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sleeping on front ?

hi ladies

i know this is a big no no, but tyler seems so much more settled when he is on his front. at the moment he is asleep next to me on his front. I have a pressure pad sensor which we have never used, do you think its safe to try him sleeping at night like this, is anyone else's LO like this ? He goes pretty long now between feeds but wakes up in the nights grunting and wriggling like he's in pain but sleeps lovely on us on his front, tapping his back seems to alleviate this pain and he goes back to sleep so no idea if this is wind, colic or reflux. He is going in his cot bed tonight in a sleeping bag and i'm going to sleep in the room with him until he gets used to it, so am wondering if the combination of front sleeping, cot bed, and sleeping bag means that he will be more comfortable and sleep for longer.

sarah+tyler(7 weeks today)

Replies

  • I would be a little wary of front sleeping until they can lift their heads and chests off the ground.

    When the 'back to sleep' advice came in there was a 70% reduction in cot death over the following 10 years so i think that speaks for itself. Yes this could have been due to increased awareness and other factors but the back sleeping and 'feet to foot' positioning have had an impact too.

    I personally wouldn't rely too much on the monitor. Babies do sleep really well on their fronts but only you can decide whether it's right for you. x
  • Hiya! my LO has been sleeping on her front from about 4 weeks. She just would not settle on her back at all. She has always had good head control and manages to turn her head and settle really easily.

    She also had some colic problems but seems to settle easier on her tummy and this helps her pass lots of wind when she is asleep!!
  • Grace sleeps on her front but has only just started this (about a month ago - she's 8 months now).
    I always put her down on her back but she rolls onto her front at some point before or during her sleep so I can't really stop her. There's no way I'm getting up in the night to roll her back over! We have an Angelcare monitor and sensor pad too which we use.
    Having said that, at your LOs age, I think it is possible to get him used to sleeping on his back, it may just take some time

    xxx
  • It's perfectly ok for them to sleep on their front once they can roll themselves into that position.

    The reason were advised to put babies 'back to sleep' is that they go into a deeper sleep on their fronts which can very very rarely cause the part of the brain which regulates breathing to switch off. They also recommend a dummy to prevent cot death, the sucking action keeps baby in a lighter sleep.

    If you do decide to put lo on his front you could use a dummy or a ticking clock which works on the same principle of keeping baby in a lighter sleep. This however may mean that lo doesn't sleep as soundly.

    I never put lo on his front to sleep, i was too terrified of the risk but 2 of my friends did xx

    [Modified by: pixiebob on January 10, 2010 02:42 PM]

  • Hiya, my little one (now 4 and a half months) would take over an hour of crying most nights before she went to sleep when I put her on her back so now I put her on her front for daytime naps (checking her regularly) and at night, put her on her front then flip her over before I go to bed. One night, she woke 8 times in 2 hours so I put her on her front and she slept solidly from 12.30 til 6am. I however slept badly!!

    It is totally your choice but the HV advised me once again against front sleeping when I told her about lo going all night on her front. Also, I have read that SIDS is more common between 2 and 4 months. Maybe Tyler is a bit young for being left on his front, although I'm sure most of our moms would tell us that we all slept on our fronts from birth.
  • I feel guilty about it all the time but my LO is 13 weeks and has been sleeping on her front since 8 weeks. She settles better on her front, and we have the Angelcare monitor and sensor pad as well. I use a white noise app on my phone that keeps her in a lighter sleep, and it's really helpful for our sleep too. LO went from waking every 2 hours to waking only once or twice a night at the most. I also think that sleeping on her front has helped her strengthen her neck muscles as she has great control of her head now and can sit up with no help.

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