Front Sleeping

[NobbyD]

Hi all, My newborn is now two weeks old and in the last few days has been very very grizzly, wanting to be at the breast for hours without really feeding and refusing to sleep/nap.

When placed on his back he wriggles with his hands and legs flailing and kicks out of any attempt at swaddling. If we turn him onto his front though he falls asleep within a minute. I know that this increases the risk of SIDS and is not something we are very comfortable doing so I suppose my question is.. is there anyway we can 'train' him to sleep on his back or make front sleeping safe?

Thanks, sorry if that's a bit long.

You could try him on his side, with a towel or similar rolled at his back and front as a "wedge" to stop him rolling to front. He may prefer side sleeping to back.

Does he have wind? Babies will prefer to be on their tummies if they have wind. Have you tried Infacol or similar before a feed and ruled out slight reflux and all those things which might make him uncomfortable? Cycling his legs gently could help to release any lower abdominal discomfort. (Sorry can't be more help in this area, but have no experience of it.)

DD2 never settled on her back though and I figured that having her sleep outweighed the small increased risk of SIDS. A small increased risk factor, in something where the risk is small to begin with. However, some people aren't comfortable with that. Nobody in my house smokes, DD2's room was cool, she had the right amount of nightwear/ blankets etc, so I was fine with it.

Otherwise, have you tried rubbing his tummy when you lay him down? Or swaddle him without his arms in so there is slight pressure on his tummy from the swaddling?