Putting baby to sleep on tummy

Elle00

Eels100 wrote: »

I think all the advice given so far is great and as a first time mum-to-be it's interesting reading, but I'm a little uncomfortable about the suggestion that we need to 'strike a balance between convenience and safety'. For a mum recovering from a difficult pregnancy with other young children and a new baby to care for, sleep is far from a mere convenience - indeed it's vital so that everyone who needs to be cared for gets that care, including mum! Surely this balance has to be between minimising baby's distress, allowing mum some essential rest and safety?

In my opinion (and as a complete baby-novice!) I think guidelines are just that and it's up to each person to find their comfort zone. Indeed, cot death is a diagnosis of exclusion and post-mortem evidence of suffocation is rarely found in these cases. Without dismissing valid research I think any parent with reasonable intelligence can make their own decision based on the evidence and experience available.

I think in this situation there are lots of ways (many have been suggested) to compromise without taking unnecessary risks.

Excuse me but I offered a perfectly valid suggestion for getting around the situation without compromising on safety which beats telling a new Mother it's fine and dandy to risk her child's life as so many posters have.

Having suffered from domestic violence, PND and had an emergency caesarean I think I know perfectly well how important sleep is. But whereas my "gut instinct" might have been to ignore my baby when he cried and get on with having a good night's sleep or not bother buying an expensive monitor to ensure his safety, I recognised the fact that my baby was completely dependant on me to ensure all his needs were met before my own.

I've heard of many children dying from suffocation but not once of a Mother dying from sleep deprivation. And again, I offered a perfectly good solution to the problem so I'm sorry you felt the need to attack me out of context.

comping_cat

My DS was a nightmare sleeper and he hated being on his back - if he wasnt being cuddled by me (and only me) he cried. I ended up letting him sleep on his side, propping him up with a blanket to stop him rolling on his front - my HV wasnt impressed, but it worked for me, and more importantly him.

claireandella

My little girl prefers to sleep on her front and rolls into this position, with her bottom in the air, every night. Before she was big enough to roll over (up to about 4 months), I would lay her down on her front and watch her until she was really asleep and then roll her gently onto her back. She was quite snuffly and I think that lying on her front helped this, as did propping the head end of the crib up on books.

crutches

my babies would only sleep on their tummies first of all.I finally got us both some sleeping by propping myself up and baby slept on my chest (above boobsquashing height!).
It was the only thing to work and with a demanding job and 5 other children I HAD to sleep.I wake instantly to the others anyway so had to trust that this would be the same.
wishing you sleep and happiness.

wifeforlife

Elle83 wrote: »

Excuse me but I offered a perfectly valid suggestion for getting around the situation without compromising on safety which beats telling a new Mother it's fine and dandy to risk her child's life as so many posters have.

Having suffered from domestic violence, PND and had an emergency caesarean I think I know perfectly well how important sleep is. But whereas my "gut instinct" might have been to ignore my baby when he cried and get on with having a good night's sleep or not bother buying an expensive monitor to ensure his safety, I recognised the fact that my baby was completely dependant on me to ensure all his needs were met before my own.

I've heard of many children dying from suffocation but not once of a Mother dying from sleep deprivation. And again, I offered a perfectly good solution to the problem so I'm sorry you felt the need to attack me out of context.

I dont think the comments where directed at you, I think it was generally at the rest of us suggesting the o/p uses her gut instinct .

To be honest, it's different strokes for different folks, but I wont feel guilty or bad by allowing my beautiful daughter to sleep on her tummy and also in bed with me.

OP, enjoy this very special time with your baby, I loved the 1st few months and miss them dearly

Cate

Carmina_Piranha_3

i did that too crutches.

before the rest of thing long post i will just mention grobags if your baby is heavy enough for the minimum weight recommendation. if she falls asleep in a grobag she may not notice being put down in the cot because there won't be a big drop in temp for her. you can buy 1-tog bags for summer.

there's an article about the back sleeping in this month's mother and baby, they're worried about how many people are ignoring the guidelines.

but there were a few things listed, and i've seen threads before now where people said they'd done such-and-such. co-sleepers were slated on a thread once by mums who hadn't followed the rule about keeping baby in your own bedroom for 6 months - so those mums were also ignoring guidelines :rolleyes:

a new mum won't die from lack of sleep but she WILL fall down the stairs while holding the baby, or walk into a doorframe and bash the baby's head. or am i the only person who will admit to it? lack of sleep could have an effect on PND too.

my colicky baby had silent reflux and kept stopping breathing - i was more responsive when he slept on my chest and the warmth certainly calmed him.

luckyme38

I would just like to add that I have four children and they all slept on their tummies, with no problems.

I am sure, during this last year, there was something on the news regarding cot deaths. Cannot remember exact details but I seem to think it was something medical that had been discovered to (possibly) cause the cot deaths.

anguk

It's funny how the guidelines change, when I had my son 20 years ago we were told that under no circumstances should we ever let babies sleep on their back as they could choke if they were sick! We were told by the midwives that baby should be swaddled and go on their side or lie on their tummy with their head to the side. We were also told to eat loads of liver because it was good for us! If I had a baby now I'd have to be re-trained in parenting skills!

morganb

Another thing I did with DS2 was place a wedge pillow underneath his mattress, so raising his head slightly. He was born very 'quickly' i.e. the last stage lasted only about five minutes, so when he was very young it seemed like he had less pressure on his head if he wasn't flat.
But you are apparently not supposed to put cushions directly under the baby as it can increase their body temperature, thus raising risk of cot death, hence why I put it under his mattress. I still do this now if he has a cold or cough.

seven-day-weekend

Yes, I was told to never put my son on his back in case he choked (27 years ago); it was considered the best thing to put them on their sides or stomachs. He had to wear a splint for the first few months, to hold his legs apart as he had clicky hips, so lying on his side was not an option. He always slept on his stomach.

However, he could lift his head to look round from day one!