5 mo and sleeping position

[spicecrystal]

Am looking for reassurance really - but also advice.
i know this has been done before but exhausted & having a wobbly moment.
DS is now 20 weeks. Likes sleeping on his side. Only way to get him to sleep for the last 2 months.Recently waking yp several times in the night and it's a punsishing routine for me..

He does sleep better and longer on his tummy. we've got him t sleep like this and then turned him on hi s side.
anyway, last night i fell asleep waiting for him to sleep deep on his tummy and he slept the longest he ever had- 6hours!

I know the advise of 'back to sleep; & i'd dearly love to follow it - but am getting a little irritated that everyonre recommends getting babies to sleep on back but no one is telling me what the hell to do if i have a baby who will not sleep on his back for any length of time?

also he can roll onto his front now- haven't quite got the other way round. Do i keep flipping him back?

sorry long but needed 'chat'. Thanks

[DrinkFeckArseGirls]

I think that if the babies can roll themselves on their tummies, it's OK for them to sleep like this. It's only when they can't roll when they're little and they are put on their fronts, it can be a problem. DD has been sleeping on her side and now on her front for over a month and she is 6,5 months. I do check though if her nose has space to breathe. It was upsetting me on the beginning too, but I can't 'make' her to sleep differently. She rolls back over immediately.

[QueenSconetta]

My DD is now nearly 19 months and has slept on her front from just over 6 months when she could roll herself over.

I asked the HV at the time as was having the same paranoia as you and she said as long as she could roll herself back then she should be fine.

I too had originally gone in and checked, rolled her back and was barely back in bed before I heard her roll back on to her front. I soon realised that unless I was prepared to stand over the cot all night and literally hold her to stop her rolling over then I kind of had to go with it.

I would keep a close eye until he can roll himself back but as DFAG said, there's not a lot you can do to stop them if that's how they want to sleep.

Interestingly at my 20 week scan the sonographer said 'this baby is going to like to sleep on its front', judging from the way she was lying, so if its that ingrained then it's hard to alter!

[RitaMorgan]

If they can find their own position it's fine - you don't have to flip him back.

There possibly is still a small risk of SIDS at 5 months, but iirc it peaks between 2-4 months so you're past the most dangerous bit. Only you can weigh up whether the very small risk is worth it, do you have any other risk factors?

[spicecrystal]

No other risk factors. Thanks. Makes me feel a little better. He can't turn back from front but he can push himself up and generally move his head around. I just wish babies read the same bookas the 'experts'!

[Snarfle]

My ds is 16 weeks and as soon as we lie him on his back he turns onto his side. Over the last week he has learned to roll completely onto his tummy and I can see him on the monitor asleep like this now. Like your ds he can't roll back onto his back yet. I too felt really scared of his sleeping positions due to the SIDS guidelines but I have realised that unless I plan to velcro him onto his back on the mattress or stay awake all night to keep turning him back there is nothing else I can do. I am not being flippant as it does really scare me but I honestly don't know what I can do to stop him doing this. My HV also said if he is doing this himslef then there is nothing really I can do about it. I don't put him to sleep onhis tummy but he is starting to end up there more often.