Moms of tummy sleepers

rubycitrine · June 2012

LO just started rolling in his sleep over the weekend. I am fine with him sleeping on his side, but on Sunday afternoon when I went to check on him during one of his naps he had rolled onto his tummy and faceplanted into the mattress. I couldn't see his nose or mouth, so naturally I panicked and turned him over.

I know the risk of SIDS decreases dramatically around the six-month mark and that if babies are capable of rolling and have good neck and back muscle control tummy sleeping should be fine, BUT what about faceplants into the mattress? How on earth do you prevent them? Or do you need to? It looked like DS could breathe but none of his airways were exposed. Please help calm my nerves or share with me what you've done for successful tummy sleeping.

mben1119 · June 2012

You can't really prevent them at this point. Once they turn into roly-polies, they're going to do and go wherever they want in the crib. DS sleeps on his tummy or side exclusively, never on his back anymore.

Froggy76 · June 2012

I freaked out at first, but DD's been a tummy sleeper for a couple months now and I don't worry anymore. Even when it looks like she's face down, she can obviously still breathe. If she can't, she'll move her head. She's all over the place these days!

MrsNash37212 · June 2012

Haha, I spent the first few weeks of tummy sleeping stalking DS on the monitor and going in to move him all the time. I kept telling my DH, "He's trying to suffocate himself!" Eventually, you'll get over it. DS is ALL over the place all night long - facedown, face smushed into the corners, etc and it's just the way they are. I liken it to breastfeeding - their noses are shaped so that they don't suffocate on the boob, so they can be in a lot of positions that we can't because their noses are flatter.

mama&baby · June 2012

This is one reason why the infant mattresses should be stiff with the plastic covers, and you shouldn't add a mattress cover. LO sleeps like this about 90% of the time-- face full on smooshed into his mattress.

lkm2006 · June 2012

Baby's noses are shaped where even when they are face planted, they should still be able to breathe. I suggest the angel care monitor if you want a peace of mind. DS has slept on his tummy since he was two weeks old.. That monitor has saved my sanity!

kajordan09 · June 2012

lkm2006:
Baby's noses are shaped where even when they are face planted, they should still be able to breathe. I suggest the angel care monitor if you want a peace of mind. DS has slept on his tummy since he was two weeks old.. That monitor has saved my sanity!

This! The Angelcare gave me so much peace of mind! We've since turned off the motion sensor because DS loves to sleep curled up in the corner of his crib and the sensor usually doesn't pick up on him when he's all the way over there. We could always move the sensor over but honestly, I'm pretty confident that DS is just fine sleeping on his belly at this point.

gracefulruby33 · June 2012

Before you get too freaked out, if baby can raise their head, roll both ways, etc. don't panic! DD faceplants all the time when she sleeps. I just look for her back moving up and down to make sure she is breathing. :-) This is usually what she looks like, but she has definitely been even more faceplanted than this:

mama&baby · June 2012

Estwd2:

mama&baby:
This is one reason why the infant mattresses should be stiff with the plastic covers, and you shouldn't add a mattress cover. LO sleeps like this about 90% of the time-- face full on smooshed into his mattress.

I had not heard of this. What difference does the mattress cover make in this case? (I might bump and run, so TIA.)

I probably should have been more specific.... I was talking about the mattress covers that have an extra layer of "fluff" on them. They, in a sense, undo the purpose of getting a stiff infant mattress. It is a lot easier for an infant to stuff their nose down in it and essentially suffocate (forgive me if my posting makes no sense... I got no sleep last night)

rubycitrine · June 2012

gracefulruby33:
Before you get too freaked out, if baby can raise their head, roll both ways, etc. don't panic! DD faceplants all the time when she sleeps. I just look for her back moving up and down to make sure she is breathing. :-) This is usually what she looks like, but she has definitely been even more faceplanted than this:

This is what DS looked like when I checked on him this morning. On Sunday it was a full on faceplant. I'm encouraged by what you've all shared about your LOs. I know he's going to put himself in the position that's most comfortable to him and there's nothing I can do about it. I'll continue to keep a close eye on him until my nerves get used to the idea.

Mrs.Greeko · June 2012

I have never worried about my babies sleeping on their tummies, faceplanted or not. He's old enough to roll over, he's old enough to lift his head if he can't breathe.

Michellemybelle28 · June 2012

DS slept on his side from the time he was a month old and since he was about five months he has slept on his stomach, I used to turn him over but he always turned back to his tummy so I don't worry about it very much anymore.

peanut701 · June 2012

mama&baby:
This is one reason why the infant mattresses should be stiff with the plastic covers, and you shouldn't add a mattress cover. LO sleeps like this about 90% of the time-- face full on smooshed into his mattress.

This. DD's mattress is hard enough (and her nose is teeny enough) that her face can't sink into the mattress.

JamiesWife2010 · June 2012

DS has been side sleeping since about 3 months & stomach sleeping since about 4 months. It didn't matter how many times I flipped him over to his back, he still mostly prefers tummy.

I still check on him several times during naps & I get out of bed a few times to check before I can fall asleep at night.

gina2433 · June 2012

I posted about this not long ago with the same question. I was so worried and kept turnin him over. Reading the responses helped. He is now sleeping better. He still can't roll himself back to his back but he cries if he needs me to help.

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