (which I am glad) but he did seem to get a lot of gas out so that he slept better. I get scared by all of the back to sleep/SIDS things even though our sleeping arrangement/bedding is low risk. Just curious.

[SunRise]

My Lucy sleeps on her side beside me in bed for long stretches. But I often wake up and check her face to make sure its cleared of any obstacles like my armpit, rib cage.... but those long stretches of sleep are really helpful.

When she sleeps on her tummy, it s on my tummy and when I am awake but resting.

[NicoleS]

I will for naps, and often to get him to go to sleep at night we allow him to sleep on his tummy on top of one of us. I'm too nervous to let him do it at night in the bassinet.

[aramat]

If Juju slept best on her tummy, I'd probably let her; she has very good head control now (~7 wks adj. age), and we sleep face-to-face in bed when she's not nursing. She preferred tummy for a little while, but it was when she was smaller, so she was usually on my chest--in the Moby or with a blanket tucked around us.

Ju also slept on her tummy in the NICU at birth, but she was hooked up to the monitors, so I was able to watch her O2 saturation levels--how they lowered when anything was near her nose and how they rose again when it was moved. Gave me confidence that I could replicate a safe sleeping situation at home.

Ju is also my third kid, though, and by now I'll just do whatever it takes to get my sleep! I think everyone has to really evaluate their situations independently, though, and be smart and careful about it. I am nervous about chemicals in bedding materials so have our mattresses covered and new bedding washed before use. I'm also careful not to let her get too hot while sleeping.

Right now she sleeps on her back or side next to me, but I'm still nervous about 'squishing' her in my sleep -- I think it's a healthy worry, though; good to be aware, whether it's back, side, or tummy.

[Ficus]

So glad you all just posted here! I haven't been back to this group in full force in some time (hubby is recovering well from cancer surgery!), but thought I would poke around.

I JUST had this conversation with my mother. Felix, like his brother, is a much better sleeper on his tummy. I think it is a digestive issues, too. We did the side for quite some time in our bed or co-sleeper. But yesterday he took a 2 hour nap on his belly...and I put him on his belly in our bed at night and am tempted to for naps in the co-sleeper.

But he starts childcare next week, and I know there is no go with tummy sleeping...

Part of me feels like a bad mother for doing so given the back to sleep campaign.

[basje]

Yes

She (and I) sleep best when we are breaking both rules about sleeping from the pediatric association. Her face down, tummy to tummy in my bed. And we do it every night. She also sleeps on her side and back throughout the night. Although I don't stick her on her tummy when I am running about the house doing chores, just when I am there with her, reading, resting, sleeping or on the computer.

I think you need to be mindful of putting your baby to sleep on her stomach, and how much head control your child has factors into this. I don't keep extra pillows on her side of the bed, or anything other than a light blanket and sheet. I also am selective about the chemicals that she is exposed to in her sleep. I would suggest that you track down Baby's Bedding: Is It Creating Toxic Nerve Gases? By Joanne B. Quinn, RMA, PhD. Midwifery Today Newsletter. It suggests that SIDS is caused by the chemicals your baby breaths while sleeping, hence, sleeping on your tummy faced pressed up into toxic gasses is more dangerous. Of course take away the toxic bedding and...

[Marylizah]

I have a tummy sleeper too. We started with him in his side-carred crib, then, a couple of weeks ago, he started scootching around and I would wake up to find his head in our bed, near the comforter! So that was the end of the sidecarring. He's now in his crib, which is literally 3 inches away from my side of the bed (I can't walk between our bed and his crib) and he sleeps on his tummy. I do use the AngelCare monitor. It totally sucks as a monitor for sounds, but is great for detecting motion, or the lack thereof. But my older son was also a tummy sleeper, and did just fine, so despite all the intensity of the back-to-sleep campaign I'm less afraid than I would otherwise be.

[Nicole730]

I sometimes put Elsa down on her stomach for naps, especially if she fell asleep on her stomach on me, I feel she naps longer that way - I do check on her bit more often if that's the case, probably because the back to sleep campaign makes me a little paranoid. I don't have her on her stomach if she's in bed with me, because I feel like my body weight might put her head into the bed or something... She's usually on her side snuggled against my side (front to front).

[jul511riv]

all my babies have tummy slept and this one also sleeps w/ a pillow. hes right next to me in bed. anytime his breathing changes im up. weve got a nightlight on all night so i can see him clearly. he has excellent head control. i dont feel bad about going w/ my gut or making decisions based on my individual baby.

[folkgirl]

I feel more comfortable with tummy sleeping once baby is rolling well.

[hapersmion]

I only do it when I'm awake, but I do try to put him on his tummy for naps as much as I can. I was just reading the other day that another risk factor for SIDS is unaccustomed tummy sleeping - meaning that babies who don't usually sleep on their tummies are even more at risk than those who do it regularly. SIDS used to scare me even before I had kids, so I would be too nervous to do it at night or without our motion monitor.

He does sleep on his side a lot, though, even in our bed, but he's so far stayed that way without rolling.

[kittentips]

DS was and still is a tummy sleeper and DD is going the same way.

I started them both off on their back/sides but progressed to tummy when they basically just refused to sleep after the first few weeks.

I'm happy with my decision, both of my babies had good strong head control from birth already and there were other factors I considered too such as which babies are high risk of SIDS (prem, babies of smokers, etc).

It's not a decision I made lightly but it was the right decision for us.

[JustSimplicity]

If you do have a tummy sleeper, what do you check on when you check your babe? Ze has only napped 3 times in his bed, and the last two were on his tummy. I was trying to nap next to him the whole time but I felt like I had to constantly wake up and watch him breathe. Can I just check his face and see that his nose isn't covered? I know I would wake up if he moved.

[Valid28]

I have been putting mine to sleep on his tummy for about a month now. He sleeps better and much longer when he sleeps on his tummy. He is either in the co-sleeper attached to the bed or in the bed with me. He now sleeps for about five hours when on his tummy. Currently he has excellent head control so I don't worry about the back to sleep issue any more.

[busymama77]

Originally Posted by folkgirl

I feel more comfortable with tummy sleeping once baby is rolling well.

Me, too. We lay Will down on his side while he's swaddled and then he'll eventually roll over to his back and stay there all night. We didn't start doing the tummy sleep until our ODS was able to roll over pretty well - probably around 6 months.

[OlyR]

argh - opposite problem - DS is a great sleeper on his back, now that he can roll he will roll to his side or tummy and then get mad and wake up. (he isn't proficient at getting from tummy to back yet)

[aramat]

Originally Posted by OlyR

argh - opposite problem - DS is a great sleeper on his back, now that he can roll he will roll to his side or tummy and then get mad and wake up. (he isn't proficient at getting from tummy to back yet)

Can you get those wedges that keep them from rolling? Or roll-up blankets to tuck-in at his sides?

[OlyR]

oh - is that what those wedges are for? I haven't really examined them at the baby store, but I will have to go check them out.

I did try blankets a couple of nights ago but he squirmed just enough to move them out of the way and then was able to start rolling. I can sometimes wake up when he starts to squirm (since he sleeps next to me) and help him out and he stays asleep so if the wedges did work he would probably not wake up, but I could also probably try to fold the blankets a little better so that they can't move by wedging them between him and the sides of the co-sleeper.

It wouldn't be a huge deal because I want him to learn and move as he wants, but when he rolls while sleeping he wakes up frustrated and scared and it takes quite a while to calm him down and then he almost seems scared of his bed...