"Back is best", but my 5 month old REALLY wants to sleep on her side. Should I prevent th

skittleblu

How do you put your baby down?  Back, tummy or side?

MrsT2008

I always put her on her back, but now that she can roll she almost always ends up on her stomach.  not much you can do about it once they can get themselves into other positions

mben1119

DS goes down on his side, and ends up on his back. 

KayT27

We noticed that DD was developing a flat spot on the back of her head.  At her 2 month check up we asked our Dr. about it.  He said to put her on her tummy to sleep.  He said since babies have been being put on their backs to sleep they are seeing lots of flat spots on the heads and it's really fine to let them sleep on their tummies.  We let her nap on her tummy but I'm still too afraid to let her sleep all night like that so we kind of prop her on her side right now.  She's colicky and hasn't always slept well so we've found that if she's on her left side she tends to sleep better, plus that keeps her head turned and off of the flat spot. 

valerieanne9015

I put DD on her back, but she will eventually flip onto her tummy at some point in the night.  Everything I've heard/read says that you should always put baby down on their back, but if they are able to roll, and do so, it's ok to leave them that way because they are strong enough, at that point, to keep themselves safe. 

wychets

DD has been sleeping on her tummy since she was 10weeks.

SaraTF

Once they're old enough to roll, they can sleep however they want. We always put DS down on his back, but he usually rolls over immediately.

chasensmommy

We put our LO on his back and he usually rolls over immediately onto his tummy/ side - it's how we know he's ready to sleep too!

gracefulruby33

She is put down on her back or side but 99.9% of the time, she rolls onto her tummy.

Nwlywed07

Back but the second I lay him down he flips over to his tummy. Once they can roll over their isn't really a reason to flip them back.

HisKonstantine

MrsT2008:

I always put her on her back, but now that she can roll she almost always ends up on her stomach.  not much you can do about it once they can get themselves into other positions

This. She'll usually end up on her side. And spun around all kinds of different directions.

brewcitybride

Back is best for INFANTS. A 5 month old baby who can flip over by themselves can safely sleep on their tummy, or on their side, or on their back. At some point, it does become THEIR choice how they sleep. You can't prevent them from moving around in their sleep. My DD has been a tummy sleeper since 3 months, with the blessing of my pediatrician, and the good advice of "You would have to stay up all night to prevent your child from flipping onto their stomach" And are you going to do that? No. Once they can turn their head, it's safe.

ryry1977

I put DD to sleep on her tummy.  She naps in the rock n play on her back still.