Where do you sleep with your baby? - Page 2 « Back to Group Discussions

[jbk21]

I think you have some good points, Krystal!  A fan in the room to circulate air and breastfeeding also help reduce SIDS risk, and so does a pacifier.  So with those measures in place there would be even less reason to worry about the risks.  I try not to parent based on fear, too, but this is such a hard issue for me!  Dylan also spits up quite a bit and it usually comes through his nose, poor guy, and he turns into a sputtering mess, especially when he is on his back.  The issue is obviously avoided if on his belly. 

I need to do more thinking on this.....  I highly, highly value quality sleep (where baby is in a motionless environment and enters a deep sleep cycle) and if a baby is getting better quality sleep on his belly I think that is so important developmentally.

Originally Posted by Krystal323 

Ollie sleeps on his belly or side exclusively.  None of my kids would ever sleep on their backs, and honestly, I don't even think it's good for their development.  I mean, a baby on his belly will wake and the random arm/leg movements he makes will naturally evolve into crawling very quickly.  Kittens and horses don't sleep on their backs, soft organs exposed, essentially helpless like an upturned beetle, right?  Also, while I know there's risks no matter what position baby sleeps in, I personally feel like the ones associated with back-sleeping are more pressing.  Plus, belly sleepers often burp more easily and with less assistance, so it's good for babes with gas/reflux issues.

Ollie sleeps in his moses basket during the day (either on his belly or side), which is never any further than a few feet away from wherever I am.  We don't have anything else to put him down in like a swing or bouncer, so I'm glad he likes the basket!

At night, we either both fall asleep on our sides after side-lying nursing (I prop his head up on my arm, and kind of cradle him there)--or I have to sit/slouch while cradle-holding him so he's semi-upright.  The latter position allows me to scoot to where I'm laying down again without really disturbing him, and then he sleeps lying across my chest/belly.  I also sometimes sleep chest-to-chest with me on my back.  

For the first week or so I was just sleeping anywhere and everywhere I could--half-reclined on the couch, sitting up in bed, etc.  It was awful!  

[Lula's Mom]

Leo and I sleep in all kinds of ways- it just depends on how we're nursing when we fall asleep, usually. LOL

We nurse sidelying with his face at my breast; lying on his belly across my belly with his head turned to the side on my elbow & a pillow under my arm; sidelying with my arm under his head that's propped on my shoulder.  When he's done nursing he'll sleep on his belly on my chest, and on his belly on the bed.  That last one is usually for naps, when I'm awake and can put him down that way. 

I don't know.  I'm not nervous about the belly sleeping anymore.  This is my 4th kid.  I have seen how they pick up & turn their heads already at this age.  If they are sleeping better on their bellies, you can bet that's the way I let them.  He's still on or right next to me, and I am tuned in to every noise (am I ever!  Like a lot of you, I have another LOUD sleeper. Squeak! Grunt! Moan!).  Nothing is going to happen to him.

[jbk21]

Noisy sleeper here too.  He snorts.  Haha!
 

Originally Posted by Lula's Mom 

Leo and I sleep in all kinds of ways- it just depends on how we're nursing when we fall asleep, usually. LOL

We nurse sidelying with his face at my breast; lying on his belly across my belly with his head turned to the side on my elbow & a pillow under my arm; sidelying with my arm under his head that's propped on my shoulder.  When he's done nursing he'll sleep on his belly on my chest, and on his belly on the bed.  That last one is usually for naps, when I'm awake and can put him down that way. 

I don't know.  I'm not nervous about the belly sleeping anymore.  This is my 4th kid.  I have seen how they pick up & turn their heads already at this age.  If they are sleeping better on their bellies, you can bet that's the way I let them.  He's still on or right next to me, and I am tuned in to every noise (am I ever!  Like a lot of you, I have another LOUD sleeper. Squeak! Grunt! Moan!).  Nothing is going to happen to him.

[KaliShanti]

I have never know a quiet newborn sleeper!

My kids are so noisy that I can't sleep with them in the room well. Luckily my last two have also slept better in their own space from the first week (my firstborn was a whole other story). Enoch was in our room for the first few days, then moved into his own room (I know I'm in the minority here, but it's what works for our family with this baby!). His door is literally about 6 feet from our bed, though, so we hear him perfectly when he makes any slightly louder noises than the squeaky grunting sighing sleep noises, so it works great.

So far he's a good sleeper AFTER midnight. His fussy time is from about 10pm-12 or 12:30AM. He doesn't really cry that much but seems to have some gas then and wants to be held mostly. So we just stay up with him until then. After that, he eats once or twice until the morning and he sleeps in (unfortunately my toddler does not, though).

I wonder if this sleep pattern will continue or improve or if it's due to newborn sleepiness and get worse. My daughter was a great sleeper from the get-go, my son was awful until about 10 months. *shrug* We'll see!

[Viriditas]

DD often starts out the night in the sleepy wrap with me lying back propped up on pillows. Because she's in the wrap, I'm not worried about her sliding off my chest into the pillows. A few hours into the night she starts to squirm, so I take her out, wrap her up in a blanket, and we fall asleep again with her lying on her side nursing.

She doesn't like sleeping on her back, and if she lies on her back after nursing she ALWAYS spits up. DS never spit up and was happy as a clam on his back, so this has taken some adjustment!

 

[musicmama08]

Viriditas -

That's a good idea to wrap them up to sleep on your chest.  I fell asleep with Clara on my chest and my husband saw us a couple hours later and freaked out! 

Something weird about last night - twice I woke up to find Clara on her tummy.  I think the weight of me on the bed might have rolled her from her side (that's how I always place her) to her tummy.  She was fine both times, but that's a no-no for bed sharing so it kind of scared me.  I think I need to snug her in closer when she's on her side so she can't roll more towards me.

[Jaimee]

My older two were/are tummy sleepers, too.  I remember being a bit anxious, like I was committing a crime or something for allowing dd to sleep on her tummy.  By the time ds came along I wasn't concerned at all.  You can see how they lift their heads.  My mw at the time said the same thing- that's it's really not a problem as long as baby is able to move.  Now I'm having Avery sleep propped up on the boppy pillow... another no no, but it worked like a dream last night and I'm right there to monitor his breathing.

[Abraisme]

I'm also "guilty" of having my babies sleep on their tummies, in a boppy or any other way that will get them to sleep!  My DS was a belly sleeper from day 1.  For the first few months of his life he mostly slept on my chest, which I always felt safe with since he could hear my breathing and heartbeat.  After that he never needed to be touching me at night again and slept on his own side of the bed.  My DD1 needed to sleep elevated until she was 6-7mo, so she either slept on a pillow, in a boppy or sometimes in a bouncy seat. 

Last night Coralie was squirming and grunting for about 45 minutes, so I finally flipped her over on her stomach.  She fell right to sleep and slept in a 3 hour stretch.  She just seems so much more comfortable that way!  She's in a custom co-sleeper that's the same level as our bed, so she's on her own firm mattress, but I can still put my hand on her easily.

[xakana]

When my baby needs to sleep on my chest, I put her there in bed, with enough space on each side that if she rolls off, it's just onto the bed or DH. We've got a 5 year old, a 2-almost-3 year old, DH, me and the baby in the bed. We have a crib mattress on the floor next to the bed, but the older two prefer to be on the big bed with us (it's a king). Kat prefers to sleep on her side, though and darned if she won't roll over if she can't. Last night, she rolled herself over onto her face and got stuck and I'm SO glad I cosleep or I wouldn't have known!!