Should I Leave Him?

E.,
I used to go into my daughter's room at night and roll her back over, BUT the dr said if she can rollover by herself and she can move her head if she needs to then she will be fine! I agree w/my dr. If he can rollover on his own and roll back over if he wanted to or move his head so that he can breathe, I would think that would be ok. I eventually stopped going in b/c she would just roll back over after I left anyway. If you are really worried about it you could buy a baby positioner. Good Luck!

I had three stomach sleepers. Nothing I could do. What I did was wrap the mattress in heavy polyethylene. You should check out the research http://www.babysake.com/successwrap.htm to see how in New Zealand the rate of SIDS dropped to zero for babies sleeping on a properly wrapped mattress. The gist is that SIDS came about when all mattresses had to be treated with fire-retardant chemicals, including arsenic. These chemicals interact with the body fluids from the baby and, especially when warmed by the baby, off-gas vapors that are heavy, and linger just above the mattress. Putting a baby to sleep face-up gives a fair amount of protection because the face is out of this pool of toxic gas. I sent a link that explains everything where they also link to a sales page to buy a pre-made wrap, but you can do a Google search to read more. I had a number of beds for my last child so I bought a big roll of plastic at Home Depot and did all her mattresses for, I think, $15 plus packing tape. The evidence is striking, and there have been no reported crib deaths, ever, on a wrapped mattress. That was all I needed to know.

I attend annual SIDS training for my job and they recommend babies 3 months and under should not sleep on their stomach even when they roll themselves onto their stomach. They told us to move them onto their backs. The babies over 4 months that consistantly roll onto their stomach are most likely not going to have SIDS, but they tell us to move them onto their backs.
Can the child roll from front to back and back to front? Can the child push up with both arms and lift head 90 degrees? Is the child laying close to anything that is keeping the air from flowly freely around their head like blankets, crib corners, etc.? Is the child overdressed? Does anyone smoke in the house? These are a few things to think about when trying to decide whether to roll them back onto their backs.
Even children as old as 18 months can have SIDS, but it's most common from 2 to 4 months. With my own children I rolled them over whenever I found them on their stomachs.

Do what you feel comfortable with doing. Guess it would also depend on how old he is .. I mean, some babies manage to roll themselves over VERY early, in which case, I might be inclined to roll them back over .. but generally, if they keep putting themselves on their tummy - then I'd probably just leave him.

When my son was able to roll over is when I allowed him to sleep on his stomach. I think you should just leave him, otherwise you will make yourself crazy getting him to sleep on his back.

I would attempt to roll him back just in case. my daughter did it but I am or someone always is there when she is sleeping so shes sleeps on her tummy most times (like mother like daughter!)

Not sure how old your little guy is, or if the advice has changed since I had a baby. When I asked our pedi about this he said if she was old enough to roll over then she'd be fine on her tummy. I'm sure there are others who would disagree. My advice would be to check with your pedi. Maybe you could get a sleep wedge for now (until you go back for a well-check) to encourage him to sleep on his back. I would err on the side of caution!

All of my children slept on their tummies and they turned out fine.

If he can roll back on his own when he becomes uncomfortable, I would just leave him alone. However, if he is unable to roll over and tends to sleep face down, I would try to support him on his back, etc.

Of note, my son use to squirm around so much that those side sleeper support cushions did not work for him at all.

Again, if your child can roll back over on their own, they should be fine. If you are still concerned, ask your physician.

J.

Once they can roll themselves over it's a losing battle. You could spend every 20 minutes doing it, honestly! I would let him be, unless you just won't be able to sleep knowing it. When both of my boys could roll over on their own, I just gave up! Neither of them EVER like to sleep on their back! Good luck!

My little one does this a lot. I use to roll him over when he was really tiny and then he would roll back over on to his stomach again.

If it makes you feel better, I say do it. I use to do it, as I was worried about the SIDS. I no longer do it as my son is moving all night long from back to tummy and on his side.

Research says to have kids on their backs and they say that helps.

At first, when he was on his stomach I would put him back on his back to sleep and for awhile I could do this without waking him up. But, then this process began waking him up so I began to leave him on his stomach. Yeah, the back is better, but it was alot of work sometimes to get him back to sleep so I gave up and let him be.

Once they begin to roll over to the tummy to sleep, there's not much you can do. That's probably how he feels most comfortable. I'd say let him sleep, even if you turn him, he'll probably go right back to the tummy.