5.5m sleeping on tummy - do I need a monitor?

[tiokiko]

I've posted before about whether it's ok for my 5.5mo DD2 to sleep on her tummy - basically she is v unsettled and has been since 4m, but if I put her on her tummy she settles instantly.

Others with tummy sleepers all seemed to have movement monitors - do I need this if she sleeps on her front? She has vg head control and can lift her head right up, but can't roll onto her back from her tummy yet.

What's safe? At the moment I'm torn between taking ages to settle her on her back or staying awake to check she's ok then flipping her onto her back once deep asleep - any advice?

As your DD is nearly 6 months, I wouldn't worry about either turning her over or a monitor and would just let her stay as she likes.

my ds2 did this and we bought one of those mat things you put under the baby mattress. Paid £25 of local gumtree. Maybe it was a bit OTT but stopped me waking every half hour and having to peer into cot to check ds2 was still breathing.

We have the angelcare monitor with movement pad and as previous poster has said, it stopped me waking and checking every 5 minutes.

We are also thinking it may prove useful within we take the side off the cot - to spot the runway child!

For what it's worth, DS was on his front/side from about 5 months too.

Are the movement mats pretty reliable? I don't know if it's overkill getting one at this stage or whether it's ok now as azazaello says.

TBH I am so tired at the moment I can't make a decision - just want to get the balance right between staying safe and being OTT.

If she can roll from front to back, then it's safe to let her sleep on her front anyway. FSID still recommend putting them down on their back and letting them find their own sleeping position, but I don't see any difference TBH.

Ah I see you say she can't roll from tummy to back - not sure then, but I expect she will be able to do this very soon, so probably not worth it.

We have had 2-3 false alarms with DS. All caused by the mat moving when bedding was changed, and DS heading up the other end of the bed!

I still work on the principle of better safe than sorry (we even used it in his Moses basket), and I plan to use the mat until he is... oooooh... 30 or so!

We got 2 mats with ours so pretty much covered most of cot. In fact the only time when alarm went off was when id pick ds2 up and forget to switch it off. But most assuring when i did used to wake up in middle of night and see little green light flashing away without having to move out of bed

Carpe that's what I'm thinking - at what point will I throw caution to the wind and get rid of the mat? Yes, 30 seems reasonable...

Thanks all for feedback, still not sure what to do. Her sleep has just gone bananas in the last 6w and I am struggling. Naps are fine though and she sleeps happily on her back then...what to do?!