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Parenting

Should I let 5 week old sleep on tummy?

35 replies

whensmydayoff · 18/01/2010 18:12

I have a 5 week old DD with acid reflux.

She is in serious pain all night and can't sleep on back or even side/swaddled.

We have to keep her up 1-2 hours after feeds and even then its a hit or a miss if I can settle her before next feed meaning I litrally get NO sleep all night. We end up taking turns to sit up with her on our chests but sometimes end up falling asleep with her on our chests as we drift off by mistake. I nearly dropped her this morning when I jumped realising she was there. I was so shattered.
Have 2.8 yr old DS so have to get up and stay up!

We have an apnea alarm (sensor pad under matress that would sound if she stopped breathing).

It went off this morning. She finally went down at 6am and it went off at 7am. She was on her back and didnt seem to rouse when I shook her (a bit too frantickly). It was only when I lifted her I got a response.
Reflux babies can suffer from sleep apnea. My DS had reflux too and he stopped breathing - hence alarm! We had to take him to hospital.

Today when I had to put her down she screamed so in desperation to get to DS who was crying, I put her on her tummy and she was immediately happy !!!

She is now currently sound asleep on her tummy and Im soooooo tempted to let her sleep like this at night. Is this too dangerous or can babies sleep like this?

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nightshade · 18/01/2010 18:24

it's a decision only you can make. i doubt anyone will feel confident enough to say yes to you!

have you tried putting a pilow in her cot, either under the sheet or under the mattress, or have yoy tried co sleeping?

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CantThinkofFunnyName · 18/01/2010 18:41

bump

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Zoidberg · 18/01/2010 19:14

Yes do it. Our DD could not sleep on her back after the first few weeks, she spent a couple of weeks waking up every 3 minutes and falling asleep again, over and over again for hours at night, getting bigger bags under her eyes every day.

We used to have her sleep on our chests in the evening as she slept well then, eventually one day I thought maybe it's not being on us but being on her tummy so gingerly put her down for a nap that way and she slept fine. More times we did it the more we got used to it til we no longer worried. We coslept a lot though so she was right next to us.

It's one of those things where you weigh up the risks for yourself and I was far more concerned about the damage of ongoing bad sleep in a newborn than what I thought of as a tiny risk of SIDs.

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MumNWLondon · 18/01/2010 19:35

As nightshade says its a decision only you can make. My nephew (no particular health issues) would only sleep on his tummy as a baby, just would not sleep on his back at all.

I guess you need to weigh up all risks, eg does anyone smoke, is the baby breast feed, is it a new mattress etc - and also discuss with GP / specialist.

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whensmydayoff · 18/01/2010 20:29

Thanks. No to smoking, yes to breast fed and new matress in moses basket.

My DH is too deep a sleeper for co sleeping and im too nervous of doing it too as the tiny amounts of sleep I am getting - im out of it.

zoidberg so what age was your DD?

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angel1976 · 18/01/2010 21:01

I think you have had good advice here... Another risk factor is whether your DD has any congestion of any sort like a cold etc. If it makes you feel any better, I was paranoid with DS1 and never let him sleep on his front. With DS2, he had a touch of reflux and being on his tummy was obviously a lot more comfortable for him than on his back. We let him sleep on his tummy during his naps (on a mattress in the living room when I am present). But at night, we continued putting him on his back but he never slept that well and made loads of uncomfortable noises. In the last week or so (he's 11 weeks now so when he's about 9-10 weeks), we started putting him to sleep on his front at night. The difference was amazing. He went down quietly and slept quietly till I woke up with a start at 4.30am and shone a torch on him to see if he was still breathing! Since then, he has slept on his front. You need to weigh up the risks and decide. For us, DS2 has a new mattress that has holes on it specially designed to stop baby suffocating when facedown. We don't cosleep when he is on his front (if he sleeps with us, he's on his side or back), he is bottle-fed (both mine were and DS1 is strong as an ox!) and we don't smoke. Also, we could see DS2 has very strong neck muscles... Good luck!

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BetterBitOfButter · 18/01/2010 21:09

My DS would only sleep on his tummy from about 5 weeks, he just woke up constantly on his back (tried swaddling etc). I did check on him about every 10 seconds for quite a while though!

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Zoidberg · 20/01/2010 13:59

She was about 5/6 weeks I think, by the time we'd gone through first 3 weeks of her sleeping really deeply anywhere then a couple of weeks of really disturbed sleep before we switched to tummy.

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nowwearefour · 20/01/2010 14:02

i put dd1 on front from 4weeks and dd2 from birth. It HAS to be YOUR choice tohugh, having read the risks and risk factors. For me the extra sleep made it worth the increased risk which i still perceived to be low. But it really is such a personal thing that only you can decide.

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nowwearefour · 20/01/2010 14:03

both mine could shift their heads from side to side from birth. i saw all the mucus from dd2 coming out of her mouth and then going back in when she was on her back that it didnt even take til the end of her first day in teh world when i decided to put her on her tummy.

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beesonmummyshead · 20/01/2010 17:32

dd slept on her tummy from about 4/5 weeks old after we had got NO sleep and she would constantly cry. On her tummy she was a delightful, happy baby. It transformed my life, despite HV telling me not to do it. I do remember one particularly bad day when my HV tld me dd was likely to die if I put her on her tummy and I went home and tried again to put her to sleep on her back. At 3am after NO sleep I remember sobbing and sobbing and telling DH that I didn't care if she died because I would die if I carried on like this

needless to say dd is not 2.4 and still sleeps on her tummy.

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Wolliw · 20/01/2010 21:56

We did. DS2 had mild reflux and only really slept ramped up and on his front. He slept while on the boob in with me too, which is relatively safe.

The biggest SIDS risks are smoking and dropping off on the sofa, so if you don't do either, then I would risk putting baby on her tummy.

Baby is not likely to die if you put her on her tummy. The risk increases a little bit. The other side of the equation is that a mummy who has had at least a bit of sleep is a much better parent.

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mistletoekisses · 16/02/2010 18:10

WMDO - bumping again as I am considering this. DS2 has suddenly become colicy and is very comfy on his tummy. Did a nap with him today (i was awake), and he slept so well. I was amazed at the difference it made.

What did you decide? are there any others who can share their experience/ knowledge?

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AuroraB · 17/02/2010 13:47

my DS would only ever sleep on his tummy. i weighed it up, either we could have 20 minute bursts of sleeping and be doing things by the book, or i could put him on his tummy and we could both be well rested and happy. i worried but on balance it was the right decision. now he can move any which was he chooses he still sleeps on his tummy (and so do i)

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jenster1976 · 17/02/2010 20:18

Hi,
It has to be something you're comfortable with, it was something I never admitted to a HV as I felt like i would be liable to end up in court, but from the first couple of weeks with DD2 we put her on her tummy, she was very sicky and uncomfortable on her back, but slept brilliantly on her tummy. For us, the risks seemed overstated, but she was in our room right next to me for 6 months.

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thisisyesterday · 17/02/2010 20:25

i did let ds3 sleep like it.

he always hated being put down to sleep, and one day, like you, i discovered that he was blissfully happy on his tummy.

so, I decided to let him nap on his tummy, but to continue putting him on his back at night.,
only, after a while he decided that actually, he'd rather sleep on his tummy ALL the time, and would just scream and scream and if i did get him to sleep, he'd wake every 5-10 miins
so eventually, out of desperation i let him.

he has been fine, but obv the statistics speak for themselves, and it IS riskier.

as a pp said, it's a decision that only you can make really. I was thinking about it the other night actually, and thinking how lucky we are that he has been fine.
i dunno. needs must and all that.

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mrspoppins · 17/02/2010 20:27

I wouldn't..no. However, my second had reflux along with some other problems and she slept in her car seat quie a bit, and even through the night as it worked for her and kept her pain free.
She is an active and healthy 12 yr old now with no long lasting effects from reflux or car seat!!!

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mistletoekisses · 17/02/2010 20:43

thank you for the responses.

i think it is quite interesting. think more people do this in RL then they would admit to.

i have decided against it for now. found out the reasons they advise against it, and (for once), it actually makes sense and does sound dangerous.

so will persevere wih infacol (started yesterday) and see how we get on.

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thisisyesterday · 17/02/2010 20:46

car seats can be dangerous too though apparently. I read somewhere recently that a lot of SIDS cases are babies in car seats, because their heads tend to go forwards a bit.

i have no idea if this is true though! off to google now and see if i can find out

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thisisyesterday · 17/02/2010 20:48

bit about it here

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thisisyesterday · 17/02/2010 20:49

and here although only 9 babies looked at

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mrspoppins · 17/02/2010 20:51

There are so many stringent safety checks on car seats that mean that they are safe for babies to sleep in. However, it isn't ideal and some think it can make reflux worse though as a nurse, I could not see that the position my daughter was in was any different than her sleeping propped upright which is the prescribed method. It depends very much on the baby seat and how it positions the baby's head and neck.
It was a way we coped and never led to her vomitting or screaming in pain so we did it.

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mrspoppins · 17/02/2010 20:55

Just read the pieces..some car seats are fixed but mine used to be able to be repositioned into a more horizontal position. I think it is the car seat that makes the difference IMO perhaps?
Anyhow, it's a possible avanue to try if all else fails.x

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Tras · 17/02/2010 20:56

Have you tilted her moses basket? I tilted the mattress in mine by putting a flat pillow under it at an angle. My DD also had reflux and I Have to admit that I also let her sleep on her tummy during the day and sometimes at night. She is now 6.5 months and has started to turn on to her side. Only a matter of time before she makes it to her tummy herself. However I will let her body strength do that. Since 5 months she began wakening frequently at night and I am beginning to thing if she were on her tummy she would be much happier!

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mrspoppins · 17/02/2010 20:56

God, I wish MN had a spell checker!!! I am uterly embarrrassed wen speling fings rong!

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