tummy sleeping transition

[JorgieGirl]

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Edited by JorgieGirl - 6/24/11 at 7:27am

[jenfl]

We transitioned DD to a tummy sleeper at 5.5 months and DS at 1 month.

Your LO may not like it. Most kids I know who've slept on their backs have a hard time seeing tummy-time as sleep time.

I panic about SIDS for the first month or so. I check on them constantly. I read articles about the risk factors for SIDS and remind myself that my kids have nearly none. I leave a fan on anyway.

But it works a lot better for our kids. They don't startle awake. It keeps their hands from waking them up.

It's a really personal choice.

[ann_of_loxley]

We did this. He loves it. I sleep right next to him though so I am very well aware of where and how he is during the night. He sorta flips all around at night though - he is never in any one position for long. On his side for many feeds and if he starts getting fussy then I flip him on his tummy and he settles and if he starts getting fussy then he goes back on his side or his back or whatever. I don't know how I know what he wants but I do! lol

[jump mama jump!]

my dd has been sleeping on her tummy most of the time since she was about 3.5 mo. when she started being able to roll over well and just refused to stay on her back most of the time. I was worried about it at first but she'd wake up and roll back over any time I switched her to her back, so I gave up and let her do what she wants. She hasn't been swaddled since like 1 mo though so she's quite free to move around. I think I'd be more worried about it if she were swaddled. My feeling on it in general is that if they can roll around they'll choose for themselves.

[tzs]

i think it should just come naturally at some point, no?
i was thinking about doing the same at the point where dd was rolling over during the night and then waking and screaming until i would flip her back (apparently forgetting she knew how to do it herself.) i thought if i could "train" her to fall asleep on her tummy then i could avoid these wakings.
well, i just got lazy and spent more time contemplating strategy than actually doing it and in the meantime she just did it on her own...got used to sleeping in her tummy.

[mama81]

I did this around 3 months... DD2 kept startling herself awake, over and over again, despite being very sleepy. Started putting her on her side with a positioner and eventually on her belly. She sleeps VERY soundly now. Now at 5 months, she rolls herself on to her belly on her when put down.

[bizzylizzy]

Those of you that did this already, was your baby a night thrasher (kicker whatever)? Did it improve after going to tummy sleeping?

[Plummeting]

Is your baby rolling over? If she is, then just put her down unswaddled and she'll get into whatever position she wants to be in. Both of my babies have tummy slept since they were able to roll from back to front, which was 3 months and 2.5 months.

[Kmama2]

Is she not sleeping well on her back??? If she sleeping fine then I would just let her be.
Ds slept on his belly from his second day of life... after his first night swaddled where he woke up every 20 seconds we put him on his back and got a solid hour or 2 of sleep. It was a no brainer for me. I was nervous at first but after watching him ( he was right next to me in a side car crib) I noticed that he never slept face down. His head was always off to one side or the other... He is 10 months old now and still sleeps on his belly.
It was handy in other ways too. He would lie on his belly and play with toys and he crawled really early b/c he spent so much time on his belly.

[P.J.]

I'm glad this thread is here, because for the first time last night, sort of by chance, my DS (3mo) slept on his belly. He had crashed out very early from a long day and therefore woke up at 3am. I was worried I wouldn't get him back to sleep. He was thrashing all about so I unswaddled him and put him in the sidecar crib next to me just to see what would happen (he usually sleeps in the middle of our bed swaddled). He rolled over onto his belly and immediately calmed down and fell back asleep! I was a little nervous (my goodness we get bombarded with this "your baby will die if he sleeps on his tummy" message, as much as it's saved babies from SIDS it makes it seem like certain death to sleep on the tummy!) so I kept a hand on him and slept with one eye open and he survived!

Originally Posted by bizzylizzy

Those of you that did this already, was your baby a night thrasher (kicker whatever)? Did it improve after going to tummy sleeping?

My baby's a thrasher as soon as he is awake and it prevents him from falling back asleep, hence he usually sleeps swaddled. But sometimes he starts thrashing against the swaddle and will cry until I take him out of it. And at least last night the tummy-lying did help. Although he woke up a few hours later and I could hear him grunting like he does during tummy-time during the day, trying to crawl and it's just hard work for him, so I took him back in my bed and nursed him. I'm curious to see if the tummy sleep works again though. I would try it for naps, but I'm still a little nervous (they say SIDS risk goes down significantly after 6mo) if I'm not there with him, plus he naps swaddled. But I'll keep it in mind a few months down the road.

[busymama77]

DS was a swaddled baby until he learned to roll over at 3 months. From then on, we only swaddled him when he needed to be calmed down, not a bedtime or naptime. He'll start out on his back and roll to his side and then eventually on to his tummy. He's a great sleeper that way.