Side-sleeping and SIDS

[htovjm]

Just a question for all you veteran co-sleepers: Do you strictly adhere to the back-to-sleep recommendation? 

I know that cosleeping greatly reduces the risk of SIDS, but it is always still on my mind each night when I lie down with my 12-week old. 

We nurse lying down and most of the time I gently nudge him onto his back when he is done, but he tends to keep sucking gently after falling sleep. This doesn't bother me at all since I can sleep through it. I'm very protective of his little spine though and am pretty uncomfortable having him sleep on his back with his neck twisted so oddly towards my breast. He normally pops off on his own after awhile, but then gently puts his little cheek on my breast. My mommy instincts just want to stay cuddled with him on his side with close access to my breasts. Is this increasing the risk for SIDS? It seems so natural to keep him on his side. When he's on his back, he tends to throw his hands out as if searching for security and it just makes me want to keep him close even more.

What do you other mamas do?

[tonttu]

I have a now 4 - month - old , who co - sleeps with me and sometimes , she lays on her back after she is done feeding , sometimes I let her stay cuddled up to me . 

I do make sure , that I don´t cover her little face with my blanket by accident , even though I believe , that even a little baby would fight off something , that covers their face , but just to be safe , I do !

Other than that , I like having her close to me . I am a very calm sleeper myself , many times I wake up in the exact same position , that I fell asleep in , so I am not worried , that I would roll on top of her in my sleep and I feel , that she sleeps better as well with me close to her .

Plus , I have never heard of a baby , that has died of SIDS , while sleeping in his Mother´s arms , so if you both enjoy sleeping like that , then I would do just that , enjoy it while it lasts and he is not a baby anymore .  

[Jodie]

I personally would let my baby just sleep on its side. I never worried about keeping them on their backs when sleeping with me or even near me. Mine slept on their backs, sides and tummy.

Whatever works best for baby and you.

[Nicole730]

My babies often sleep on their sides while night nursing and sleeping.

[Luckiestgirl]

I let all three of mine sleep on their sides, too.  Assuming they are alternating sides during the night, this helps avoid the flat head problems so many babies have these days.  When they napped without me, I did roll them over to their backs.

[MrsGregory]

Yeah, mine sleeps on her side both with me and in her bassinet.  When she was littler I wedged her bun-bun (it's a stuffed rabbit with teether paws) up under her tummy so she couldn't roll into her tummy in her sleep.  When she's with me she's on her side facing me so she can't roll onto her tummy.

[Super~Single~Mama]

My ds slept just like your LO OP. His pediatrician said it was fine as long as we didn't have huge fluffy blankets.

And now that he is 3yo, he still sleeps on his side.

[greencrunchymom]

I've had this concern too, but I figured that plenty of babies have side slept for a long time so ours should be fine.

[mamazee]

My older one slept on her side, and it seems like that seemed acceptable by the pediatrician at hte time, but they've changed their minds and about that since then. I did put the younger one on her back but she always slept through the night so she wasn't nursing all night and I imagine that's why she stayed on her back.

[element2012]

When my 9 week old DD was born she could not tolerate to be on her back at all for any reason, she would scream so the whole world could hear.  Needless to say, I let her sleep on her side with me.  She was always too close to me to roll onto her tummy, and my instincts like yours OP were to let her sleep on her side.  Now she can sleep either on her back or on her side and either one is ok with me, as long her head is in a way that she can breathe. 

[htovjm]

Thanks for all the replies. I feel a little better hearing from you Mamas!