Midwife has said to put baby on side?!

[greystars11]

Really not sure what to do - 2 week old baby showing all signs of reflux and won't sleep on back at all. Will sleep on side.
Saw a midwife today who told me to roll up a blanket or towel and just prop her on her side?
I'm so nervous because all the stuff says back to sleep, but she has never really slept in her back without crying out sounding like pain, and being sick.

I'm so surprised that the midwife recommended it. Has anyone done this or would you just carry on with no sleep? I don't have much help do the lack of sleep is wearing me down, even if I could get an hour or two in the night would be something

Yes, my baby had reflux and we did this. Normally it is 'back to sleep' because we know the risks of sleeping on the front, not the side. We rolled up a towel and put one on both sides of him so he couldn't accidentally roll on to his tummy either.

DS had reflux as a newborn until around 8-10 weeks and we were never told to do this. He was always unsettled lying on his back but I would have been too nervous to sleep with a blanket or anything in the Moses basket untucked.

We did roll a blanket and put it under the mattress at one end so he wasn’t totally flat but don’t know that it really helped. Only gaviscon took the edge off until he grew out of it unfortunately.

We did this with our reflux baby. Never laid him flat on his back after a feed or it would be projectile vomit and me panicking he was choking to death.
So we tilted his matress and wedged him onto his side with a rolled up baby blanket.

Yes, we did this. Not for reflux but because he wouldn't sleep on his back and I was going crazy. My midwife also suggested it.

Our reflux baby would not sleep flat on her back. We tilted the cot on the advice of HV and paediatrician. I would have no qualms about what your MW suggested - she seems very sensible.

This is 16years ago but I was told to put baby on back with a towel under the mattress to raise the head. It did help.

I did this too. Sometimes getting any sleep at all is more important than following all the guidelines religiously. Sleeping on their side is still much less risky than sleeping on their front btw.

We did this with dd1. She would scream and scream and scream on her back. We would turn her on her side and within seconds, literally seconds, she would be calm and fast asleep. We used to wedge her in with a rolled up towel.

We tilted the co sleeper (head up) and used a rolled cellular blanket to side sleep (when he wasnt sleeping on me). Now 16m old, still needs omeprazole and cows milk protein allergy formula to stop the projectile vomit. Does sleep on his back these days sometimes though.

Back to sleep is the default and anything different is per medical advice, which you have received.

Yes did it with my twins on Nicu nurse advice. Rolled up blanket so they were partially on their sides but not so much they risked falling forward if that makes sense.

Roll up a very long blanket/towel into a sausage, make large U shape in the cot, that's the right size for baby to fit snugly in. You then put the cot sheet over the top. You can thrh raise the head of the cot if you want to, and put baby on his side, and it's more secure, the blanket/towel won't unravel, and they can't slip down.

Just make sure that the top of the U isnt too high.

It's hard to explain, hopefully you know what I mean.

Maybe this helps you see?

www.askdrsears.com/topics/health-concerns/sleep-problems/sids/side-sleeping

The key thing is that the baby can’t roll onto their front from the side. By extending the underneath arm out sideways you can ensure that if baby wriggles then they end up on their back. I did this when my tiny prem needed to sleep on her side.