Considering putting baby on tummy to sleep

[CountrysideVibes]

I am considering putting my 3 month old on her tummy to sleep. I do this for supervised naps already and she is able to move her head from side to side easily.

I am thinking of doing this because she doesn't settle well on her back as he arms flail and she wakes herself up. I normally end up sleeping with her in the bed on my chest from around 2am onwards as it is literally the only way I can get any sleep. I feel that it is surely safer for her to be in her next to me cot on her tummy rather than on her tummy and on my chest!? I know neither are ideal but I'm not sure what else to do.

She cannot roll yet but has had a strong neck since birth really - she likes and is good at tummy time and as I've said I have seen her move her head side to side very easily when napping on her tummy.

Any experience / thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

YABU.
She won’t know to move her head if her O2 levels drop.

https://www.thebump.com/a/baby-sleeps-on-stomach#
One of the most concerning aspects of baby sleeping on their stomach is rebreathing. This happens when exhaled air—which can get trapped around baby’s face—is inhaled again. “This air is lower in oxygen and higher in carbon dioxide, which can cause the oxygen levels in the blood to drop,”

I wouldn't, there's a reason the advice changed.

Can you try swaddling?

Guess what year the back to sleep campaign started?

Putting your baby to sleep on their front is negligent. How would you live with yourself if she died?

It is totally against safe sleeping guidelines.
I did it with DS1, as he just never slept - like he did 6 hours sleep per 24 hours at 1 month old. I was a danger to him as i was so sleep deprived. He would sleep for a hour or 2 on a person.
By putting him on his front I actually got to sleep in blocks of a hour sleep between about 11pm (when he stopped cluster feeding) and 4am when he was up for the day. He perhaps averaged 12 hours sleep a day on his front. Tummy sleeping increases the risk of cot death, however.

I nap my children on their tummies - always supervised with me right next to them - but I daren't do it overnight. The risk just isn't worth it to me. During the day I'm by their side the whole time.

It's also really unsafe to sleep with her lying on your chest - look up the Safe Sleep Seven, you might find it easier and safer to set the bed up for co-sleeping. Otherwise I would just stick it out - it sucks but I want my babies to be as safe as can be. Does she wake properly when she flails or is she just grousing? Often they'll settle themselves back off given a minute or two.

Not something I would do as baby deaths dropped significantly when babies were put to bed on their backs.

I wouldn't. I didn't follow the safe sleeping advice perfectly during the hellish days of silent reflux before medication, but I wouldn't do this. I'm sorry. It will get better

The startle reflex is normal she will outgrow it soon. The rolling thing is that once they can roll they will roll onto their fronts not that it's safe to put them on backs. Just put her on her back and work through it

Nope! Not worth the risk.

You clearly already know it's not the guidance, as you're asking the question.
If the alternative is that or chest sleeping, have a look at @cosleepy on instagram as it shows how you can make chest sleeping safer.

Clearly the safest thing is if baby will sleep on their backs in their crib. But it's better to do what you're doing as safely as possible rather than accidentally falling asleep with baby in an unsafe position (eg falling asleep on a chair with baby is very dangerous). My first baby wouldn't slept without being held for months and it is absolutely exhausting.

Part of the point is that they don’t deep sleep on their back, it’s an element of the protective features of the safer sleeping guidelines, along with not too hot etc.

I wouldn’t break them, I’d be too heartbroken if anything were to happen.

I wouldn't. It's the main intervention which has reduced the level of cot death.

It's very unsafe to have her sleep on your chest. It takes one wrong roll or move if you're very tired and could end in tragedy.

Definitely not! Try swaddling. I swaddled mine with a large very light muslin or a very thin sheet I found in a charity shop.

Why would you risk it?!

Madness

@MrJollyLivesNextDoor my original post literally sets out the reason.

Unhelpful.

Everybody else, thank you for explaining your points, all noted. Going to do my best to preserve despite a serious lack of sleep, and will try and be strict about no chest sleeping (easier said than done now it's 2am and I am struggling to settle her!).

Also to note - when I chest sleep the bed is set up for cosleeping per guidelines. She just won't even go on her back next to me!

Solidarity mama I'm currently due To my Almost 1 year old going though a hate the cot phase so he's
In our bed and I just don't sleep well at all when he's
In here haven't slept a wink so far

Honestly that’s the one thing I absolutely didn’t do, there’s just so much evidence against it. I know it’s so hard when they won’t sleep except on you. Have you got a partner to share the night duties with?

My son would only really sleep on his front and it was a nightmare.. I couldn't sleep if he was on his front because I was so anxious about cot death. So either I was awake because he wasn't sleeping or I was awake because I was staring at him sleeping tp make sure he didn't suffocate on his front.

The only sleep I ever got was when DH was off and looked after him overnight and I went in the spare room.
I feel your pain.
Luckily my daughter was fine sleeping on her back.
It doesn't last forever tho I think it's a lot safer once they actually learn to roll. Just hang in there

One of the things with cot death is that the baby sleeps too deeply and then doesn’t wake up. That startle reflex they do on their back is the very thing that keeps their sleep lighter and protects them.
You have my sympathies. It’s hard enough trying to get enough sleep with a newborn despite the extra difficulties

I put my DD to sleep on her front when she was exactly 3 months after advice from the GP. She was in so much pain when on her back due to her wind, it was really hard to listen too. The two first nights she slept on her front, I stayed awake the whole night and watched her. She was great at lifting her neck and turning her head over so I felt slightly more reassured. I still woke up about 3 times a night to look at her in her cot but she slept much better whilst on her front.

That was my experience and I’d definitely do it again if the circumstances were the same

Have you tried swaddling? My older 2 would only sleep swaddled up with their arms in. There are suits you can get now too.

my dd started rolling on her own at 3 months. I’d put her down for a sleep and she’d roll onto her tummy herself and go to sleep. I eventually gave up turning her back over because it would wake her up and then she’d cry and turn over again. I’m not sure if they are still ok to use but there used to be these wedge things too that put them a little on their side but stop them rolling over

We used to swaddle her but stopped doing that as it didn't seem to get on with her. So haven't swaddled since she was about 2 weeks.

Hesitant to try that again as she is so wriggly I don't think she will be far off rolling anyway and would just have to stop then!

She has managed to sleep in her cot for 45 minutes tonight but was so noisy I haven't been able to sleep at all myself.

She has just woken up now with some massive farts 🙄

Any tips for a windy and gassy babe? She does seem to wake herself sometimes with trumps or top wind

if she is gassy that might be why she seems more settled on her tummy. They scrunch up legs and it’s more comfortable. Is she breastfed? Might be something you are eating. Or if she’s formula fed maybe try a different one, some do make them gassy.

Unpopular post alert: DD1 slept on her front. She had CMPA and silent reflux and I made the informed decision when she was about 1 month old to put her to sleep her on her front (or she would be in bed beside me, on her back). I knew it was against guidelines but I was losing my mind and I felt comfortable with the risk. There are other risks for SIDS too- smoking household, not being breastfed, low birth weight - and we didn't have any of those risks in our case. I felt fine with it, but it's obviously a personal decision.