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March 2012 Moms
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Belly sleeping for naps

Wifey1012Wifey1012
in March 2012 Moms
DS had been fighting me hard for naps. He used to sleep for 3 hours swaddled in his swing, but is too big now and that's not comfortable. He screamed everytime I put him in his crib, so 2 days ago I put him down on his belly and it was like magic. I'm too paranoid to leave him in his crib though, so he is out in he living room in the pack n play. Does anyone else let their LO's belly sleep? Strange thing is at night he doesn't care and will sleep on his back in his crib, but usually rolls onto one side.
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Re: Belly sleeping for naps

  • WipzWipz member
    Our little guy has taken naps on his belly since he was a few weeks old, only ever when observed and almost always on the floor on a quilt.  He sleeps on his back and sides and night and pretty much will sleep anywhere you put him floor, sofa, bed, crib, chest ..hell he even slept on the back seat of the car one day when we stopped to do a diaper change lol  We never had a need to swaddle him or buy swings and such for him so we have been extremely lucky with a good sleeper. 

    Now that he isn't waking up as much to eat in the middle of the night, I'm getting more sleep too :)

    I don't let him sleep on his belly unattended.. Personal choice, I just don't feel comfortable yet with that, but I don't stay glued to his side every second he is sleeping on the floor on his stomach, I will wander around the apt doing housework and laundry etc but our apt is small enough that you are never too far away no matter where you are.
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  • HalloweenWifeHalloweenWife member
    DS has been a belly sleeper for both naps and bedtime since he was 5 weeks old. He hated the swaddle and couldn't get comfortable on his back. I have the AngelCare monitor so it makes me feel a lot better.
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  • joyfullyfoundjoyfullyfound member
    If he'll sleep better on his belly, I say go for it. DD does it all the time, and it works great for us... I just keep an eye on her :) They're old enough now to have better neck control, etc, so I'm not really worried about it anymore. 

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  • snowflakemomsnowflakemom member
    Another belly sleeper here. I was super vigilant about DD#1 & 2 sleeping on their backs but then DS came along and he is a super sleeper on his tummy - sleeps longer and better that way and has since he was a few weeks old. For the first few months, I only let him nap on his tummy (he slept on his back and swaddled at night) and would check on him very often. The last few weeks here I have been letting him tummy sleep for nighttime now too because around that same time I stopped swaddling him and then he was rolling all over the crib, so now I am not concerned since I know even if I put him down on his back he will just roll over onto his tummy anyway.
    Mom to DD#1 December '06, DD#2 Feb '09 and DS March '12
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  • sooner1981sooner1981 member

    Although belly sleeping is known to extend naptimes, just be so very careful! It is one of the only factors that research has shown DEFINITELY increases SIDS deaths.  It only takes 2 minutes of oxygen deprivation for a baby to have permanent brain damage or worse. Even if you are "checking in on the baby" or "observing the baby," you would have to be pretty dang observant to check at least every two minutes.  Remember, a baby that stops breathing is not loud--the baby will not scream or cry as they stop breathing--because they don't have any oxygen at that point to do so.  They just fall deeper and deeper asleep, until they become unconcious. 

     My husband is a pediatrician and neither he nor his colleagues would EVER recommend letting a baby nap or sleep on his/her tummy until they are able to roll over to their tummy themselves.  For us, it was just a matter of the fact that we would never be able to live with ourselves if something happened to our child that we potentially COULD have prevented by the way that WE put our baby to sleep.  I would never be able to cope with the idea that I put my baby in a position where they had gotten hurt out of my own convenience, even though I knew it was not safe/not recommended by my doctor.

    Our baby was a horrible napper for the first several months, but over time (and through swaddleme blankets), she has become a great back sleeper/napper, because we refused to put her down any other way.  If you don't give in, eventually the baby will learn to sleep on his/her back.  They have to sleep eventually.  You might have some rough nights where they are fighting you, if you have previously been letting them sleep on their stomachs, but soon they will be trained to be good back sleepers, and then both you and the baby will rest well--and you will be much more comfortable with the fact that you are doing everything you can to protect your LO!

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  • LaouliLaouli

    imageHalloweenWife:
    DS has been a belly sleeper for both naps and bedtime since he was 5 weeks old. He hated the swaddle and couldn't get comfortable on his back. I have the AngelCare monitor so it makes me feel a lot better.

    Lurker so I dont post often as I was originally an April mom...

    We are in this exact same boat.. we started with naps for gas the pressure on his stomach helped ease the pains for him... So I told DH we HAD to get the Angelcare mat.. it was the only way I would feel comfortable with it.... and now DS sleeps at night on his tummy as well... 

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