Tummy Sleeper Issues

My son started sleeping on his tummy at an early age too but he has a strong neck and upper body so I didn't think it would be a problem. He too wakes up with a soggy diaper and puffy eyes. No real advice on the diaper except if you can try to change her before you feed her one time (easier chance she will go back to sleep). You will get fairly good at doing it in low light and quickly! I use the one zip sleepers for the easiest change. Good luck.

A.,

There is nothing you can do about the fact that your sweet daughter is sleeping on her belly. Once kids learn to roll over it is safe for them to do so, and sleep. And at the age of 6 months the SIDS rate drops.

I don't know what to tell you about the puffy eye.

I do have a few recommendations about the wet diaper;

You might try lining it with a sanitary pad, for extra absorption. There are also diaper doublers.

Sometimes going up a size works.

You can also try differenty types of diapers. I've been diapering babies for 7 years and have worked with hundreds of newborns and know that it's often the fit. Believe me, there is NO ONE diaper that is the best but rather a diaper that fits YOUR baby best.

With one family, when all else failed the best success came from adding a diaper wrap (like the kind that you would use with a cloth diaper.) This did the trick for the family I was working with, with an almost 100% success rate. You can often find the wraps and childrens consignment stores, thrift stores etc.

Good luck.

J.

I used to buy Diaper Doublers at the store to use at night. They were extra pads that you could put in the diaper so it will absorb more. You could put it more towards the front if she's sleeping on her tummy. Granted it's been a few years since I've purchased a diaper (my son is 7) but I used to be able to find them in the diaper section.

Hi A.,

I have an 8.5 month old little boy who did the same thing. He would flip over and sleep on his tummy before he could flip back over. I tried and tried to get him to stay on his back but nope, he had other plans. Ultimately, I just had to live with it. I however have the Angel Care monitor that monitors any baby movements down to simple breaths. I got this when he was first born. Its' been a real peace of mind especially when he started flipping over at night, but then again, I was paranoid about SIDS. I'm pretty chilled out about everything else though. If your daughter is strong enough to hold her head up for extended periods then generally, it is my understanding, she should be ok because she will figure out a sleeping position that works for her. At least that is what my pediatrician said to me.

For the diaper problem, (we used the same diapers as you) I found that if you put your baby in a size up diaper at night, it takes care of the leaking issues. For example, my little boy wears a three during the day and a 4 at night. It The diaper might look huge however we haven't had any problems since we started doing this a few months ago.

I too am into hiking, camping, snowboarding and pretty much anything that is fun outdoors. My little guy has been going on plenty of walks and hikes (now that he is bigger) with my husband, dogs and myself. He loves it and so do we. :)

Try going up a diaper size we do this with our son who has been a tummy sleeper as soon as he could flip himself!

Hi A.,
My son would only sleep on his tummy. =0) He's 19 months, now. Both my kids are now tummy sleepers and we also had the wet tummy problem. Huggies makes the best overnight diapers, with reinforcement in front for the tummy sleepers. They are called Huggies Overnites and are a purple package. You can find them at Safeway and Babies R Us.
Hope that helps, some. =0)
L. A. mother of a 3-1/2 yr old and a 19 mo old. =0) (Also a teacher....)

Huggies Overnights saved us from the pee down the front...the only problem is that I believe the smallest size is a 3. We started using them before my Presley was in a 3 during the day, and they were still better at preventing the overflow. As far as the tummy sleeping, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Chances are, you and every grown-up you know were put down on your tummies (doctors' orders) and lived to tell about it! The upper age limit on the list of SIDS high-risk indicators is 6 months as well.

Hi A.,

My son started sleeping on his tummy around the same time as your daughter. He is now 17 months old and that is still the way he prefers to sleep. We had the same problem with the wet diapers in the front. We were using the pampers swaddlers also but switched to Huggies with leak guard. He still wakes up wet a few times a week but that is better then every night. Also, we started giving him his last bottle of the night at least an hour before bedtime. His last diaper change before bed is pretty soaked so he gets most of it out before he goes to sleep. I hope this helps.

C.

6 months was right around when I started using Huggies instead of pampers. I think right at size 2, Huggies are a little better than Pampers. That simple change my help, but if not, I have heard of doubling the diaper or the other products that people have mentioned. Also, I wouldn't worry about the puffy eyes unless they stay that way like all day or something, but you could always ask your pediatrician. My daughter slept on her back until she could roll to her tummy herself as well. She wakes up with a red face (from the side of her face that she slept on) and sometimes a puffy eye. Since it goes away rather fast, within an hour, I just figured it was a sign that the slept really well!

Just a quick response as I need to run. When my boys started to wet at night, I would try a larger size diaper. Sometimes helped. But both of them are heavy night wetters and ultimately both ended up using Diaper Doublers. They are like little maxi pads you put in the diaper at night. Both boys needed two, but maybe one would do it for you. I just found them for the first time at Toys R Us so I'm guessing Babies R Us has them, too. Before that, I'd been ordering them online. Good luck!

My son slept on his tummy from the age of about 5 weeks. He's 17 months now. He had acid reflux and was vomiting after EVERY feeding and I found that it cut the vomiting in half and he slept more soundly. He still sleeps on his tummy most of the time and always FALLS asleep like that but moves around more now. When he sleeps on one side of his face for a long period, his face and/or eye is a bit puffy too, but other than that, I have had no problems with his sleeping positions.(there are other sleeping problems of course but that's another story! LOL)

I use Huggies Supreme Natural Fit diapers and he almost never wakes up wet. Maybe once a month when he has a whole lot to drink at night, but even then, he's not very wet. When he was six months, he was still nursing twice a night and getting changed I think but it's all fuzzy to remember - I was so tired!! Try the Huggies - not the regular ones, but the ones in the red package. They are really good.