Tummy Sleeping Infant, What Would You Do?

[Francine]

I have a new 9 week old that just started yesterday, at home he sleeps on his tummy. I am not comfortable putting him down on his tummy but he will not sleep on his back. I have had pretty good success with his side but he wakes right up if I lay him on his back. Have any of you had success retraining a tummy sleeper.

[cheerfuldom]

yes. you HAVE to retrain him. its going to take time but he will get it. I would also print out safe sleep info for the parents. let them know that you must have him sleeping on his back at daycare and the best idea is if you all retrain him together. either way, he is not going on the tummy at your house, thats seriously dangerous.

[MyAngels]

I did have one once that I had to convert to back sleeping here. It was tough, as his parents were just not on board with making the change. It took several weeks before he was sleeping peacefully on his back here.

It is against our licensing standards to have a child sleeping in any other way but on his/her back without a written authorization from the child's doctor on file.

[Cat Herder]

I would refuse to do the wrong thing.

I am adamant enough about this topic I would refuse to take the child.

I don't let my toddlers play in traffic, either, though...

[cheerfuldom]

I wouldn't do any other way even WITH a doctor's note. it would be so horrible to have a SIDS death at daycare. A doctor's note isn't going to make anyone feel any better when having to attend a child's funeral.

[laundrymom]

I would refuse to do the wrong thing.

I am adamant enough about this topic I would refuse to take the child.

I don't let my toddlers play in traffic, either, though...

:-) me too.

Back to sleep. Every time. Every single time. I would have a nice DETAILED chat with parents as well. Let's wipe SIDS out. Ok?

[MarinaVanessa]

OMG I agree 100%. That is so unsafe. I can't tell you what to do but if it were me I would not want the liability. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if that baby died of sids under my care. I WOULD NOT put that baby to sleep on it's tummy OR on it's side. That's so dangerous that I can't believe that the parents would do this.

In my daycare I would just say no way, that baby sleeps on it's back. If it's too much to handle because the baby is already used to sleeping on it's back then the safest most appropriate thing to do is to term care for the infant. It is possible to retrain the baby to sleep on it's back and whether or not it's easy also depends on whether you have an easy baby or not so good luck to you.

Tread carefully and at least don't allow the baby to sleep on it's belly or on it's side. That could result in tragic results. For that matter don't allow the baby to sleep in a carseat, soft bedding or in a swing. KUP.

[Francine]

For the record, I have not put him on his belly. Yes, I did put him on his side yesterday because he needed to sleep and I thought maybe it was a stepping stone to his back. Also, he sleeps right here with me so he is never out of my sight. He is on his back right now but he isn't sleeping, every time I lay him down he wakes up. If anybody has any thoughts about how to make the transition I would love to hear them. These are great people, I'm not going to term them I will get him to sleep on his back.

[laundrymom]

I suggest a sleep sack with a swaddle flap

[nannyde]

Assuming this child is completely healthy with no medical diagnosis:

No I would not put him on his belly or on his side. It's not safe. If the child had a doctors order that stated he MUST sleep on his belly then I would term the child. A baby on his belly would have to have an adult right next to him watching every rise and fall of his chest. He would have to have intense one to one supervision every second of sleep which would be way too costly for my small business.

There's nothing to do to transition him. Do NOT allow him to sleep on his side and do not put ANYTHING in the bed with him.

Put him on his back and let him make friends with gravity. If he cries and is up all day then so be it. A crying baby is an alive baby.

Put him to bed WIDE awake and let him be. If he doesn't like it and cries then you just have the information that he doesn't like it. You don't have to solve it. It's okay for him to not like it. This is one of many situations in his life where he isn't going to like what's happening in his life.

Fair enough.

He doesn't like it and you get that he doesn't. Give him a ton of belly time when he is wide awake and right next to you. If he starts to fall asleep then flip him on his back to get him awake again. Once he's had a good fuss then flip him back and start over.

Don't let him sleep in anything but the bed and on his back. Tell the parents you can NOT belly sleep him and DOCUMENT that you have told them that he should NEVER sleep on his belly.

[laundrymom]

Put him on his back and let him make friends with gravity. If he cries and is up all day then so be it. A crying baby is an alive baby.

.

Can I get this on a billboard???? T shirt? Inkpen? Bumpersticker???

[nannyde]

Can I get this on a billboard???? T shirt? Inkpen? Bumpersticker???

What IS it going to take?

The parents have NO right doing this. We need to require parents to sign documents before they leave the hospital that they have been fully educated on back to sleep. Then if they choose to do this then they need to be turned into the State and investigated. There needs to be CONSEQUENCES for this just like there would be for a child care provider.

It doesn't matter who is taking care of the kid and what the relationship is. The parents do NOT have the right to belly sleep this child without having at least TWO medical doctors signing off on it and providing the intense second to second supervision that belly sleeping requires.

It's not their decision to do this. We need to get the idea out of our heads that parents have the right to decide it. They do NOT. It's child neglect to do this with a healthy baby.

There's way way way too much out there now telling parents that babies shouldn't cry and that we should solve crying because it's too stressful on the baby to cry. There has to be some balance where we understand that they ARE going to cry and that it's better for them to cry then it is to put them at risk. The motion sleep, car seat sleep, swaddle sleep, and belly sleep is being done so that they don't have the baby crying. Plain and simple.

We need to campaign to put babies to bed WIDE awake with NOTHING in the crib on their BACKS. Quit lulling them to sleep by feeding, swaddling, motion and position. Just put them to bed flat on their back ........awake and let nature take it's course.

They WILL get used to it. Every single one of mine does. Within a week or so of doing NOTHING to help them sleep and putting them to bed wide awake they go to sleep within a few minutes.

[wdmmom]

I'm not that old and when I was born, it was tummy to sleep. When I had my oldest daughter 15 years ago, it was side to sleep. Now for the past several years, it's been back to sleep.

I lay all my kids on their backs and every single one of them wakes up on their tummies.

My own children were all belly babies and I was perfectly fine with defying what the doctors had to say. Many, many children born in the 70s and 80s are fine and slept on their tummies.

I know about all the dangers and I don't put the daycare kids on their tummies but what do you do when they start rolling over around 6 months old? Are you flipping a sleeping baby back over?

First of all, I would contact licensing and see what they had to say about it. If I then had an option, I would require a doctors note and a signed affidavid that they want their child placed on their stomach, that they are aware of the potential risks and do not hold you accountable should those risks occur.

If they aren't willing to do this, buh bye!

[nannyde]

I'm not that old and when I was born, it was tummy to sleep. When I had my oldest daughter 15 years ago, it was side to sleep. Now for the past several years, it's been back to sleep.

I lay all my kids on their backs and every single one of them wakes up on their tummies.

My own children were all belly babies and I was perfectly fine with defying what the doctors had to say. Many, many children born in the 70s and 80s are fine and slept on their tummies.

When I first started caring for kids there were no car seat regulations. Millions of children were riding without seats or even buckles when I came up. When we KNOW better we DO better.

I know about all the dangers and I don't put the daycare kids on their tummies but what do you do when they start rolling over around 6 months old? Are you flipping a sleeping baby back over?

First of all, I would contact licensing and see what they had to say about it. If I then had an option, I would require a doctors note and a signed affidavid that they want their child placed on their stomach, that they are aware of the potential risks and do not hold you accountable should those risks occur.

If they aren't willing to do this, buh bye!

We had a LOT more babies dying in the 70's and 80's though. Back to sleep has saved many many lives.When I first started caring for kids there were no car seat regulations. Millions of children were riding without seats or even buckles when I came up. When we KNOW better we DO better.

The first week they flip over it's the riskiest time for them. It's a good idea to flip them back periodically during that week. Ask the parents to ALWAYS tell you when the kid flips from back to belly so you know the time stamp of when you need to supervise it and flip them over.

After the first week then you can allow them to sleep in the position they are most comfortable sleeping. You can't be in the business of flipping them constantly during nap.

Most babies will belly sleep when they can flip. At that point there really isn't much you can do but your normal nap supervision. I have an eight month old and I poke him every time I check on him. If I see his in the same spot after a couple of checks I will flip him over just to make me feel better. If he has his head up to the wall of the playpen I move him to the middle every time.

He sleeps great so I can mess with him at nap. I get them used to a lot of touching during sleep from the time they are first here. He sleeps thru me coming in and out and poking him twenty times during nap.

[Heidi]

I have a new 9 week old that just started yesterday, at home he sleeps on his tummy. I am not comfortable putting him down on his tummy but he will not sleep on his back. I have had pretty good success with his side but he wakes right up if I lay him on his back. Have any of you had success retraining a tummy sleeper.

dont do it, dont do it, dont do it!

A local provider here recently lost a baby who she's laid on his tummy per the parent's request.

WI requires family childcare providers to lay them on their backs.

My children (all 4) slept on their tummies, and they are 22, 19, 14, & 11. I think they slept better, honestly. But, I would NOT do it today...