Am I just being paranoid?

[celfsh]

Okay, here's the deal. Since Olivia was just a few weeks old, we have been been able to put her down in her crib when she's tired, and she will go right to sleep--she has been doing this since she was just a few weeks old. Lately, however, we have been putting her to bed on her back, and she has started rolling over onto her stomach to go to sleep (quite the amazing feat, actually, since we are still tightly swaddling her!). So my question is: is it safe to leave her on her stomach now, or should I wait until she falls asleep and then roll her back onto her back? She seems so comfortable on her stomach, but I really worry about her safety.

TIA for any advice!

celeste
mom to olivia 9/25/02

[COElizabeth]

James is doing the same thing. Our ped's office said it was okay to leave him there as long as we didn't have soft bedding in, but I have heard different things. Actually, my biggest problem right now is that I think he really wants to sleep on his side, and he gets furious when he rolls onto his tummy. He cries and cries and gets the sheet all wet. He has fallen asleep after rolling onto his tummy a few times, but not always. This morning it took over an hour to get him to sleep for a nap (multiple nursing sessions, mobile playing, then finally falling asleep while nursing). He won't stay on his back, either - I really think he wants to be on his side, which is the position he usually put himself in before he could roll over. Help!

Elizabeth
Mom to James
9-20-02

[danielleh]

Hi,

My DS has started to do this too over the last couple of weeks. I asked our pediatrician at Jimmy's 6 month appointment and he said to continue to put him to sleep on his back, but it was okay to let him sleep however he ended up after that as long as there was no soft bedding in the crib. The first couple of times I found DS on his tummy, it really scared me, but I am getting used to it!

HTH,

Danielle
mom to Jimmy born 8/29/02

[August Mom]

What I would consider if I were you is how well Olivia can roll from her stomach to her back. If she is able to do this, then she has the strength to lift her head up off the mattress if she would start to suffocate. If she isn't proficient at rolling to her back, I would do it for her.

Justin was doing this when he first started being able to roll onto his stomach. However, he hadn't learned to roll from his stomach to his back. So, he was stuck and usually not happy about it so I had to make a number of trips to his room during the night to turn him back over. At least Olivia likes being on her stomach. :)

[brubeck]

My daughter was capable of rolling onto her side whenwe brought her home from the hospital. We got a SIDS positioning pillow (on the advice of our ped) and it worked very well. You can also use it to support the baby so they can sleep on their side.

Eventually she learned how to wiggle out of it but at that point she was old enough that the SIDS risk was minimal.

[Momof3Labs]

I don't know if I would be comfortable leaving a tightly swaddled baby sleeping on her tummy. If she is unswaddled, she could use her arms to lift herself up, if needed. But being swaddled, she can only move her head around (can she even lift it that well while swaddled and on her belly?), I would think. I don't think that it is obviously dangerous, but that one thing would concern me a little more.

[parkersmama]

I agree. The swaddling would be the concerning point to me. Having arms free would make it much easier for her to turn over if she wanted/needed to do so. I don't really know since with both of ours we only swaddled for the first month or two (as long as they would tolerate!). Most babies learn to roll from tummy to back first and learn back to tummy second so I imagine that she can now roll both ways. My pediatrician has always said that once they can roll both ways it is okay (although not optimal) for them to sleep on their tummies. I think once they can roll both ways, SIDS incidence *from that particular cause* is less. They are still at risk for SIDS from other causes (soft bedding, stuffed animals, cigarette smoke, etc.). Will she sleep unswaddled? Maybe now is the time to being that transition? Just a thought. :-)

Denise
mom to:
Parker, 9/1/1997
Wesley, 3/9/2000
and #3 (a girl!) due 4/29/2003

[celfsh]

Thanks for the responses, ladies. I guess I neglected to mention that Olivia can roll both ways (back to stomach and stomach to back) and that when she does roll over onto her stomach, she usually manages to get her arms out and over her head. That said, I would think that she is pretty safe sleeping on her stomach...nevertheless, I probably do need to start weaning her from swaddling :(. It's just that she's always been such a good sleeper, I dread messing that up! We have tried getting her to sleep without being swaddled before, but if we don't swaddle her, she just doesn't seem to get the message that it's bed time not play time. Any suggestions for making this transition easier? I noticed another thread mentioned "Happiest Baby on the Block." I'll have to dig it out again.

celeste
mom to olivia 9/25/02