Tummy sleep

[24hourM0MMY]

I know I'm going to get some negative responses for this. My LO is 6 weeks old and after trying everything to get her to sleep more than an hour at a time, we have started letting her sleep on her belly for naps. She is in the lounge in a pack and play during the day where I can watch her. At night she is swaddled and propped up on her side. She sleeps in our room in a cradle. The night sleep is very erratic but side sleeping gets better results than back sleeping. She also has reflux issues and spits up in her sleep and I often hear her gurgling at night and find that she's got a pool of spit up next to when I get up to check on her. This scares me because I've seen her choke on her spit up when she's been awake and upright. So that's another reason why the tummy sleep seems to suit her better. Anyone else try this? I know its frowned upon but if we're watching her during the day when she's on her belly, surely I can feel okay about it?

Both mine slept on their front.y first slept on our chest for 12 weeks so I figured it was actually safer for him to be in the crib on his front with the angel care monitor on (detects their breathing). He had colic.
I put DS2 on his front from the off as he seemed more comfy. Both babies were very strong and robust tho - ie good neck movement. Do what feels right for you.

OP - It's all about knowing the risks, understanding the risks and then making an informed decision on managing those risks.

There is absolutely no avoiding or denying the huge amount of research that shows over and over again the significant increase in the number deaths when babies are put to sleep on their fronts.

But then parents assess and choose to ignore various risks, including SIDS risks with their babies all of the time. As long as you do this in an informed way, then the choice is personal to you.

There is a risk to your baby sleeping on her tummy. There is also a risk to her sleeping on her side. There is no point you seeking reassurance that its OK to ignore these risks, this will not change the actual risk of death. It is just a personal thing that you need to decide if it is right for you, or not.

It's perfectly OK if you justify to yourself that 'I know the risks and I have decided that this is OK'. But it is not reasonably OK to take risks just based on the fact that other people do. You need to make this very personal decision yourself.

Google the Lullaby Trust for more information on the research and specific risk factors surrounding SIDS

I should perhaps also add some practical help.

Have you tried a dummy? Good for reflux and as an added bonus reduces SIDS risk

If baby is sleeping on her back, you could try raising one end of the crib (by putting books under the legs, or similar) to give a sloped surface for sleeping. This helps reflux and keeping milk down. However it is dangerous to raise one end of the crib when baby is sleeping on front or side.

You could also ask your doctor for some reflux medication for baby.