Putting 6mo asleep on side - is it safe?

[WhyNotSmile]

DS is 6.5 months, and a terrible sleeper (I think due to teething pain at the moment, but if it's not that it always seems to be something else). For a couple of weeks there he was wakening every hour or more, and I was basically getting no sleep at all. He goes to sleep ok, he just doesn't stay asleep for very long.

I've discovered that he seems to sleep better on his side. When I put him into his cot, he usually wiggles a bit; sometimes enough to wake himself up. If I put him on his side he doesn't do this, and seems to sleep soundly. When I feel he's settled, I roll him onto his back and leave him.

Would it be dangerous to leave him on his side? Obviously my main concern is that he'd roll onto his front. He looks like if he wriggled he would end up on his back, not his front ( he sort of lies with his arms stretched out in front, and it looks like it would be very difficult to end up on his front from that position), but I'm not completely sure.

He can't roll over by himself yet (has flipped himself from front to back a couple of times, but not consistently), but he's really good at holding his head up (has had reasonable neck control since he was born, really), so I think if he did end up on his front somehow that at worst he'd just wake up and cry.

Does anyone have any experience of this? Is it safe or not? I'm so exhausted with getting no sleep that I'm desperate for something to work!

Mine is 6.5 months and sleeps every which way. He has always been a mover though and can roll in all directions. I've been letting him sleep on his side since he was about 3 or 4 months. He has allergies and gets very snuffly and congested so it helps his breathing.

Last night I found him with his head where his feet had started at the beginning of the night. He will still wake me up by crying because he is on his tummy and wants to be back on his back and can't be bothered to roll himself.

So no real advice, but I chose to do it for more sleep.

Interesting! Mine doesn't move so much, just wriggles around in the one place. I have tilted his cot a bit to help with reflux, so sometimes I find him in a gap at the bottom, but not often!

• heap, not gap!

Mine is 5mths and has decided over the past couple of weeks that he won't sleep on his back any longer - mostly he turns into his side or his front as soon as I put him down, but even if he falls asleep on his back, he'll invariably be on his side or his front when he wakes. This may be because he's had a cold and a chesty cough, and he finds breathing easier when he's not facing upwards - who knows? Anyway I can't sit up all night next to his cot, flipping him over every time he turns, so I've decided to leave him be, and so far he's been fine.

Unless official advise has changed, I think it is that babies will roll over in the night once they are physically able to. But you should still put them down to sleep on their backs and if you notice they have turned onto their tummy in the night you should turn them over (not stand and watch them incase they turn, but when you notice, turn them back onto their backs).

I realise that rules are there to be broken [devil face], but that's what you should do.

Lots of Mums put babies to sleep on their side/tummy from a very young age. An angelcare monitor might be helpful for reassurance.

But once your DS is reliably rolling, he may well sleep in whatever position he wants to so what position you put him in makes no difference.

Glad you posted this my six month is pretty much doing the same thing at the min. Put her to sleep as you should but she does not stop moving in her sleep and wakes up every hour or so at the mo because shes realised shes rolled from back to front and cant get back. Last night about 1am i put her onto her side and she slept through till 7 so my advice would be let them sleep wherever there comfy they will wake up if they gey stuck.

My 6 month old has been sleeping on his side for a month now. I put him so his arms are in front and the top leg is over the other - basically it's the recovery position. That way, the leg stops him from rolling onto his front, If he kicks his leg back he rolls onto his back and cries. I think at this age it's safe to put them down on their sides if it is what they are most comfortable with.

Mine refused to sleep on his back at all and could roll from about 4 months anyway. He's still a tummy sleeper now at 21 months. Obviously my experience is completely against current advice and you'll need to decide for yourself but sometimes the household needs to sleep!