4 months and belly sleeping

[bbinm]

My 4 month old rolls over to her belly everytime I put her down to sleep - she does it in her sleep or to settle herself into sleep. I gently roll her back over, then she rolls back again (or wakes up and babbles!) I'm concerned about SIDS, of course..... what would you do?

[ErinYay]

Personally, I'd let her be, but I feel fairly strongly that back-to-sleep is overhyped- there's a great (long) thread in Night-time Parenting where a lot of people weigh in on SIDS and back-to-sleep.

[andlee]

My LO prefers to sleep on his stomach, something that I'm afraid to admit in a lot of places : / I let him do it. Otherwise he wakes up every 20 minutes grasping at air to hang onto and it breaks my heart. I waited for him to be able to lift his head off the mattress (shamu style).

I tend to believe that the mind frame of being able to avoid SIDS/something terrible happening if one follows a specific instruction set to be a bit of wishful thinking, though.

[CrunchyChristianMama]

My DD slept on her stomach from her first week of life. She slept much better and peacefully whereas she would always startle herself when laying on her back. If she's comfy on her tummy, I would let her be.

I prefer to sleep on my stomach too and would be ticked off if someone kept trying to make me lay on my back!

[flavorfull1]

I let DS sleep on his stomach from 10 weeks on. He could lift his head well and I needed the sleep after a medical procedure. It was nerve wracking at first but then I realized what the pp said...just following this one rule is not going to be the cure all for SIDS. I had so many other factors going in our favor....nonsmoking household, no loose bedding, firm mattress, breastfeeding....that the stomach sleeping didn't seem to be such a big deal. DS slept better, as in not up every 30min, but not such a deep sleep that he couldn't rouse to eat every 2-3 hours. I didn't think twice about it after a week and he always sleeps on his tummy now. It really comes down to personal choice IMO.

[Knitting Mama]

If she's rolling there herself, doesn't that mean that she's strong enough to keep her head from getting stuck in one position where she can't breathe? I was always told that the worry of SIDS was gone once the baby was strong enough to roll over independently.

[Tway]

I believe it was our ped who told us that babies who can roll over can sleep any way they like. He even told us, on our first visit, that some parents admit putting their babies down on their stomachs on purpose as they slept better that way. He didn't seem too worried about that, either...

[Mom2M]

DD has slept on her belly since 6 weeks old. We tried and tried to keep her on her back but she woke up constantly. The first time she slept on her belly it was 4 hours straight!

[bbinm]

Thanks Mommas - think I just needed a little reassurance!

[Addie]

Originally Posted by Tway

I believe it was our ped who told us that babies who can roll over can sleep any way they like. He even told us, on our first visit, that some parents admit putting their babies down on their stomachs on purpose as they slept better that way. He didn't seem too worried about that, either...

Our ped said the same thing to us. Once we stopped swaddling DS around six months, he always rolled on his belly to sleep. Now he often rolls onto his side as well. Our ped is also fine with us putting him down on his belly.

[tzs]

Originally Posted by Cecilia's Mama

If she's rolling there herself, doesn't that mean that she's strong enough to keep her head from getting stuck in one position where she can't breathe? I was always told that the worry of SIDS was gone once the baby was strong enough to roll over independently.

yep!
even the official SIDS position is that once the babe can roll over on their own, it's fine to leave them.
your lucky btw, for the longest time mine would roll to the front and freak out, forgetting that she knew how to roll back over and i'd have to go in and flip her several times a night.

[zmom2010]

My DS has slept on his stomach since about 4 weeks of age. If you are really worried about SIDS, or just will sleep better at night, get a movement monitor. it goes under the mattress and will sound if he stops breathing. We got the Baby Sense IV b/c it has two detectors and user reviews said it had less false alarms.

Once I got it, I relaxed about the belly thing.