sleeping on tummy at 23 weeks

[hogshead]

Hello
please could anyone offer my DH and I some advice on tummy sleeping?

DS is 23 weeks old and has been rolling both from back to front and front to back since 21 weeks old which wasn't a problem at night until he recently outgrew his moses basket. We've since been putting him in his cot but this has given him more room and since then we've struggled to get him to sleep on his back anymore - even if we put him down asleep he rolls over to his front. (we use a sleeping bag at night but this doesn't pose a problem when rolling!)

Developmentally DS can straighten his elbows and lift his head clear of the mattress but prefers to sleep face down (cue wrinkled face in the morning!)

DH (bless him) is worried about SIDS(particularly because most of the advice we've found says sleeping on back until 6 months) but i'm inclined to think that there isn't alot more we can do - we've got one of those `all singing all dancing' monitors with a sleep pad underneath which detects movement (i admit there's a slight smugness on my part as DH did moan a little at the price when i bought it) and DS can roll back if he chooses but as ever any advice would be gratefully received

thanks

If he's getting himself into that position and can easily get himself onto his back again, then don't worry. 23 weeks is so close to 6mo as well.

Reduce any other risks you can (the grobag is good, no chance of him getting all tangled up)

Just remembered - when DS was slightly younger than this and rolling onto his front (but couldn't right himself)we used to tuck the bottom of the grobag under the bottom of the mattress. my mum thought this was cruel but it worked for a few weeks

I asked my HV the same question when DD was 24 weeks and was told not to worry - when they're nearly 6 months and have enough strength to role both ways (ie front to back, back to front), there's no cause for concern anymore.

The only thing with DD was that she sometimes forgets how to roll back again when it's the middle of the night & shouts for us to come in to help her.

We started doing the same as PureAsTheColdDrivenSnow (tucking the grobag into the bottom of the mattress) and it seems to be working.

A friend of a friend of mine actually bought a slightly larger grobag and used to safety pin her DS1 to the mattress... No comment on that one

safety pin? heh.. not sure i'd go that far

yes - we went up to the next size grobag so there was plenty to tuck in

thank you for your replies - i hadn't thought of trying the bigger grow bag and tucking that in so will give that a go!