She wants to sleep on her belly... help!

LisaMarisa · September 2011

My (almost) 7 month old has been sleeping horribly for the last month. She was an amazing sleeper before, like too good to be true, and apparently it was. She was sleeping in our room and I moved her into her own room, she was also still swaddled and just this week I stopped swaddling her. Now she wont sleep. She wakes up 5-20 minutes after I put her down. Rock, fall asleep, repeat. This is bad enough for naps but overnight it is torture. I need to sleep and I havent had a decent night of sleep in over a month. She will sleep in bed with me and we are starting a bad habit with that because I'm desperate. But I dont sleep well like that, I am up a million times and I am uncomfortable because I cant move.

Last night, she was acting like she wanted to roll over onto her belly in her crib (she isnt a perfect roller, she can do it but doesnt do it often and she is pretty chubby so she has to have the energy to be able to roll that big body over!). So I put her on her belly and she almost fell asleep on her own but she couldnt quite figure out what to do with her head, she kept putting it face down and then would lift it a few seconds later.

My gut says that she isnt ready to sleep on her belly but my totally exhausted body says this might be the only way I can get any sleep.

All I could think of last night was that mom who lost one of her 6 month old triplets to SIDS while he was sleeping on his belly. I just couldnt let her do it.

Does anyone have any other suggestions to get her to sleep? How did you know your LO was ready to sleep on their belly?

naflmj · September 2011

Maybe she isn't ready to be rid of the swaddle...did you gradually get rid of it? I let Graeme sleep on his belly once he could get there himself since I had no choice but I was never comfortable to put him on his belly.

LisaMarisa · September 2011

naflmj:
Maybe she isn't ready to be rid of the swaddle...did you gradually get rid of it? I let Graeme sleep on his belly once he could get there himself since I had no choice but I was never comfortable to put him on his belly.

She slept one arm out for a while, then I swiched arms and then I went to no arms, just wrapped around her body. And when I was swaddling her, she was breaking out and that would wake her up. She started the horrible sleeping before we made all of these changes though, although she was sleeping a few hours at a time rather than 20 minutes like she has been this week.

hopecounts · September 2011

I'd reintroduce the swaddle and work on rolling over. Our pediatrician said once they could roll over both ways on their on that it was all right.

DD is a belly sleeper and it made me nervous until just recently, but it was the only way she'd sleep more than an hour.

efooey · September 2011

my kids were both tummy sleepers and both by about 6 months. I didn't love the idea but I have an angel care monitor so I was able to sleep easy after the first few nights.

GL!

E

ladychicago · September 2011

DD was sleeping on her belly by 6 months, too. She rolled back to belly for the first time WHILE swaddled at 5.5 months. So that is when we had no choice but to ditch the swaddle. She had a few rough nights, but then started rolling onto her belly. I would put her down on her back, and she would roll over on her own. When I called our pedi, they said so long as she was getting there by herself, it was fine. Continue to put her down on her back, but rolling her over when she ended up on her tummy would be fruitless and frustrating... My hunch is that if she is regularly rolling onto her tummy (even if it isn't pretty), she is ok on her belly. But if you have any doubt, call the pedi to discuss where she is at and see what they say.

but I think most of us have had the panic about tummy sleeping, so you aren't alone!

kbeach82 · September 2011

V started rolling from back to stomach shortly after he turned 3 months. He wasn't a fan of being on his tummy at first and would cry as soon as he got himself into that position. We'd go in and turn him onto his back and he'd be fine. That lasted for a few nights and then he decided he liked being on his stomach after all. We'd put him in his crib on his back, and he'd wind up on his stomach within a few minutes. I was really worried at first, but I'm ok with it now.

As PP said, I think your DD is ok if she's rolling over on her own. But you can always call and speak to your pedi to get some peace of mind.

shipoopiisforme · September 2011

my son will only sleep on his belly, he has always been this way. at 6 weeks i started letting him nap that way and eventually put him down on his belly at night. it was a lot like your daughter, we knew this was the only way we would get any sleep.

i also thought that once they could roll over they can and will sleep any way they want. good luck, i hope you all get some rest soon.

ladychicago · September 2011

I will also add that, yes, sometimes she slept/sleeps completely face down on her mattress (which is why a firm mattress is so important). It freaked me out for a long time, but she was always fine, face down and all.

erstwhile+maven · September 2011

Once DS got to the no swaddle stage and turned into a horrible sleeper we used sleep sacks and let him sleep on his tummy if he put himself onto his tummy.

I am very paranoid about SIDS... very. We always had a fan on in the room and had nothing in his crib with him. We also used the angel care monitor from the get go. I always used that as a crutch to believe it'd tell me if he stopped breathing and it'd wake him up and get him breathing again while we were running into the room to check on him.

This is a tough stage; I hope you all start to get some sleep soon.

Sara Scissors · September 2011

My pedi said once DS could roll both ways it was safe for him to sleep on his tummy. This was when he fought his swaddle and we stopped that as well. Eventually that isn't as comforting as it was as a newborn.

My DS still sleeps on his tummy, butt up in the air and arms tucked underneath himself. I'd ask her pedi if you are concerned, but it sounds like she will be alright.

Cajun_gal · September 2011

I would think that at almost 7 months old, it would be fine for her to sleep on her belly. Both of mine started sleeping on their bellies as soon as they could roll to their belly. The angelcare monitor helped me not be too nervous about it. I hope she gets back to sleeping well again soon!

LisaMarisa · September 2011

Thanks so much everyone! For her nap today, I propped her on her side with a receiving blanket rolled up behind her back and she slept for 2.5 hrs!!! Hopefully we've reached a turning point.

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