Putting baby to sleep on tummy

TokochickUK

My younder sister died of SIDS when she was just 3 months old. DS slpet on his back no problems ds2 had issues sleeping and didn not want to be put down, I swaddled him and he had a dummy (ds1 did not) as well as having an apnear monitor which had a sensor sticky pad we had to tape to his abdomen to keep track of his movements. I understand a new mum so wanting to sleep, but guidelines show it really can decrease the risk if they sleep on their backs and feet to foot. Grow bags are great also, as you can tuck the feet or growbag into bottom of cot and it helps keep them in one place. I spent most of the first 6 months awake most nights with both. When they learnt to roll over they could sleep home they wanted, untill then I would always place them on their backs and keep them there.

Bun

I can't find the link, but re-cot death, it seemed to be linked to the gasp reflex. In babies with this, a lull in breathing results in a sharp intake of breath, keeping everything going. In cot death babies this apparently doesn't happen, so if on the tummy this makes it worse. I believe there is a genetic link, hence several cot deaths in one family. It was on the BBC.

Found it http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4708086.stm

This is why some women can have four babies, sleep on tummies, all fine, some women one, sleep on tummy, not fine. We have had a cot death in our family so no way was I going to risk it.

My mum kept saying that some of these guidelines are too OTT when I was pregnant, but the research in the last thirty (ahem) years must back a lot of this up. For example, apparently some women can drink alcohol everyday when pregnant, some have one unit a week and the baby is damaged, the same as how some people get liver disease from little alcohol. Personally, I would rather follow some guidelines that are a bit inconvenient rather than find out that me and my child were the unlucky ones, and that something that I did caused it.

natalie1974

I think that people posting on here saying how we should all follow the guidelines etc etc are forgetting one thing here , none of us have said put baby to sleep on its tummy and just leave it to its own devices . I suggested that if baby settles in that position then fine , but use a monitor and a blooming good one at that , with sensor pads that detect if the baby stops breathing , then an alarm sounds after 20 seconds .

Never would I have put DD1 or DD2 to sleep on their tummy without a monitor , albeit that they both settled on their backs anyway .

Anyway , to the OP , here are a few "tips" that I found out whilst researching DD2's hidden reflux ( the bile comes up into the throat and sits there and burns ) unlike normal reflux where the baby will projectile vomit .

1 . Raise the head end on the baby's moses basket or cot , I done this using 2 yellow pages under each leg of the cot either side .

2 . Don't pat baby's back and jig up and down when winding them . Instead once you have finished feeding them gently rub baby's left hand side up and down to bring the wind up . The jigging about and patting the back can irritate baby's stomach .

3 . Then I used to place DD2 into her chair http://www.woolworths.co.uk/ww_p2/product/index.jhtml?pid=50837093 , like this one and gently raise it so her head was slightly above the rest of her body , this way the reflux could not travel back up .

4 . I changed her milk to a special reflux/anti-posseting milk called ENFAMIL AR , it thickens once inside the baby's tummy to 10 x the thickness and helps to absorb the extra acid .

I done all of this and by 9 weeks she was sleeping through the night , on her back but still with a monitor that detects baby's breathing as I believe that if a baby is going to stop breathing it will wether it be on its front , back or side .

None of us are stupid , we are all adults who know what they guidelines are but not all guidelines work for everyone .

All of this is just my opinion though .

Natalie

nearlyrich

I'm not going to post any advice as my baby is 20 next week but I hadn't spotted until reading this thread that Baby Becles had arrived so I just wanted to say congratulations to all of you, I bet the boys are over the moon with their little sister!

Becles

Elle83 wrote: »

not once of a Mother dying from sleep deprivation.

I had a very difficult pregnancy with severe oedema, SPD and polyhydamnios, to the point where my body was literally splitting open with all the extra fluid. The two weeks before she was born were filled with stress and worry as I was told my baby might be disabled (she's not!), and then going through a very tiring 22 hour labour. I never got much sleep in hosptial as she's 4 weeks premature, so there was a contstant stream of hospital staff poking both of us about day and night.

I'm not 100% recovered. As well as the usual after birth niggles, my body is still swollen with extra fluid, I'm still getting SPD pain and I've a history of PND which I don't want to get again. Therefore I need rest and can't cope with getting no sleep during the night, and no chance to catch up on sleep during the day due to noise from builders next door and looking after my other young children.

Such sanctamonious responses are upsetting rather than being helpful.

Thank you so much to everyone else for the supportive responses. It's much appreciated.

Spendless

Becles, could you go to your parents house after the older ones have gone to school. Could you get some rest there whilst your neighbours have building work going on?

needmoney

nearlyrich wrote: »

I'm not going to post any advice as my baby is 20 next week but I hadn't spotted until reading this thread that Baby Becles had arrived so I just wanted to say congratulations to all of you, I bet the boys are over the moon with their little sister!

I missed it too so Congratulations Becles and I hope you're better soon.

carolwat

I agree completely with Becles, certain things have been said on here that have made my blood boil. If someone has something helpful to say then great but if not then say nothing at all. Becles has had a rough few weeks and without rest and proper sleep who is anyone to say she wont die. Who knows what lies on store for someone. Mothers do die, they commit suicide from lack of sleep so dont come on here posting rubbish. I have had a baby that was three months prem and having slept on his belly throughout his stay in special care he refused to sleep any other way and the only way to rest was to let him do that. I had also had to say goodbye to his twin brother after 7 hours and attend his funeral a week after giving birth, without letting my son sleep on his belly I think I would have died with the pure grief and exhaustion I experienced but hey who cares eh because the guidelines say dont do it. I did it and I dont regret it and I encourage a mother to go with her gut instinct. These days its a wonder how any of manage to survive with all the dos and donts. Im here and I slept on my stomach along with many other members of my family who never had a problem.

Becles you do what is right for you and your little girl and ignore those who have nothing better to do than to critisise when really they have no idea what its like to be in our position.

Thank you to those who have helped Becles.

Carol

jamgirl

my youngest, who is now 7, would only settle on his tummy. (still sleeps like that now)
he also slept better when his face was covered :eek: .
he started doing this as soon as he was old enough to move the sheets himself. we always kept an an eye on him and would move the sheet away from his nose and mouth but the looks we would get when was in his pram!!
but the minute we moved it completely he would wake screaming.

i put it down to him being such a big baby (11lb and 62cm) and squashed inside of me. he got used to it!

with perserverance we managed to get him sleeping on his back but we kept him in his moses basket until he really couldn't stay there any longer. he seemed to like the enclosed space. we also bought a soft baby lamb, which was very smooth and suitable from birth, which we would lay beside him. once he was in a deep sleep we would move it.

as soon as he was old enough to roll he slept on his tummy. i used to turn him back but he would wake. so after a few sleepless nights and a distraught baby we left him to his own devices. i did use the baby monitor longer than i had with the older two though and didn't get a good nights sleep for a long, long time!!

kimmy310

I took some advice and have purchased an Amby Nature's Nest which is supposed to help fussy babies to sleep and relieve colic.

I'm a bit of a stickler to all the recommendations and even though my first baby isn't born yet I've found there are certain things I won't compromise on and that's safety (although I can understand that lack of sleep is a huge dilemma). I'm not sure if this will work for me if I have a baby that hates to sleep on their back but it might be something worth considering to help baby to sleep.

Everyone that has used one has nothing but praise for its ability to comfort baby as it's meant to mimic the womb environment. I picked a second hand one up from eBay for about £100, they are around £145-180 new depending on where you get one from and meant to last up to about 12months. Hope this helps.