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Sleep

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Original poster

Please Help.......DS 5weeks only settles well when on his tummy :o(

30 replies

kelmcd · 12/10/2007 17:33

OUr 5 week DS is not sleeping terribly well but he seems to settle on his stomach and sleeps a dream. I only ever let him do this when we are sitting on our sofa together and never leave him, I know its not recommended due to cot death but we are at our wits end. Does any one elses LO's settle only on the tummys and if so what do you do? Please please give us some advice

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

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wideload · 12/10/2007 17:59

Try lifting the head end of the mattress up, he might settle on his back then, but if not it (supposedly) makes it safer to sleep on their fronts in this postion, so ds o2 nurse told us.

Original poster

kelmcd · 12/10/2007 19:47

Did your ds2 sleep on his tummy?? did the mattress thing work for him?

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StrawberryMartini · 12/10/2007 19:49

If you can hold out try and keep him on his back, but personally I'd let him sleep on his tummy. I know it's young but that's what we all did. DS was a terrible sleeper until we turned him over at about 7 months. He also had a special pillow which helped him sleep on his side. Loads of people do that in Europe.

Original poster

kelmcd · 12/10/2007 19:51

I would be happy to leave him onhis tummy too, all in my family were tummy sleepers according to my mum. Its just that naggin thought in the backof your mind that if amything were to happen Its just a big toss up of emotions

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TheBlonde · 12/10/2007 19:52

It is hard
I let my 2nd sleep on her tum most of the time as she wouldn't settle otherwise

DaisyWhoooo · 12/10/2007 19:53

Have you tried swaddling him?

FllightAttendant · 12/10/2007 19:53

Ds1 loved to be that way up (down?)

He was much happier curled up like a snail, bum in the air.

Ds2 can't bear it, he is a back-or-nothing sleeper.

I never really worried with ds1, it was his way, he is still here

Original poster

kelmcd · 12/10/2007 19:55

We have a firm mattress and only use the one blanket on him, I believe the cot death is associated with overheating, is that true?

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Original poster

kelmcd · 12/10/2007 19:56

That is the way I am thinking, it literally goes from a screaming match on his back to sleep within two or three pats of his back, he just seems so much more happy Has anyone used those angel pad thingys??

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TheBlonde · 12/10/2007 19:58

info from fsid

Original poster

kelmcd · 12/10/2007 20:04

Thanks for the link, couldnt see the reasons though, will need to have a proper read.

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barbamama · 12/10/2007 20:04

My 6 week old is the same but on his side. He also sleeps better if I put rolled up blankets in at the side of the moses basket. Also against the guidelines I think. We are going with it when necessary i.e if he is really fighting sleep - we had a breathing monitor (this one, v good: www.babymonitorsdirect.co.uk/Babysense_II_Infant_Respiratory_Baby_Monitordeals.htm anyway from ds1 so have that on which is reassuring and in the dead of night he settles ok anyway so we put him on his back then. Have also raised the moses basket up a bit.

wideload · 12/10/2007 20:55

Yeah but ds had been turned from front to side, back then side again for 2 months in the hospital, and so when he got home he needed to sleep on his tum, the nurse said it was ok and if we raised the head it would open the airway, know ds is 10 so the info is old, but .... it worked for him.

As a thought I sleep on my belly and the only disadvantage as I can see in what position you sleep after the danger time is ... if you are female, it is going to be hell on earth when you are pregnant!

Original poster

kelmcd · 12/10/2007 22:09

bump

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DaisyWhoooo · 13/10/2007 11:42

I don't think anybody can say with any certainty that it will definitely be OK for your baby to sleep on his tummy. Nobody knows why it is linked to cot death, but it is more risky than sleeping on the back - the risk is probably about double. Having said that, cot death in itself is very rare, so the absolute chance of it happening to you is very low and sleeping on the back does not completely eliminate it. I believe there is some research that suggests that using a dummy reduces the risk of cot death and might also enable him to settle well on his back?

I think you need to decide whether the risks of him not sleeping well - your tiredness, your ability to function as a mother, his tiredness and happiness etc outweigh the small but real risk by him sleeping on his tummy. I know it's not an easy decision to make.

hmummy · 13/10/2007 19:26

Hi my dd2 prefered to sleep on tum. She has been able to hold up head from birth, so i felt it was a bit safer. She had reflux so I almost felt that it was safer for her, as she used to spew massive amounts and if she was on her back I was worried she would choke. My mum pointed out that we all slept on our tummies. Massive guilt/ sudden panics about what if etc though sometimes. She is 6and a half months now and I have just turned her onto back this week - no problems. Apparently they sleep longer and harder on fronts as there is not as much sensory input and that longer and deeper may increase risks. (excellent video on sleep link posted by someone on earlier discussion) Trust your instincts and dont worry too much, my dd2 is fine!

Heated · 13/10/2007 19:54

Both of mine slept on their fronts.

With ds1 we let him settle on his front (having had him screaming when lying on his back despite warming the cot and endless winding) and then when we came to bed later on we'd flip him on to his back. This was fine until at about 3-4 months he could turn himself & it didn't matter how many times you turned him, 10 minutes later he was back lying on his front. With DD2 we haven't fought it but just ensured she isn't too warm. Babies get clammy if they are too hot.

HysterSister · 14/10/2007 19:23

Could you let him get into a deep sleep on his tummy, then turn him? Maybe he'll just stay asleep.

muppetgirl · 14/10/2007 19:29

I've only read you op as I kow this is a contentious issue

Our ds 1 was the same, it was like flicking a switch
back -scearming
front -sleep

We had some soul searching but in the dh asked if we were in a cave and threw away the books, guidlines, advice what would we do? I said put him on his tummy.

So that's what we did.

We worried until he could roll over by himself but he's never looked back and is still a tummy sleeper to this day -he's 3.7 now.

jorange5 · 14/10/2007 20:54

we put dd on her tummy at around 3 months as she settled much better that way. To ease my worries we got a movement sensor with our baby listener - an alarm goes off if baby stops breathing for more than a few seconds. It is made by tommee tippee i think.

Original poster

kelmcd · 14/10/2007 23:05

I actually went out and bought one of those today just to put our minds at rest and also alow us to get a little more sleep i think alot of it is also the fact that he keeps startling himself awake on his back and then there is no going back thankyou all very much for your views and stories, i'm just glad i'm not the only one out there with this dilemma

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SpookyBearistheSpookyBear · 14/10/2007 23:12

Our dd2 kept startling herself awake when she was very small, and there was one particular night when dh and I got literally 10 mins sleep all night.

I only discovered she preferred her front when I put her on her baby sheepskin for "tummy time" and she conked out immediately!

After that we put her on her tummy for all her sleeps, and she would drift off without a peep. For a while I was flipping her onto her back when I thought she was deeply asleep.

No one can tell you, oh go on, do it, it'll be fine.

In our case, we simply could not survive on the amount of sleep we were getting when we settled DD2 on her back.

meandmy · 14/10/2007 23:23

only read op so sorry if i repeat anything although its not reccomended my dd 16mo has only ever slept on her tummy she never sleeps on her back im a tummy sleeper and when my dd didnt sleep on her back i instinctivly tried her on her tummy after tummy time in the day she slept i just checked on her regular and when she was bigger and rolling id put her on her back and she would roll onto her tummy to sleep you are your ds parent and no one can tell you what is right for your son!

Fizzylemonade · 15/10/2007 10:57

Kelmcd- both my boys only slept on their tummies, I had a sensor pad monitor too for peace of mind. My eldest is now 4 and my wee one is 17 months.

I was also a tummy sleeper. If that is the only way he will sleep then it is better than no sleep and you are aware of the dangers of cot death and what you can do to minimise the risk. Don't beat yourself up about it. You could follow all the guidelines and still have a tragedy.

Original poster

kelmcd · 16/10/2007 11:19

Well, success last night. He slept for three hours between each feed without disruption, sleeping on his tummy We bought the tommee tippee sensorpad thing, best buy we'v made, i also got 3 hours sleep aswell!!

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