Side sleeping, is it safe or not?

[Hermya321]

Just a quick one really, is it ok for me to put DS to sleep on his side (he's two weeks old). He has his arms out to the side.

I'm just wondering as he seems to settle a lot better on his side rather on his back.

Sorry I meant 'rather than on his back'.

Yes but only if you are sure he couldn't roll onto his front. (That's the only danger with side sleeping) Also don't use anything like a pillow to 'prop' him up to sleep on his side as it could be a suffocation risk. :)

My paediatrician said not to, as they can easily roll onto their stomachs from that position. However my midwife recommended it for the first five weeks, saying alternating sides would prevent baby's head going flat on the back. She suggested putting a rolled-up towel in front of the baby (not in front of the face, obviously) if we were concerned about them rolling onto their stomachs.

I put dd to sleep on one side in the carrycot during the day and the other side in the cot at night. She liked to sleep with her nose pressed into the side of the cot, which panicked me at first, but every time I moved her away she would somehow inch back again. She only stopped once she was able to roll and started sleeping on her stomach (7 months iirc).

I think as long as you know your baby and your instinct tells you he is safe, then it's fine. BUT I'm not a medical professional and I know the official advice is "back to sleep".

I put DD to sleep in her side as she settled so much better that way, I made sure her arms were always in front of her and she naturally slept with her knees bent. On a couple of occasions I did put a rolled up towel in front of her tummy.

She was in a moses basket at the time and once she moved into a cot at 4 weeks she decided she preferred being on her back with arms out sideways.

It's not recommended but DH and I balanced the need for her to get some sleep against the risk, it's an individual decision for each of us

one of the mw put my ds to sleep on his side in the hospital, I do it occasionally.

My DD would only sleep on her side for first 6 weeks of life. I rolled up a small blanket on popped it infront of her so that she couldn't roll onto her front. Her pediatrician said this was absolutely fine.

Then one day I put her down on her side and she was clearly very unhappy, put her on her back and she fell fast asleep and that's the position she's slept in ever since - bizarre!

side sleeping doubles the risk of SIDS and sleeping on the front increases the risk by a factor of five.

So it's really a question of personal choice and risk assessment. The overall numbers are very small ( if there are no other rosk factors) so even on the side a doubled risk is still very low.

My second slept on her side and my third is sleeping on her front as they both had reflux. I took a calculated risk but my third could roll from her front to her back at 5 weeks!

I put my dd to sleep on her side from day one in the hospital. She is now 5 months old and still sleeps on her side. I started this as she was sick when I was in the hospital with her and I couldn't reach her, so this worried me that she would choke.

I told the midwives what I was doing and they were perfectly happy with it.

i did this with ds1 as he had some breathing problems that were alleviated slightly by him being on his side.

midwives told me it was not as safe as sleeping on his back, but safer than on his tummy

i used to roll up a blanket and put one each side of him, then a cover over the top tucked under the mattress to keep him secure!