What's new

Tummy Sleepers

gracielou

gracielou

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2009
Messages
7,147
Ok, I know that this is my 4th child but I totally feel like I no longer know how to parent :helpy. I thought it just got better and easier with each one but apparently I am doing things in reverse. I worry more with this one and it's seems I have forgotten everything I thought I knew about babies:giggle.

Caroline will be 5 months on the 17th of this month and she has mastered the art of rolling over to her belly and she does it constantly. Where the problem comes in is that she wakes up about 2:30am and she will grunt in her bed and then roll over on her belly. Last night I was a wreck because she would also put her face down in the mattress. So I spent about 30 minutes trying to turn her back over but she would then flop back over and it was just a crazy cycle between us and I finally just got her up and fed her and then she went back to sleep just fine.

Have you ever had a tummy sleeper?
All my other babies never preferred their tummy but she loves it and I am not sure what to do. I am exhausted at this point because I can never sleep well, always thinking she is going to roll over and I won't know it. Any help or tips would be great.
 
I'm guessing you have tried a rolled up towel along her preferred rolling side - that's about the only thing that worked for a while with us.

My MIL didn't believe in SIDS and insisted on placing my week old babies to sleep on their stomachs - caused great tension esp as I had lost a niece to SIDS many years ago.

Good luck, I know the lack of sleep due to worry - it's exhausting.
 
Because of Monkey's acid reflux, she was swaddled in a positioner and on an incline for the first 6+ months of her life. Once she got too big for the swaddler, she always slept on her belly. She still does now at 3 years old.

If she's old enough to roll over on her own, she will be okay and roll over/around to breathe, too, kwim? At least that's what I think.
 
LeeAndra said:
If she's old enough to roll over on her own, she will be okay and roll over/around to breathe, too, kwim? At least that's what I think.
Click to expand...

This. If she can roll over on her own, she can move her head enough to breathe normally.
 
Both of mine were tummy sleepers. My youngest would do the face down thing, but he always had room to breathe. He would get mad if we moved him, too. We just learned to go with it. I agree if she can turn she can move so she can breathe.
 
I was always told that when they're old enough to roll it's ok for them to sleep on their belly. My youngest was a tummy sleeper from just a few months old - and she still is at nearly 2.5!
 
all of my babies were tummy sleepers. with the first and second it was still okay to put them on their tummies.
for my third.... he wouldn't sleep, wouldn't sleep. we swaddled him, he loved that... but after a couple of months he'd wiggle free. (i have very large babies.. they were all almost or just barely over 9lbs.) finally i flipped him to his belly and he slept awesome.
all my babies sleep in my room with me for the first few months (or even in bed with me) so i checked on them often.
besides... once they can roll to their tummies, it's pretty much hopeless and too time consuming flipping them back over every few minutes...
my youngest, now 7 i also flipped over at just a couple months... that little bugger wouldn't sleep until i did that. LOL
i know it's scary....and i'm a worry wart. but to save my sanity... i did what my gut instinct wanted... and then just prayed and checked on them a lot!

good luck!
 
wow.. just read all my post and if you din't know better, you'd think i was talkin about pancakes. HAAAAAAAAAAA
 
crazygirl said:
wow.. just read all my post and if you din't know better, you'd think i was talkin about pancakes. HAAAAAAAAAAA
Click to expand...

LOL!!

My 3rd and 4th were (are) tummy sleepers. Talia is 5 months old and she's slept on her tummy since she was a month old. She just wouldn't sleep on her back and I needed to sleep!!! They say once they can roll over on their own it's okay, but I definitely started earlier.
 
It's good to know many have been there to. I am just such a worrier so by nature this freaks me out majorly with all you hear about SIDS and the whole "back to sleep" campaign. I was thinking that it was ok when they could roll over then they could get their face to where they could breath but it was still so nerve wracking last night when she continued to bury her face in the mattress.
 
all mine were tummy sleepers from the very beginning. they could all hold their heads up from birth, as well, however. i was always sure to keep everything out of the crib with them and rarely swaddled in bed.

i never have been a believer in "back to sleep." they sleep so much better on their belly, especially if they are of the random, arm-jerk variety (which all of mine were).
 
Mine were both tummy sleepers too from about 3-4 months old and that would flop over on their own. But I never saw them bury their face in the mattress like that. I imagine that would have freaked me out too... but like everyone said above, if they can roll over on their own, they can move their head to breathe too. I hope that's not a new habit for her though... still would freak me out a little, but you can't exactly sit there and watch her all night... Mommy needs sleep too! :)
 
My youngest liked to sleep on his stomach, too. He would just roll over, drove me nuts but he kept doing it. I made sure the cover sheet on his mattress was stretched tight and didn't impede his face, he never had a thick blanket in there and it was down near his feet. If he had a cold or trouble breathing, he slept with us so I didn't worry all night.
 
ALL of my babies were tummy sleepers. I think trying to get them to sleep on their sides became popular when my youngest was a baby, but he preferred his tummy, and he slept on a lambskin too. If I were to have another one (which obviously will never happen) I would do it again. I think doctors put so much fear into parents now. I know it has to do with SIDS...and if they've proven that it really does help, then I would at least try. Once they can turn over, I don't think you should worry about it though!
 
Amanda, Addison *only* sleeps on her tummy. She's been that way for several months now (she's 8 months old now). There's no way to stop her at this point!
 
mlewis said:
Amanda, Addison *only* sleeps on her tummy. She's been that way for several months now (she's 8 months old now). There's no way to stop her at this point!
Click to expand...

Caroline had her 4month check up today and the doctor confirmed what everyone has said here. He said she is going to sleep in whatever way she wants and that I should just remove the bumper pads if I have them in the crib. It's still very scary to me but I am just not your average worrier. I worry in excess so everything is magnified in my mind but I am going to try to be calm and hopefully get some sleep soon.

Melissa, Addison is such a cutie. I still can't believe how tiny she once was after looking at her now. God is so good.
 
I'm a freak worrier when it comes to my kids, Amanda. I still wake up regularly and rush to the crib, press on her belly and make her cry all because in the middle of the night mommy fear is magnified by like a thousand in my mind. I hope you can get some sleep because in the DAYTIME I'm sure sweet Caroline is fine to roll over.
 
joelsgirl said:
I'm a freak worrier when it comes to my kids, Amanda. I still wake up regularly and rush to the crib, press on her belly and make her cry all because in the middle of the night mommy fear is magnified by like a thousand in my mind. I hope you can get some sleep because in the DAYTIME I'm sure sweet Caroline is fine to roll over.
Click to expand...

So true, Kellie and I also do the whole going to her crib and check to make sure she is still breathing thing. As a matter of fact just this morning at about 4:00am I was hunkered over her crib with my ear down at her face trying to hear her breathing because she was, of course, sleeping on her tummy. It was quite a funny sight I am sure LOL.
 
Back
Top