Sleeping on Stomach - Minneapolis,MN

Yep! I had the same problem with my daughter who is now 10 months. I called her doctor and she said that still lay the baby down for sleep on his/her back, but if they roll over that is fine. Laying her down on her back eventually made bed time harder and I put her down on her stomach now. And I know a few other moms who have done the same thing! Hope this helps!

My son at about the same age did that to and I just keep every thing out of his bed even the bumper pads are out too. Because his dr said no bumper pads no matter what.

one thing taht may help you feel better is to have him in a sleep sack and have no other items in the crib. check out halo sleep systems/sacks. Our little ones used these for 1 1/2 years and often rolled to tummy, but knowing their SIDS risk was so lo due too our having them in the sleep sack, eased my worries.

Hi D.. I worried about the same thing when my son started rolling over...some nights I still worry about it! But I was told by my doctor just to put him to sleep on his back and however he rolls, he rolls and that is ok. When they are able to roll and move on their own, it greatly reduces the risk of SIDS. I would not use any sleep positioners or anything like that. I would just let her sleep how she wants to sleep.

I have went through SIDs training and they say if the child is old enough to roll over then it is ok to let them sleep that way. I would still put the baby to bed on his back. Make sure there is not blankets or toys that he can suffocate on.

My daughter is now 10 months old and she has been sleeping on her stomach since day one. Doctors are always changing their minds on how children should be sleeping. On their side, on their stomach, on their back. People have put the fear of God into us about SIDS and everything else. You're child is going to sleep how they want to sleep. Why make them change that?

Hi D.!

I had the same situation with my youngest! As soon as she was able to roll over, she would always stay on her tummy to sleep. Even to this day she only sleeps on her tummy.

I did talk to my doctor about it (being the worrywort that I am!) and he said that it's fine. Just put your little one to sleep on his back and if he rolls over on his own it's ok.

I guess the main reason for 'Back to Sleep' is that really little babies don't have the neck control to lift their heads. So if they should happen to spit up while being on their tummy they might have breathing trouble (not to mention that some newborns also have some chest congestion as well).

I'm sure everything will be fine!

I would let him sleep on his stomach. If you are putting him to bed on his back and he's rolling to his stomach he's reducing the SIDS chance by being able to move on his own. Is he able to roll from his stomach to his back? If so I'd say leave him. As most everyone else has said... be sure there aren't blankets and stuffed animals in the crib and if you have a bumper on the crib you might want to consider removing that as well as he could get caught in it now that he is able to move around. Also you might want to give a call to your pediatrician or the nurse and ask what they recommend you do.

Yes he's able to move himself reducing the risk of sids. I'd heard of people being paranoid and rolling their babies back to their back. And 5min. later the baby rolls back on to their tummy. It's kinda out of your hands once they become independantly moving and rolling. If my baby did that I'd leave her on her tummy. They've just recently have had a ton more research and studies and have changed their medical opinions on SIDS. They are now saying alot of stuff is safe when they said it wasn't before.

I have three kids and from day 1 my oldest two refused to sleep on their backs. They had to be on their stomach's or they would not sleep. All of my children are very strong for their age. My youngest is only 2 and a half months old and he has been rolling over for two weeks now. I think if your son has a strong neck and can hold his own head up really well he should be o.k. to sleep on his stomach.

Although I understand your concern, I can tell you that my son did the exact same thing and I kept trying to roll him over during the night just to find him on his belly 5 minutes later. Don't worry, my son is now 7 months and still sleeping on his stomach and he is fine!

Dear D. J.

Our child did the same. But we learned to do the following things: The best was to use a Sleepsack which basically is a blanket that comforts the baby. We used it with our child till she was almost 2! the other thing is to buy inexpensively side "boosters" that keep the child from easily rolling over!

If a child did have the problem of the breathing issue they probably would not be able to just roll on the back or side again to correct it! It is rebreathing of their own breath basically and depletes the air and increase the CO2. I was a Dentist and now starting a Baby to Child's online mall and would not let my own child sleep on her stomach! The name of my startup company is BabY-CooP CluB. I learned about the sleep sack from our Daycare Center first and then going to the International Juvenile Products Manufacturer Association meetings! http://JPMA.org PS you might have heard about that when Consumer Reports studied in their own way car seats and the JPMA managed to get the well respected Consumer Reports to retract their "findings" for now till they do more carefull research and study of the issues they think they found but has not been reported as an actual problem for years and years! But SIDS is known to be a real issue! This is one of the top brands: Halo sleepsack

Sweet Dreams...Safe Sleep For Babies
CPSC, Industry & Safety Groups Mark Baby Safety Month With Safe Sleep Campaign
http://classaction.findlaw.com/recall/cpsc/files/2002sep/...

Sincerely,
Steven & J.
BabY-CooP CluB

D.,

My daughter is 6 1/2 months old and has been sleeping on her stomach since she was born. Everytime I tried to put her on her back she screamed until I put her on her stomach. My dr wasn't to happy with that but my daughter was comfortable that way and slept. Now that she is older my dr isn't too concerned because she can roll over. If your child is comfortable that way I wouldn't worry about. I even have her bumper and 3 soft little dolls in her crib that she plays with when she wakes up.

Hope this helped
L.

I am big on SIDS risks, but once your baby starts rolling overe there;s nothing you can do and he's past the age of high risk for SIDS (2-4months). Just keep pillows, stuffed animals and so on out of the crib.

Hi, D....

Our son did the same thing around the same time frame...maybe a few weeks before that. It worried me a lot, so we asked the doc. Our ped said that if you start them on their back and they can get themselves to their tummy on their own that they'll be fine. :) Blessings,
V.

They do keep changing their minds & how to have your baby sleep & the current way is to keep them on their backs. Once they start rolling over on their own, then let them roll. Putting the fear into one is because that's a possible cause for SIDS. We had a close friend who lost their 2mo old, while I was pregnant so tell me that doesn't put fear into you. Do what your pediatrician tells you if you don't agree with everyones advice. I was a freak because of our friend but once he started rolling over, I let him roll over.
If you're not comfortable with that, get a SIDS monitor. We've used it since Brandon was born. The SIDS risk is up until age 1 so 2 more weeks & we will no longer use the monitor.

Good luck!

P.

I have a 2 yr old and a 7 month old that have been stomach sleepers since day one. I am a firm believer that kids will sleep how they are comfortable. I would try putting them to bed on their back but they would scream until I turned them. Do what will make your little one comfortable. You both will benefit!! Good Luck

i just saw the doctor for my 7 month old and he said that since she is able to roll over on her own then there is no reason why she cant sleep on her stomach. so the answer to your question is yes it is okay to let him sleep on his stomach. if he can get on his tummy then he can roll back to his back

Hi D.! I'd say if your five month old is strong enough to roll over, he'll be fine to sleep on his tummy. I always put my little guy on his side or back when sleeping and once he was able to move about on his own, he went right to sleeping on his stomach (with his knees tucked up under him). I miss those days of him being little... enjoy! ;o)

Yep. Let him roll. Just make sure that there isn't alot of pillowy stuff around his head...blankets, stuffed animals, etc.