Sleeping on their fronts

[MarkAndMaz]

Whats the general consensus on here about this?

My 5wo boy much prefers sleeping on his front and is muh more content.

HV advised against it, as she would. Any advice would be greatful.

We have sleep monitor pad under mattress

We made it to 6 weeks of non sleeping hell before letting DS sleep on his front. Agonised long and hard, but felt in the long run having parents who had some sleep was better for DS.

Yes exactly. He's really grizzly on his back, and seems much more windy and uncomfortable.

DS did not sleep on his back - ever, he maybe dozed for 10 minutes but that was it. TBH the fisrt 6 weeks he slept on his side - even this was frowned upon, so we decided just to go the whole hog (took me a while to sleep at the same time too though - as you do )

all 3 of my ds's slept on their front, like rushofblood we had 6 weeks of non sleeping hell with ds1 before I listened to my mum who always slept us on our front because 25 years earlier she was told babies would choke on their backs and it really really worried her to the point she asked if she could ask the HV about it to reassure her as she was worried she wouldn't feel comfortable babysitting! so the guidelines change over time.

Anyway, my advice would be, weigh up the 'risks' and go with what you feel is right, it is only a guideline so ultimatately your choice.
I was told (once I admitted it to HV with ds3 after being caught with him sleeping on his front) that if I was doing that then the temperature of baby's room was really important ie so they don't get too hot

Honestly? I'd say sleeping on backs until they can roll us safest and the FSIDS guidance says that.

Guidance does change, yes, so what our own parents or grandparents did may well be totally different but this guidance came about following research and the number of SIDS deaths has dropped dramatically due to people following it.

I should also add that I think mine found sleeping on front more comfortable as they were pinned down so to speak, have you tried swaddling? that worked really well for ds2 and ds3 for first few weeks as it stopped them waving arms around and smaking themselves in face and waking them up

dd2 slept on her side - propped with a rolled up towel front and back. This was on hospital's recommendation, as she couldn't breathe properly on her back (laryngomalacia).

When she was ill in hospital aged 4 weeks (bronchiolitis) and in HDU, they nursed her on her front for the entire week....she breathed much much better that way!

Would concur with make sure room not too hot, well ventilated etc, and also go with your instinct after gathering all info....its only a guideline, and you do have a monitor pad.

It's a judgement call of course, and at five months you are out of the most dangerous period for SIDS (but only just - it's from 2-4 months that the risk is highest).

But whenever I read a post where the rationale for tummy sleeping is that the baby seems to prefer it / sleeps more soundly / is more comfortable, I feel compelled to mention that many experts believe that this is precisely why tummy sleeping increases the risk of SIDS.

A baby in a deep, sound sleep is less likely to wake if s/he gets into respiratory difficulty. The fact that newborns don't tend to be sound sleepers is a pain for sleep-deprived parents, but it does serve a purpose in terms of protecting them.

As far as I'm aware, sleep monitors have not been proven to make any measurable difference in the prevention of SIDS. Like many decisions, this one is about balancing the relative risks and benefits, and if you're so sleep-deprived that you feel your baby is at greater risk during the day riding around in the car with you for example, then it might be a reasonable decision to take to allow him to sleep on his tummy.

Onehand OP said her baby is 5 weeks, not 5 months!

Oh Yikes sorry, I obviously mis-read. At five months he may well be rolling over on his own, hence my 'it's really your call' attitude.

At five weeks, OP, please leave him on his back. It is just plain safer for him, and that trumps everything surely.