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Sleep

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Original poster

Did anyone put their baby to sleep on his front before you were 'allowed'? When is it advised to wait until?

39 replies

BellaBear · 28/03/2008 11:59

And did it help or did it just make you stressed?

DS (10 weeks) has reflux and is a terrible sleeper. At the moment we are trying to get him to sleep in his chair to keep him upright, but he isn't sleeping more than 2 hours at a go.

GP is adamant we shouldn't but everyone with experience of reflux says it's the only way they will sleep, or that once they were old enough to sleep on their front they slept much better.

DH really doesn't want to. I've put him down on his front a few times in the day and he feels much more comfortable.

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

littleboo · 29/03/2008 08:38

My DD1 just always slept with her bottom stuck up in the air, and even carried on as a toddler. Don't know if it had anything to do with the fact that i always sleep better on my front ( can't sleep on my back)

Original poster

BellaBear · 29/03/2008 08:40

last night he slept on his side next to me which is a huge improvement (in that he was horizontal not propped up) but unfortunately meant I hardly slept, i was so uncomfortable!

OP posts:

Original poster

BellaBear · 29/03/2008 08:41

i sleep on my front as well

OP posts:

littleboo · 29/03/2008 08:42

Oh bella I feel sorry for you, its so difficult not getting any sleep, are you able to nap during the day at all.

talkingmongoose · 29/03/2008 08:43

DD sleeps on her stomach and always has, nothing else worked. You can see the difference in her head shape, her head is oval, like mine, her little friends are much more flat headed at the back with moon faces.

Gentleotter, you have a 25 year gap? Wow!

I have a twelve year gap between my two, and thought things had changed!

littleboo · 29/03/2008 08:45

talking mongoose, yes you're right about the head shapes, mine, all 3 have very oval heads not at all flat

Flight · 29/03/2008 08:46

Well, Ds1 wouldn't settle unless he was on his front, and no matter how many times I put him on his back, he would roll over to his tummy again.

I just decided I was NOT going to worry about it because he obviously needed to be that way up!

He is still alive 5 years later so I guess that's a good sign.

Original poster

BellaBear · 29/03/2008 08:47

Flight - how old was he when he started rolling onto his front?

OP posts:

Flight · 29/03/2008 09:01

I honestly can't remember - a few months I guess - but before that he would only sleep on his front, anyway, so I just used to lie him down that way

He was like a little snail, bottom in the air. It was very sweet.

Flight · 29/03/2008 09:02

Ds2 will not sleep on his front at all, which surprised me - there I was all set to use my 'trick' and he wouldn't do it!!!

pinata · 29/03/2008 12:37

DD (16 weeks) has slept on her front pretty much since birth. she hated sleeping on her back and still won't. when she was really tiny, she looked incredibly uncomfortable on her back, as her head would flop all the way to the side

DH wanted to just go for it, but i tested it first just for naps in the day. she immediately slept for hours and it was therefore not a difficult decision to do it at night as well. she couldn't lift her head at that point, but just naturally slept with it to the side

some babies don't like sleeping on their back. if there are no other SIDS risk factors (smoking, premature etc) then it's worth considering.

we never got a monitor - a friend had one for her back-sleeping baby and stopped using it, as it would trigger incorrectly.

if you're worried, try it during the day, when you're there and take it from there, i would say

Joash · 29/03/2008 12:38

My 3 all slept on their fronts from birth, GS prferred his side.

pinata · 29/03/2008 12:39

oh, and the SIDS stats are something like an overall 0.04% risk of SIDS for all babies. obviously terrible, but really very tiny.

which way they sleep is just one of several considerations. we knew the chances of a sleepless night were 100% if DD slept on her back, so we just weighed it up and decided what was best for us

CocoDeBearisCocoDeBear · 29/03/2008 12:44

My DD2 would not sleep at all except on her tummy, so we started putting her on her tummy very quickly, as I decided the risk of SIDS was cancelled out by the risk of me and DH going insane if we didn't get some sleep. She startled herself awake.

My mum was advised to put me on my tummy in the 70s, that was the advice then... Only you can decide what's right for you, the stats indicate there is an increased risk of SIDs for tummy sleepers, but I know an awful lot of people who have gone ahead anyway.

Once they can roll it's not a problem.

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