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Babies: 3 - 6 Months
Should I let him sleep on his tummy?
DS ONLY sleeps for any great length of time if he is on his tummy. When he naps, I put him down on his tummy and check him constantly, at night I put him down on his back and he basically cries until he A) rolls over himself or 
DH and I give in and flip him. He is able to roll both ways but it takes a lot of grunting and effort on his part. I am a worry wart and usually flip him back once he is settled, but he definitely doesn't like being on his back to sleep. So should I let the kid just sleep on his tummy and/or put him down for the night on his tummy? Or stick to "back to bed" and just continue the endless trips into his nursery to soothe until he is able to flip with ease?
DH and I give in and flip him. He is able to roll both ways but it takes a lot of grunting and effort on his part. I am a worry wart and usually flip him back once he is settled, but he definitely doesn't like being on his back to sleep. So should I let the kid just sleep on his tummy and/or put him down for the night on his tummy? Or stick to "back to bed" and just continue the endless trips into his nursery to soothe until he is able to flip with ease? 
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Re: Should I let him sleep on his tummy?
15ish years ago it was told to put babies on their bellies. It has switched back and forth. Once my daughter started busting out of her swaddle I put her on her belly and she sleeps great! He is able to lift her head well and move it side to side so I'm not really worried about her burying herself face down.
Short answer: Yes, let him sleep on his belly. He's obviously more comfy that way.
I think anyone would have a hard time disputing the SIDS research that has shown stomach sleeping to increase rates. So I guess the question is if you are okay with gambling with this.
DS was the same way though. He hated sleeping on his back. Just give him lots of tummy time in the day and show him how to roll over. He is at about 4 months so he'll probably be doing it soon anyway. Once DS could roll on his side he would sleep that way for a lot longer. Now he rolls himself onto his belly the minute I put him down. Once they can roll on their own it is fine per my pedi, so I let him stay that way.
I wouldn't listen to PP about "gambling" with the SIDS risk... that's a terrible thing to say.
Agreed!!!!
It is not a popular opinion on The Bump (not sure why), but yes, peer-reviewed, coroborated research has shown a 50% reduction in SIDS in babies that are put to sleep on their backs (independent of all other risk factors). Now, the overall, absolute risk of SIDS is pretty low, but if you are trying to reduce the other risk factors, why would you not follow the one factor that offers potentially the single largest reduction in risk?
My husband is a pediatrician, and he always hates it when people talk about "babies 20 years ago being put to bed on their bellies and they were fine." It turns out that many of them were fine, but 50% more of them died of SIDS fifteen years ago than die of SIDS today--with the "back to sleep" campaign being the only real thing that has changed in sleep safety in those 20 years.
If you want real opinions, mine is that yes, you are taking a risk by putting your baby to sleep on his tummy. If you believe it is worth better sleep for you and him to put him to sleep on his tummy, then do so, but make sure you will be able to justify that decision to yourself, should the unthinkable happen--but I know that I never would be able to do so. So, I suffered through many horrible nights of sleep with my back-sleeping 4.5 month old, who just learned how to flip herself over in bed last night. Now i feel comfortable letting her stay that way--as previous posters have said.
If you
It's based on race largely because certain races have greater rates of tummy sleeping - and bedsharing - and often have a cultural mistrust of doctors and instead favor the advice of family and community members.
And I think it is incredibly ignorant to dismiss researchers or pediatricians and their back to sleep recommendations as some sort of capriciousness and say that they are going to have us "hang them from the ceiling." The back to sleep recommendation is 20 years old, and it hasn't changed back and forth; it has stayed the same and consistently shown lower rates of SIDS. It was made 20 years ago based on solid evidence and has not changed because it has been shown to be incredibly effective.
OP should do what is best for her - SIDS is rare even in infants who have risk factors (tummy sleeping, bedsharing, exposure to cigarette smoke, prematurity,etc). Most SIDS infants have multiple risk factors.
But the most recent studies have shown that it is almost non-existant in babies with no risk factors at all.
If OP's baby has no other risk factors - never exposed - either in utero or after birth - to cigarettes, no bedsharing, not premature, etc, and OP takes other precautions, such as a fan in the room to circulate air and keep it cool, then maybe tummy sleeping is a good calculated risk, especially if baby won't sleep any other way.
Make the choice that is best for you and your family - babies need to sleep, and so do parents - but don't make it in ignorance or by psyching yourself out with justifications by telling yourself that doctors don't know what they are talking about.