Sleeping on tummy

[loraine]

I know not to put a baby to sleep on his/her tummy but my son (6 1/2 months old) keeps rolling over by himself. Sometimes I find him assleep on his tummy and try to toss him back, only to find him on his tummy again later. Other times sleeping on his tummy wakes him up as he is stuck and can't roll back. Have other parents experienced this? Is there anything I can do?

[rani]

Loraine,

I used to use a sleep positioner to prevent D from rolling.

[jools]

Hi,
I was told by my mid-wife in the UK that once they turn themselves over then it's OK to leave them. My son started to do it at about 7 months and following the advice I received, I stopped worrying,

Jools

[sharonwong]

my daughter is 7 months and just mastered how to turn herself to her belly. they say children sleep better on their tummies and it's definately true for my little one....i do actually leave her on her tummy now since it gives herself and all of us a better night ....but when i do wake up to go to the bathroom i would pay a visit to her room to turn her around and to fix her blanket. this doesn't wake her. in the beginning to her the belly thing was a very new idea and only after maybe a week of waking up every time she was on her belly now loves sleeping that way.

i will always leave her alone how ever she sleeps (tummie ro not) during her day naps since the duration is short and they are not sleeping as solid.

she didn't like sleeping on her sides for the 1st 4 months of her life and so slept on her back. she developed a flat head and now we will bring her to see a pediatric neurosurgeon to see if she requires a helmet or not. they say that this is getting very popular now b/c sleeping on the backs is encouraged.

i used to put my son on his sides alternating both sides and never on his back or tummie. he rarely turned to his tummie on his own. so i didn't have much of an issue with him.

i try to keep clear of sorts of blankies and toys in the crib to make sure that he will have better breathing space as docs believe SID is caused by children breathing their own carbon monoxide so sometimes i even leave the window open for slight drafts AND keep sheets fitted tight so that there is no extra fabric somewhere that may cause your baby to suffocate ......

[Dante]

Just more data points for you...

With my first, I made every effort to have him sleep on his back (used all kinds of props to make this happen). But then he preferred sleeping on his tummy. He didn't have a floppy head and so I felt more comfortable about letting him sleep that way from quite early on -- in the first month.

With my second, if I recall correctly, after we passed the first two months or so (she, like her brother, had pretty good control of her head) she started sleeping on her tummy.

I did hop in and out of the room to make sure they were breathing!! They did okay, fortunately.