My Son Keeps Turning on His Stomach!

My baby has slept on his stomach since he was two months old. He would never sleep on his back for more than 10 minutes so we didn't have much choice. His pedi said it was fine because he was already pushing up on his arms. He's 8 months now and totally fine. Don't let these freak stories scare you. SIDS by definition is a baby that dies UNDER one year of age with no explantion. A 17 mo baby cannot die of SIDS; there must be some other cause. Just make the crib environment totally safe (sheet only, no toys, blankets, or bumper). I also use a small fan in my baby's room to help with air circulation.

We were told by the peds. doctor that if they can roll over on their tummies, they can sleep that way. we always put the kids to sleep on their backs (even now at 6 and 3 YEARS, they get in bed & lay on their backs in bed) , but once i leave the room, all bets are off.

I'm sure there were extenuating cirmcumstances which Oprah didn't mention because she wants RATINGS.
Quick safety check:
Is the mattress medium firm - not soft?
Are the mattress cover and sheet on tight?
Is your baby wearing a sleep sack or warm PJ's instead of a blanket?
Do you take out all of the toys, blankets and stuffed animals before putting Baby to sleep?
Is the room a nice cool 68-70 degrees?
A gentle fan to circulate the air is a good idea too.
You can buy a plug-in carbon monoxide alarm and put it in the room.
There are mixed opinions on whether a bumper guard is o.k. or not. If it's stretched on tight and firm - not mushy I think theyr'e o.k. - my son banged his head a few times so I put it back on.
Life is what happens when we are busy worrying about what COULD happen.

IMHO there is always more to the story than is being told. All my babies have been belly sleepers *gasp!* and all are alive and well. =) Relax momma.

I think you may be a little paranoid, but who isn't when it comes to their kids? My kids slept on their stomachs since they were able to roll over on their own and they were fine. I couldn't see going into their rooms throughout the night to turn them back over.

From what I remember, SIDS is what they call any unexplained death. It doesn't necessarily mean that the child suffocated because they were sleeping on their stomachs.

There is a difference between SIDS and kids who suffocate in their cribs. Most recently there has been a lot of change in the medical field of doctors coding kids who die with SIDS who actually die from other things. Very little is certain about the possible causes of SIDS, and there is no proven method for prevention. Although studies have identified risk factors for SIDS, such as putting infants to bed on their stomachs, there has been little understanding of the syndrome's biological cause or causes. I really don't believe that 17 month old died from SIDS - the risk of SIDS after 12 months is extrremely rare. The risk goes down by 50% after just 6 months. The initial risk is .50 out of 1000 live births.

I would not worry. If your child rolls over that is a sign that they want to sleep on their stomach. Just make sure you don't have a bunch of heavy blankets in the crib or the heater up to high.

My daughter has slept on her stomach from day one, it was the only way that she would sleep. Actually, both of my daughters were this way. At first it kinda freaked me out because of the whole SIDS thing, but when I spoke with my Dr. about it he said that I should let her sleep however she sleeps, and that 10 years ago, they said always on the stomach to sleep and that he really doesn't think that the position that she slept in mattered. He also said that you just need to be sure that they don't have anything blocking their face like a blanket or the little cushions that go around the side of the crib.....I don't know - my older daughter is now 7 and she never had a problem from sleeping on her stomach. I think it is really important for babies to get enough sleep. I think about how grouchy that I get when I don't get enough sleep, and then to consider how much more sleep a baby needs than an adult, I think that you should just let him sleep. Good Luck with whatever you decide!

Im sure if he can pick his head up on his own he should be fine. Just make sure the crib sheet fits and no big blankets. I think the little girl that was 17 months old and died from sids was an unusual case. They probably didnt know what she died from so they called it SIDS. Which is called sudden INFANT death syndrome. I dont think they are considered infants at 17months.

I know you dont really need 31 responses to this as everyone is saying the same thing, but I wanted to make sure you are able to get some sleep and maybe just one more message will work :o) Go to sleep, relax, follow all the advice below....Baby is fine and your making him a tired boy who is in need of a good sleep! You must be exausted and that alone will make a natural worrier (mommy) more stressed. Most feel, as I, God alone will decide when the angels leave and letting that little one be "comfy" at 8 months is no sin! now...smile...and REST and LET REST.
Big Hugs*
C.- mommy to 3 natural tummy sleepin boys.

My boy turned on his stomach too. I was told if they can roll on their stomach, they can roll back to help themselves. My boy preferred the stomach for a few months, now he rolls to his back. He moves a lot at night.

My son has always preferred to sleep on his stomach since he was born. If your little man is strong enough to roll over to his stomach then he is strong enough to be able to move himself so he can breath. If he is good at lifting his head then I wouldn't worry as much. He'll be fine, both of you get some rest!!! I hope this helps!
~S.~

most of the [eople in the world today were put to sleep on thier stomach, including me and you. I have 4 children. the first three were born before "back to sleep"
We were told told to put them to sleep on their stomach so they wouldnt aspirate (choke)
Theyare all aliove and well.
My last was born premie, he spent the first 6 weeks in the hospital sleeping on his stomach because the nurses felt babies sleep better and longer that way and premies need sleep
sooo after 6 weeks of sleeping on his stomach we were sent home telling us to put him to sleep on his back only
lolol
right
i told the pediatrician this she told put him to sleep whatever way works best.
let your baby sleep

Can your son roll back over? If he can you really don’t have much to worry about. The story of the 17 month old sounds odd. There was probably something else going on with that child. Please try to stop worrying so much, you will drive yourself crazy.

Take care,

A.

I totally understand your concern..I'm also paranoid!Everyone said to me I over react! What I did was buying the Angel Care...that sensor you put under the mattress and if he stops breathing it will bip! My son is now 12 months and since 6 or 7 he turns to his stomach...in the beginning I would turn him back but I bought a very firm mattress and the Angel Care,..took all the measures..not too warm in his room, no stuff animals in his bed etc so I decided to trust the mattress and the angel care!! He even sleeps with his face on the crib bumper! I made peace with it...beside my bed is the angel care and the videomonitor!!!
So..don't think you are alone out there being so afraid of SIDS!!! There's a lot of moms like us!
Good Luck! Just don't let it control you!!! Try to also be positive...not only with SIDS but with so many other things that can happen
My husband keep saying to me that I will have to be strong enough if I will have to pick my son up at school one day with a broken arm to take to the hospital...it gives me goosebumps only by thinking of it!!! Is a learning curve! :-)

Lots of Love!

Hi...I concur with the majority of responses you have received - I know it is difficult at times but trust and relax. If he is strong enough to roll over, he's holding his head up, his crib isn't full of things he can become entangled in (blankets, sheets, etc...) He will be good. I was a bit more nervous with the first but then did a reserach paper on SIDS while I was in school....My second slept on her tummy almost from the beginning....

I am 50...the recommendations come and go...when I was an infant my Mom said they were told to keep babies on their tummies in case we threw up at night....

Sleeping on their stomach is normal once they reach a certain age. I had 3 girls and they all did it at earlier ages then your son. Instead of waking him every time how about putting your hand in front of his mouth/nose to feel his breathing. It will put you more at ease and allow him to stay alseep.

NOCK IT OFF!!! He is past SIDS and you are not helping him by constantly turing him over. let him sleep. Don't believe everything on the TV, Jennie mcCarthy is another one not to believe!!

My advice is to take a deep breath, relax, and listen to the other side of the story. I have 5 children 6mo to 8yo. When I took my last baby in for a well baby checkup at 2mo, my doctor says, "you've heard the news about SIDS, right?" I inquire and he informs me that it's now fine for babies to sleep on their stomache. All the data collected during the last several years of babies sleeping on their backs has not decreased the rate of SIDS. In fact, the SIDS rate has increased! What this means is that the babies sleeping position doesn't matter. You can probably google the info. to find the actual report if you want.

So, what causes SIDS? Well, something is going on to increase the rate of SIDS. My personal theory (and of many professionals) is that if research was done, we would find that the increased number of vaccinations our children are given would be the real culprit for the rise in SIDS. For more information on vaccines, visit The National Vaccine Information ____@____.com

Blessings,
Amy

My son has wanted to sleep on his stomach since he was 2 months old. He is almost 6 months now and I continue to let him sleep on there. I was flipping him over once he was asleep but stopped because I didn't want to ruin his good sleep. I did plenty of research and came across the best thing for us worried mothers. It is called Angelcare. http://www.angelcare-monitor.com/United-States/en/product...
check out that website. if you put it in google you can find lots of great reviews on it. its a little pricey, but I think it is worth it!

Updated

My son has wanted to sleep on his stomach since he was 2 months old. He is almost 6 months now and I continue to let him sleep on there. I was flipping him over once he was asleep but stopped because I didn't want to ruin his good sleep. I did plenty of research and came across the best thing for us worried mothers. It is called Angelcare. http://www.angelcare-monitor.com/United-States/en/product...
check out that website. if you put it in google you can find lots of great reviews on it. its a little pricey, but I think it is worth it!

I think you should check with your pediatrician but assuming there are no other signs in your family to indicate that SIDS is a concern, I think it's a losing battle to keep trying to turn him over. That said, my kids are much older and always slept on their stomachs as they were babies before the days of the back to sleep campaign.

J. F.

I, like you, was super paranoid about SIDS. I kept my daughter on her back, no pillows, she never even slept in the bed with us, kept (and still have) a fan in her room, etc. My daughter is now 1 and has been sleeping on her tummy for MONTHS! Not only that, she likes to squish herself up to the side of the crib (and yes we do have a bumper in there) sometimes with her face smooshed up to the side. Our doctor told us once she was old enough to flip herself around, it was fine. I doubt that you'll be able to break the habit and if anything will only create poor sleeping habits for your son.

I know it's scary when you hear stuff like the story about the 17 month old, but I have to believe there were other factors involved that we don't know about. Like a nurse told me at the hospital, a baby will not suffocate themselves by keeping their face in a position where they can't breathe. Granted newborns and small babies can't move themselves around, but if your son is flipping himself on his tummy, sounds like he could manage to move his head around if he needed to. I try to remind myself that people have been having and caring for babies for centuries and while it's best to take precautions, it makes life much more pleasurable to not get too wrapped up in all the 'negative' stories. We always hear when something bad happens, but good things happen much more often.

Enjoy your son and try not to let what "could happen" overtake what is really happening.

Having a baby can be so nerve wracking with all the things to worry about, and I say this after #3 though there was a 15year gap. Any unexplained death in an infant is classified as SIDS. How much of that is attributed to their sleep position?....who knows really? When I had my daughter in 2007 it was imperative that she sleep on her back. I was shocked because when I had my previous 2 (granted 15-20 years ago) it was imperative that they sleep on their sides. An interesting conversation with my mom about this revealed with I was born it was recommended that babies sleep on their stomachs. I think that if your baby can roll and sleeps better on his stomach, let him sleep. It was the same for my daughter when she was able to roll. I got so paranoid I was losing sleep. Finally after months of exhaustion I just couldn't do it anymore and left in God's hands to watch over as she slept. In doing that I was finally able to sleep too. Good luck.

You know there is a lot of misinformation given to people by their physicians. You should check out a website with tons of information on it. Of course you will have to decide for yourself but one of the major causes of SIDS deaths (based on statistics) is vaccinations. Check out this website.
www.purehealingfoods.com
Just go to the tool bar HEALTH INFO and click on VACCINATIONS.
I hope that helps you. I know how you feel-I have felt like that with all five of my kids until I started to look outside the normal explainations that just don't seem to add up.

Relax your son will be o.k. My son slept on his stomach well before a year old. Try using a baby moniter. I've seen a new brand that your baby lays on some sort of pad, that's very sensitive to help with those that worry about SIDS. As for Mike Tyson I don't beleive his child died of SIDS. I thought she got caught in the cord of the tread-mill and couldn't get loose. Anyhow good luck.

So there are always going to be things to be paranoid about forever, you have to take them in stride... a few things I know about SIDs is that the liklihood of it occuring after 6 months is very nil, and once they can turn over by themselves that particular danger has passed. Also remember that all unexplained deaths in infants and young young children is called SIDs. The fear about stomach sleeping is related to carbon monoxide intake and the inability to turn over... if they can turn over then it is really not a danger. Things can always happen but that particular danger is not a real one, and its bad for baby and you to wake and turn him every time he gets comfortable. A few things you can do if you are still afraid is to have a fan or moving air in the room, or have him in the room with you. Good luck and don't stress its bad for you and him

Sids is extremely rare after about 4 months. And usually, a child that can turn himself is not particularly at risk. Remember they frequently say death from SIDS if no real cause can be found. I think you are a bit over-reacting. Make sure there is not a lot of soft pillow or blankets to get caught up in and he should be fine. mama-t

There are some pillows on the market that help hold babies on their backs while they sleep. You could try one of those--- they worked for my older son, although not for my younger boy, who always managed to turn over on to his stomach. I tend to think that tragedies like SIDS will always be around, regardless of how carefully we try to keep them on their backs, so there's no point in worrying about it. Get him to sleep on his back if you can, and if you can't, focus on the fact that statistically, it's not likely he will die from SIDS. And if it freaks you out, don't watch that stuff on TV.

I was told by my daughter's pediatrician and my sister in-law, who is a former neonatal nurse, that babies should be alright sleeping on their tummies after they are able to roll over. You can always call your doctor to make sure.

I believe there is no known cause of SIDS. You can always call the pediatrician about questions regarding your child.

Ninenine,

Let him sleep on his stomach. For decades babies were supposed to sleep on their stomachs, and look at how many of us there are. I always put my son on his stomach, with his face turned to one side. He had a firm mattress with no pillow, and in the winter, he slept in jammies, a sleeper,sometimes a little hat, and if it was really cold, blankets, He was always toasty warm and he's 27 now and still living at home. Sigh. Oh, and he sleeps with three pillows now.

E.

As long as your son is able to roll onto his stomach and back again there should be no problem. Do be sure you don't have a lot of things in his crib. The best thing is to dress him warmly enough that you don't even need to put a blanket with him... and no pillows (if he needs any elevation for his head it's better to raise the mattress by putting something under the mattress at that end).

I didn't see that Oprah show, but am thinking that if a 17 month old died of SIDs there must have been some other factors involved that either the father was not aware of or he neglected to tell the audience. Most children that old would be able to turn themselves readily enough that I just feel there had to be something else going on there.

IT is very natural for your baby to turn over . I would let him . Sids is something with neural pathways that no matter what you do the babies pass away . It is not because they are on their stomachs .I Will bet you slept on your stomach. so relax enjoy your baby sigird

There are some great tools to use that may keep your son from turning over. These I have found at Babies R Us. Also on the market are some great monitors that set alarms off if a baby stops breathing for a certain amount of time. These may help to calm your worries.

Also since cooler nights are here there are sleep sacks you can put your child into. These worked great for both of my boys as they both moved in the crib soooo much that they would not be covered by the blanket anymore. These also helped to calm my worries about getting caught up in the blanket. I also found these sleep sacks at Babies R Us.

But if your baby loves to sleep on his stomach and can turn himself back over you really shouldn't worry so much. I know though, easier said than done. My youngest slept so much better on his stomach since about one month. When I mentioned this to his Pediatrician I got the third degree and felt so guilty about letting him be so much more rested. So I put him in the room with me and just tried to keep him on his back using rolled up swaddling blankets. But I decided, for my own sanity, when he could roll back and forth to not worry.