My baby only sleeps on his front

[GabrielsMama]

My son is 24 weeks today, and literally for the first two months he was born he would not sleep, to the point my mum had to move in with us and take shifts, until one day I put him on his tummy (supervised) as it’s how I slept and he slept like a baby for the first time. I tried to put him on his back as recommended every single night but he genuinely wouldn’t sleep unless he was on his front so I stayed awake most nights to monitor him (along with sensor pads underneath his mattress). Now that he’s 6 months old, he will either only sleep on his tummy or if he’s on his back, with a pillow under his head (he likes the feel of the pillow; it’s memory foam so not soft and fluffy like a normal pillow).

I’m aware of the risks of SIDS and I haven’t slept in months because of this. Now that he can roll over if I put him on his back he rolls over to his tummy anyway but can’t roll back just yet.

Anyone else experienced this problem?

My understanding is that once they can roll tummy sleeping is fine??

My friend had this with one of her twins. In end she put one down on her front as that was the only way she slept. The mummy didn’t for a long time....
but the one on front always slept the best

Certainly don’t recommend it but try and do what is safe and minimise the risks as best you can

My dd2 slept on her front from early on, it was the only way she could put her fingers in her mouth, to suck them. We put an angelcare monitor under her mattress. She slept through at 9 weeks.

It is true, that once they can roll, it’s not much of a problem.

Yes my baby woke up 10 - 20 minutes after being put down on her back. After 6 weeks I started putting her on her tummy. It was very stressful but I decided the risk of me doing something very dangerous like crashing the car or falling asleep feeding on the sofa due to extreme sleep deprivation was higher than the very small SIDS risk, especially as she slept right next to me in a bedside crib.
She's much older now and we had no problems.
You son should be fine now if he can roll anyway. Try not to worry

I don't really know what to suggest with this, maybe ask your health visitor? I would just do your best to minimise risk? Have you tried a sleepyhead? Could help to stop rolling and snuggle him to sleep on his back?

Once they can roll over themselves it's safe to let them roll onto their tummies to sleep. They will have developed enough neurologically to protect their airways at that stage. My son was like this. In fact, he only started sleeping longer than 20 mins at a time when he started rolling himself over. He would instantly roll over as I put him into the cot.

Once he can roll it’s absolutely fine. No need to turn him back

Two disclaimers:
No swaddling
Lose the pillow

No cot bumpers either!

Stick to a low tog rated baby sleeping bag that is the correct size.

I put DS2 on his tummy from about day 3. I could see he was going the same way as DS1 and I wasn't prepared to endure another 6 months of non sleeping till he could roll over for himself.

Just be sensible- no teddy's or pillows.

You have a sensor mat so get some sleep!

Both my kids only slept from birth at their tummies ( now 18 and 20 yo).
Yours is 6 months old. Is he turning yet?

agree! Go with the tummy sleeping and give yourself some much needed rest mumma!

My DS randomly started to tummy sleep at about 5 months. We have a sleepyhead and his favourite position is on tummy, bum in the air. Tried without the sleepyhead and he just wouldn’t sleep at all. At first I worried he would get stuck but after a couple of nights of barely any sleep watching him all night on the monitor I could clearly see he could flip himself back and forth easily, and sometimes in the morning he was on his back again. I know it not following the SIDS guidelines but we all have to do what we feel is best for your babies and it’s our judgement to make.