Should I let 5 week old sleep on tummy?

[whensmydayoff]

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?

i really feel for you. i have been in your position with both ds1 and ds2. i was too frightened to let either of my boys 'properly' tummy sleep. although ds2 did sleep on me (so effecively on his tummy) for the first 8 months of his life. he had a couple of stopping breathing episodes in the first few months of life (and has gone on to have other health problems), once while on me and the other on a rare occasion he was actually asleep in his moses basket. though far from ideal i actually felt much safer having him on me after that. my slightly ridiculous theory is that (and i mean this in jest so please don't bash me, sids has always been a massive fear and pre-occupation for me and i fully respect all of the research)so many babies just cannot sleep properly on their backs (well, neither of mine could) hence far less chance of sids as they are awake screaming most of the night as opposed to in a deep and relaxed sleep on their tummy.

i was and continue to be exhausted almost to the point of insanity!

I don't have experience of a baby with reflux so it maybe easy for me to say but I think you are right not to take the risk. Propping up the mattress seems to be good advice. The guidance with carseats is no longer than 1 1/2- 2 hours at a time as it can affect a babies spine and breathing slightly.
How about a pushchair or even a bouncy cradle in a more upright position.

It maybe that sleeping on her tummy is what you end up doing but I really wouldn't do it until she can easily lift her head and turn it whilst lying on her tummy.

Also Infacol is for colic is it not rather than reflux? It maybe worth going back to the GP as friends with refluxy babies have got infant gaviscon for them etc.

Good luck hope things improve.

yeah, i have to say that ds3 was able from a very early age to lift his head up even when on his tummy and turn it to either side

Agree re it being your choice.Having said that ds2 slept on his tummy and ds1 slept in his carseat in his cot as he wouldn't lie in cotand they both were/are in bed with s sometimes.

ds could lift and turn his head to either side from very very early on so I wasn't very concerned. Like you, had the breathing monitor pad under the mattress (angelcare monitor). We discovered it was the only way he'd sleep (other than on us). He still sleeps on his tummy most of the time at 16 months. I didn't admit it to the HV and when she'd come around we would quickly grab him out of the moses basket and pretend he never slept on his tummy. My parents put me on my tummy. I also learned to feed laying down and co slept sometimes. Also never told HV this.

We tried propping with DS, it didn't work. Sleeping on tummy did - we did it exclusively with him from about 4 weeks. Was very scared as he was PFB but it was the only way he was happy.

So tried to forget everything we read, we had an alarm monitor ( a Tommee Tippee one ) that scared the life out of us once he was able to start wriggling around the cot, as if he wriggled into a corner it couldn't pick up his heartbeat. He switched to sleeping on his back only when he got to about 3 years.

DD always slept happily on her back as a baby, but since she was 2 has slept on her front.

I slept on my front til I was pregnant first time round. Always sleep on my back now.

sorry didn't read other people's comments so may be echoing someone else but.. I'd go for it. 30-40 years ago the advice was to put them to sleep on their tummy. It's only now everyone's so afraid of SIDs which isn't that common let's be honest.

One thing you could possibly look into is co-sleeping. My son suffered from bad colicky wind and for a long time the only way I could get him to sleep was put him on my chest, on his tummy. I was afraid he's slip but he never did, I'd always wake up if he started to shift. BUT it's up to you if you want to try this, some people get so tired they wouldn't wake up even if the baby's kicking them in the nuptuals!

Also at 5 weeks your daughter should be strong enough to turn her head if she's not getting enough air.

Are you absolutely sure it's reflux and not colic/wind? Some symptoms are similar. If you think it could be wind try Colief, it's a medicine that helps babies digest their milk better so they don't get the wind in the first place. Really helped DS. There's nothing in it that can harm a baby, the only prob it's a tad expensive.

Hi - thanks again for responses.

Think I have confused the thread.

WMDO started it for her DD who has reflux.
I then bumped it for my DS who has mild colic. Am trying infacol and have seen a few recommendations for colief...saw it in boots yesterday, so will give it a go if infacol doesnt improve things by weekend.

Don't worry, HV will not be informed about any of this.

mistletoe do try colief, look it up on ebay, I bought 4 bottles on ebay last week for a total of £12 inc deliv which is the price of one in pharmacies! And just missed a lot of 6 at £7.50

My mum's a paediatrician she reckons up to 80% of cases of colic in babies are caused by a temporary shortage of lactase enzyme which is what your body produces to digest lactose in milk (human or cow's). Then as their gut matures they start producing more of it which is why most colicky babies get better by age 3-4 months. Colief is a lactase enzyme supplement and is totally natural, it doesn't contain any sweeteners/stabilisers/colours, even if it doesn't help your baby it won't do any harm at all. Also if your baby's colic is caused by lactase deficiency, colief is better than infacol as infacol treats symptoms but colief treats the cause.
Good luck
and best of luck to OP

DD2 slept on her front from about 2 weeks old.Only way she would sleep.She was breast-fed,we don't smoke & we kept an eye on the room temp.The first few nights were a bit hairy for me,as I kept getting up every 5 mins to check she was ok,dh was confident she would be fine though!!