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My baby will not sleep on her back, any advice?

14 replies

RhinoGirl · 24/07/2017 21:03

Hi all, just looking for a bit of advice and/or reassurance.

My DD is coming upto 16 weeks old and still will not sleep flat on her back. When she was around 5 weeks old, we suspected she has reflux. After a chat with health visitor we switched her milk to Cow and Gate anti reflux milk, which works well for us. However, she still will not settle laying down. We tried her crib but I assumed that when she flung her arms out, seeing as it is narrower than a full size cot and now i'm not so sure. DD sleeps best in her car seat, in one of our arms or in bed next to me. At 16 weeks old me and my husband are still doing 'shifts' which isn't good for his early morning starts at work.

I desperately want to get to the stage of a bed time routine and putting her to sleep, which means we get our evenings and bed back!

Any advice or tips? Does this get better? Do they grow out of reflux eventually, as this is so exhausting!

Thanks.

OP posts:
ItsNiceItsDifferentItsUnusual · 24/07/2017 21:13

Ds2 has reflux and also not keen in on his back. We got a sleepyhead. Not a miracle worker but has definitely helped him settle better.

RhinoGirl · 25/07/2017 03:58

What is a sleepyhead? I'm willing to try anything at the minute :)

OP posts:
IheartCaptainHolt · 25/07/2017 04:22

Can she roll over yet? St my 8 week check my GP said if they can roll on to their front (even if they can't roll back) then don't worry about them sleeping on their front as they have enough strength and head control to lift their heads up.

Oddsocksforeveryone · 25/07/2017 04:50

Dd (the reason I'm up at this ungodly hour) has always preferred sleeping on her front. I never successfully found a way to get her on her back. You either put her down to sleep on her tummy or put her down on her back praying she wouldn't wake. BUT getting a mobile with big buttons on it and a light show was a total game changer for us. From being very young she could bash the buttons to turn it on/change music and would happily lay and watch it. It saved me in the night. The canopy comes off and it projects on to the ceiling too and also converts to a lamp. She just turned 1 and still absolutely adores it. So much so that we will be buying another for baby due October even though they'll be in the same room because this is definitely "hers". Fwiw now she spends the night rolling and crawling and spinning in her sleep still usually choosing her stomach.

thiskiwicanfly · 25/07/2017 05:55

My Dd refused to sleep on her back or her side from pretty much day 3 onwards. However she could hold her head up (she was 9lb10oz born) and so in the interests of not having a homicidal sleep deprived mother I went with the old advice which was to sleep them on their tummy. The plunket nurse had a fit, I nodded and smiled and continued doing what worked for us. She slept well and had a good 6-7 hour stretch from midnight from about 5 weeks.

Disclaimer, the current research says on their backs but that didn't work for me and this is based on my experience only....

SofiaAmes · 25/07/2017 06:00

My dd had hidden reflux and couldn't sleep on her back. We finally made the decision to put her on her stomach as we did not have any other risk factors for SIDS. We also used a special stay down rice based formula in addition to breastfeeding and that helped a lot too. Things got much better once she started solids at 6 months.

whatdoido222 · 25/07/2017 06:33

I've four children (my eldest is now 16) and a fair few years of newborn experience. I see this all the time with babies and parents, so many friends have asked me how I can help them get their baby to sleep through the night. My answer is always the same: if they don't like being on their backs put them on their tummy! I've slept all of mine on their front (controversial I know!) but always have a breathing monitor mat switched on underneath linked to the baby monitor. It has worked brilliantly for me. Just be aware of the obvious things such as fresh air in the room, baby doesn't over heat etc. Let me know how you get on! Smile

ItsNiceItsDifferentItsUnusual · 25/07/2017 07:55

Sleepyhead

It's like a nest for babies to sleep in, helps them feel secure and cuddled. Helped stop ds flailing about so much too. He's still only doing 2 hour stretches at night but settles for those sleeps whereas before he was in and out of sleep all night and I was going insane.

RhinoGirl · 25/07/2017 08:14

Thank you for your responses everyone! She can't roll over yet but she is trying to, her head control has been good for a while. I may put her down on her stomach for a nap today and see how she goes. I don't really want to blame the reflux as the milk pretty much eliminated the symptoms, but I know I prefer to sleep on my stomach so maybe she just takes after me :)

OP posts:
ItsNiceItsDifferentItsUnusual · 25/07/2017 08:57

OP what symptoms did she have that the milk made better? Just trying to figure out whether to give it a go for ds. Would be interested to know whether tummy sleeping works too!

RhinoGirl · 25/07/2017 10:32

She would bring up the full bottle she had just had, arch her back during feeds, cry when trying to feed her and turn her face away, wouldn't settle on her back. As soon as we switched all that stopped, she became a different baby. She is so happy and smiley now, but she's got used to not sleeping on her back...

OP posts:
peaceloveandbiscuits · 25/07/2017 10:49

DS2 7 weeks will only sleep on his front. It terrified me at first but, tbh, as a PP said, I've eliminated all SIDS risk factors I can control, he's a big boy with good emerging head control, and he sleeps really well. DS1 never really slept at all, but he was always put on his back.
Midwife advised that I try putting him on his side to sleep, then rolling him onto his back, but it doesn't work, he just wakes up. He's very refluxy, brings back a lot of milk (breastfed so no way of thickening if up!) which I think plays a part, as with yours and PP's DC.

ItsNiceItsDifferentItsUnusual · 25/07/2017 11:07

Thanks OP, I may give it a go. Has it caused any constipation?

The other thing I do which may help is a partial swaddle - just the arms to stop him startling and waking himself constantly. I use this one

Peace I remember you from the overdue thread! Sorry we've all got refluxy babies! Ds1 had it too, though he did at least sleep but was bloody grumpy all day

RhinoGirl · 25/07/2017 11:15

No, no constipation which I heard Gaviscon does. Her poos went quite runny but not diahorrea, if that makes sense. Only while she got used to the switch. It definately helped us. I tried swaddling too but she broke out of it all the time, I was at my wits end 😂 I could try again with that also I suppose but i'm more inclined to try tummy sleeping

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