sleeping on front

[littleem]

i always put my lo to sleep on her back but before i was winding her and put her tummy down across my legs she fell asleep, is she okay to do this whilst shes sat with me???

 

[poppy160]

Ella prefers to be on her front when sleeping, I was majorly told off by the HV but she said it's okay during the day cause I can keep an eye on her

 

[Becky]

I found when Lucy was little the best sleep she got was when she was on her front. For the first 6 weeks we struggled because she would wake herself up so much none of us got a good sleep.

We tried sleeping her on her side and then one day she fell/rolled onto her front, this was the first time she slept for 4 hours in a row. I was so scared and worried about it but it was during the day so we let her sleep. Eventually I stopped lying her on her back and she slept on her tummy from about 6/8 weeks.

While I would never tell anyone that it is something good to do for a baby I do think it worked for us. My mum had 3 children and we all slept on our tummies in a smokers house and we were ok.

In the end we had to make a choice between not sleeping because she woke up so often on her back or not sleeping because of worry about her being on her front.

Not an easy decision but one I would make again.

 

[Marijana FC]

Danica slept on her front from day one - there was no way I could make her settle on her back. I just accepted that. HV kept on telling me off but there was/is nothing I can do about it. It actually proved to be good given that Danica has reflux and sometimes vomited in her sleep - chances of choking are much higher if she was on her back!

 

[Becky]

I never told my HV as I only saw her about 4 times and she didn't offer anything constructive, I could have got the same info by reading a book!


P.S. I also want to add that my mum trained as a peadiatric nurse and that they were taught that it was better to lay babies on their fronts for the same reason as above - if a baby is sick they won't choke on it etc.

 

[Bagpuss17]

You have to consider though, that the advice to put babies on their backs to sleep is based on recent research into cot death. The evidence is there that it's helped to reduce the number of cot deaths significantly.

Once baby can roll over, they say it's OK to leave them in whatever position they move into but still to put them down on their backs when you first put them down in the cot.

You have to do what you think is right at the end of the day.

 

[Full of hope!]

I've always put Jacob down on his back but just recently he's been rolling onto his side and i'm sure once he can get right over he will prefer to sleep on his front. I did when I was a baby and I still do so i'll just leave him to sleep how he's comfy

 

[LisaJ1986]

I put Angel on her side. She'll more likely go off that way than on her back. I panic far too much to put her on her front. Whenever i need to she tends to put her mouth to the floor anyway so not the best of ideas.

 

[beanie]

babies have a natural reflex where they move their head to the side so they don't choke on their sick when on their back so they are less likelyto choke on their back.

I agree with Bagpuss, read the researchand make your own mind up.

 

[LisaJ1986]

I prefer her on her back for that reason. During the day she is always on her side. And i have her mattress slightly raised coz of her recent cold. She sleeps better like that too. But she does roll onto her back when in deep sleep. I won't settle at night til she's on her back. I'll roll her myself if necessary. But her side gets her to sleep loads quicker.

 

[Lola's Mummy]

I always used to put Lola on her back but for a while now she's been rolling in her sleep so i just leave her to it