Anyone else want to admit they put their baby on their tummy to sleep?

[Picante]

I can't be the only one.

So far only doing it for daytime naps (dd is 6 weeks). At night she uses a special cushion to help keep her on her side.

I know what SIDS say. She has no other risk factors. She wasn't premature, she's a good weight, she's in a cot in my room, she uses a dummy, she's breastfed (forgive me if that's not a factor)...

I slept on my front as a baby, as did everyone. That was the advice back then to avoid choking if the baby was sick.

There's not much point flaming me - she settles so quickly and sleeps so well I'm not going to change what I do - hence why I haven't put this in AIBU!

There must be others out there who do the same?

[belgo]

I put ds on his front to sleep, probably from about 6 weeks, that was the only way he would get a decent night's sleep. I weighed up the risks and decided that he needed a good night's sleep more then to sleep on his back.

[Goblinchild]

Yes, I did it for my daughter because it was the advice at the time to avoid choking on vomit and whatever. She's 18 1/2 now, so she survived it.
I kept her cool, don't smoke, did breastfeed and she was in our room until she was two.
I'll join you under the table when the heavy mob start up, but I have to ask if you are just looking for trouble because you're bored?

[ZippysMum]

There has been a 75% reduction in cot deaths in the UK since the advice was changed from front to back.

I'm putting mine on their backs, but each to their own...

[belgo]

Oh I totally agree with the advice of putting a baby to sleep on their backs, and I can see why sleeping on their front is dangerous.

But what about the dangers of lack of sleep to a baby who can not sleep longer then 20 minutes? Some babies simply cannot sleep on thei backs.

If I put ds onto his back, within 20 minutes he would be awake again. And this would go on for hours each night, with him waking up every 20 minutes or so. That can't be good for his health.

[norksinmywaistband]

my dd slept on her front from about 8 weeks as she kept rolling over and i got fed up with turning her back. she had good head control and could lift her head and move it around.

ds slept on me on his tummy from the day he was born, when he went into a crib i put him on his back though

[franke]

What Belgo sais. All three of mine slept/sleep on their fronts.

[franke]

said

[Picante]

Well that was easy enough. Thanks Belgo!

[misdee]

dd4 sleeps on her front. i started putting her on her front to sleep just fater she turned 6months, as i was desperater to try anything with her sleeping.

she does sleep better on her front, but not assively so. but that extra hour between wakenings, and a proper nap rather that 15mins in the middle of the day, i will put her on her front.

i know the risks. i am not 100% happy about her sleeping on her front, but for the sake of her happiness and my sanity i will pop her on her front.

[star6]

I put my ds on his front. From early on he just would NOT sleep on his back. We were getting no sleep trying to force him to sleep on his back as he would just scream. At first I just had him sleeping on me or DH so we could constantly hear him breathing. Then, we used an Angelcare monitor which has a pad that monitors breathing. An alarm would sound if the baby stopped breathing. He's 12 months now and we still use that monitor though he can roll and turn about - and walk around! in his cot now...

[AnnieLobeseder]

I have no problem admitting mine both slept on their fronts. I tried to put them on their backs, I really did. I felt enormous guilt with each one when I finally gave up and flipped them over. But when they wouldn't sleep more than 20 mins on their backs and we were all going crazy from lack of sleep, I felt the safest option was to put them on their fronts, as I was becoming a danger to society from lack of sleep, and certainly wasn't a safe or good mother.

[FrightsMonth]

I put DS1 on his back, as advised. He hated it. He couldn't settle himself to sleep until he was 3+ years, and I wonder if that was because he was so uncomfortable as a wee baby. He would sleep very well lying on his front, on me.

Consequently, I allowed DS2 and DD to sleep on their fronts, and they slept like angels from the beginning.

I did have some sleepless nights watching over them at the beginning though. And I wouldn't have done it if there were any of the other factors - smoking, overheating etc.

[roslily]

Mine sleeps on his side, or on me on his front (4 weeks). He vomits a lot and on his back I can hear him choking/coughing and it upsets him (understandably). On his side this isn't a problem. I wedge him in though so he can't move!

[nowwearefour]

both of mine slept on their fronts. but i wouldnt change from one to the other and back again as the risk increases each time you switch to a new format. i would choose one method and stick to it. of course both parents need to decide together o/a the risk factors. but the risk of me doing something bad (eg crashing car or leaving gas on) from having no sleep came out higher to me as no other risk factors for my dds either. it was a hard decision for us but we made the same decision for dd2 as it worked so well for dd1.

[ABetaDad]

DS1 used to sleep on top of me on his tummy with me reclined asleep (not laying down) on the sofa. He still sleeps on his tummy age 9.

Used to lay him on his back in hs cot.

[sally78]

DS in SCUB was on his tummy, when we took him home we used a breathing alarm and he slept on his front......but never as well as those days in SCUB on his tummy! We did consider keeping him on his tummy as we had the alarm but worried too much as he was prem so didn't.

[newMNer]

Yes I'll admit to it. I always do! Thing is, like with all of you who also admit to it, all of my babies slept no more than 20 to 30 minutes on their backs, sometimes less, or not at all. I tried everything to follow guidelines. The health visitors know I put them on their tummy, so I don't hide anything.
I think if those who strongly disagree actually saw how distressed some babies can be when placed on their back, they'd understand better. In my case, I tried real hard to put my 3rd baby on her back, even side, but she 'screamed', and that was when she was put down asleep, put down awake but very tired, etc. Every time I tried she literally looked like she was in deep distress and fear, like I was causing her real harm. He arms were shaking, she was crying hard and going bright red/purple. What d'ya do!? I flipped her over and she'd settle. I tried leaving her on her back - to follow guidelines and she was crying, coughing, spluttering, choking - it was just plain cruel watching her go through that (and I thought dangerous), and I tried everything to calm her. I had the same with my others. I also figured that them having little to no sleep was dangerous for them, as a lot of growing and healing takes place during sleep. Having said that, my babies have been fine lying on their backs when they're fully awake being changed or played with, so I know there's nothing wrong there.
I'm not sure if you have this trouble though, my baby complained in car seats, prams and pushchairs, as she had to sleep on her back in them. She's getting better at accepting the pushchair and car seat now though, so I can use them for short naps. Oh and another problem, my baby crawls about in her cot as she's on her tummy, which is a real pain when she gets stuck against the railings.

[herjazz]

I did. But was on paeds advice cos of airways / floppy windpipe probs - she would desat and have apnoeas when on her back

I didn't do it with my second dc who didn't have this prob - tho he seemed to end up on his side v early on

[AnnieLobeseder]

Leonie - I'm so with you on the head shape thing! So many young children seem to have weird moon heads these days, all flat at the back and I'm sure it's the sleeping on the back thing! I guess they come right in the end but seems odd to me. Mine both have 'proper' shaped heads.

Just to add, I also tried putting mine to sleep on their tums, then flipping them over to their backs once they were settled. They always woke a few minutes later.

As others have said, I made sure I reduced every single other risk, but still felt terrible that I couldn't get them to settle on their backs.

At 4yo and 19mo they both still prefer to sleep on their tums.

[DaddyJ]

We didn't with our pfb as everything was done by the book of course.
2nd time around, yes, we just went with what worked well for her
as she settles so much quicker on her front.

Unfortunately, she is going through a phase of flipping herself onto her back in the middle of the night...
and tonight we have decided to see if she can persuaded to go back to sleep in that position without me having to turn her back onto her tummy.
Happy nights.

[AnnieLobeseder]

Leonie - not sure about sad, though odd and different since relatively speaking this lying on the back thing is quite new so we're just not so used to the moon head syndrome! But if it's a choice between an odd head for a few years or dying from SIDS......