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.

Really think you should try swaddling again? From the sound of things you've got nothing to lose - she may not like it the first time but persist. Its for wriggly babies. Women have swaddled their babies for centuries because it works.

Have you tried a Love2Dream sleep sack? A bit less restrictive than a swaddle so your DD might find it more comfortable, plus it settles the startle reflelx, but its much much safer than tummy sleeping. If you get the stage 2 ones, the arms zip off so you can keep using it after baby starts to roll.

https://lovetodream.com/gb-en/shop-by-development-uk/stage-2-ready-to-roll

Gripe water is best for wind. They sell it in all big supermarkets, Boots/Superdrug and the majority of pharmacies

I'd also say invest in some earplugs. My daughter was a very noisy sleeper. I had her in a next to me by my bed and she would wake me even when she was asleep with her grunting and snuffling.
I got silicone earplugs. You can still hear if she starts to grizzle or cry.. but it cancelled out the wriggling and grunting in her sleep so I could sleep when she slept even with her crib right beside me.

It’s obviously personal decision but in your shoes I would OP.

You have to balance the increased SIDS risk (which frankly is statistically very small, albeit obviously horrific when it happens) against the risks of you sleeping with DC on your chest, or neither of you sleeping much at all.

The SIDS statistics should really be balanced against the risk of, say, falling down the stairs or dropping the baby or crashing the car due to exhaustion.

Those who can get enough sleep while following the SIDS guidelines should obviously do that. But if it’s a choice between no sleep, or not following the guidelines, I’d ditch the guidelines.

@minipie very logical point

After another rough night waking every 45 mins to 1 hour, and ending up on my chest again at 4am (managed to stick it out longer at least), we have decided that tonight she will go on her front in the cot.

I have ordered an owlet sock to monitor her as well as movement sensor pads (3am impulse purchase when I was at my wits end!). I think using both of these will really reassure me. Along with knowing that the risk of her being on my chest has gone too.

Thanks everybody for your thoughts. Ideally I wouldn't need to do this but just trying to do it as safely as possible so we can all get the sleep we need.