Baby turning onto belly during night sleep.

Hi, my son Timothy is 10 months old, and in the last week has started to turn himself onto his stomach while he is asleep. He hasn't slept through at all since he was born, and the first time I discovered he'd put himself on his tummy, I woke up with a fright because it was 4:15am and he hadn't woken up for his overnight feed. Last night he did it again, but before I went to bed, so as a consequence I was up all night every 40 minutes checking on him. I ended up sleeping on the floor beside the cot so I didn't disturb my husband. I'm terrified of SIDS, after reading a few articles in the last week of 10 month olds succumbing. Does anyone have any hints?

Hi amandaf, Our son did exactly they same thing by not sleeping. We found out completely by accident he would sleep on his stomach. We use to let him do this during the day on a fold out bob the builder lounge come bed in the lounge room while we watched him. As you said SIDS say this is a big no no. In the end the only way we got any sleep including him was to let him sleep on this stomach. We tried letting go off to sleep on his tummy and then turning him over but he would wake up every time. The other thing we did was take him to a chiropractor or you can go to a oestopath. They said he had problems with his neck which made sleeping on his back painful, hence he wasnt sleeping. Within a few treatments he was sleeping on is back. Now when he starts to sleep on his stomach I know he is due for an adjustment from the chiropractor. If you are worried you can buy a mat which goes under the mattress which sounds an alarm when the baby stops breathing. I believe they are around $300.00 so a bit dear if you are not in the position. I hope this helps as I know what you mean when you wake up and find them in that position and being very quiet. I freaked right out. Good Luck!

hi amandaf
my son who is 5 months old turns himself onto his tummy in his sleep as well. We have tried turning him for him to only wake up screaming and tried the doctor who said he is perfectly fine she told us to only turn him to his side as not to disturb him to much and that seems to work sometimes but he still rolls over anyway. We were lucky enough to be bought a sids monitor as our families were worried due to the fact a year before my bub was born my partners sister lost her baby to sids and I must say that it does help to keep my mind a ease. You can also buy a monitor with a breathing unit built in. My doctor also said to try a roll cushion as sometimes even the smallest item in the way will stop them from turning and there only about $30 from stores like target. I hope some of this may help.

Hi Amanda,
My daughter Ella is also 10 months old and sleeps on her side, back or tummy. She only recently started to sleep on her tummy and at first was quite concerned but realised she is just like everyone else and moves about alot in her sleep.
The time that SIDS is highest is between 3-6 months.
I know it can be worrying but our babies are approaching toodlerhood and don't like to sit/lay still for very long - even when sleeping.

Thanks Janeen. I've heard about the mat, and am going to look at one on the weekend. I was so pleased to read that you are a chiropractic fan as well. I had Timothy checked out when he was 1 week old and have a very understanding chiropractor who is very helpful when I take Timothy for a check up when I think something's not right. He still doesn't have any teeth yet, so I am thinking that they might be affecting him moving around alot as he sleeps. Thanks for taking the time to write.

Hi Amanda,

I use one of the monitors that is mentioned in someone's post. My son is almost 19 months now and he has been sleeping on his tummy for a while now. Sometimes if he does not move for a while it goes off but he is 100% okay.

The monitors are not cheap, but if you can get one second hand from somewhere it might solve the problem.

Hi Amandaf my son didnt get any teeth until he was around 10 months and then he basicly got his 2 bottom ones together, then a few weeks later he got his 2 top ones and then the 2 side ones to the top teeth. He had them all by around 12 months. He only has that 6 no more just them. He had all the systems of teething from around 3 months, dribbling, ear pulling, waking up screaming, runny poos & a rash. His dribble was so bad I had to leave a bib on him all the time. We took Caleb to the chiropractor due to his reflux. The peadiatrician put him on Zantac and the chiropractor had him off it in a few weeks.
Let me know how you go with the mat. I was looking at one from our local baby shop when I was pregnant. I have heard they are very good. Unfortunately SIDS is something in the back of every parents mind.

Hi

I have taken this directly from the SIDS Australia website (hope this is okay):

"What do we do now that baby has started
to roll over onto the tummy?
Most SIDS occurs under 6 months of age.Try not to have baby sleep on the tummy before six months of age. Do this by sleeping baby on the back or using a safe infant sleeping bag, as these delay rolling over. Most back-sleeping babies can't roll onto the tummy by themselves until about 5-6 months of age when most of the risk has passed.

Older babies can turn over and move around the cot. Put them in the cot on the back but let them find their own sleeping position. The risk of SIDS in babies over six months is extremely low.

Remember to reduce the risk in other ways: make sure that baby is on a firm, well fitting mattress and don't firmly tuck-in the bed covers if baby in on the tummy. Make sure that baby's face and head remains uncovered during sleep and keep baby smoke free."


I also have one of the breathing monitors, but I don't think it was $300. It is an Angelcare brand and has a 'sound only' or 'sound and breathing' setting. Have had no false alarms yet - except when we take Fletcher out and forget to turn it off!!

My little girl started rolling onto her tum at about the same age. I called the SIDS hotline for advice and was told that the peak times for SIDS are between 3 and 6 months and to just roll her back onto her back if we noticed her on her belly. I also heard that once your bub is mobile enough to roll, sit up, crawl etc that they are capable of keeping themselves out of trouble as they sleep. Please sont take this as fact though as i am not sure who told me this! Eventually my husband and i gave up rolling Ella back as she obviously prefered her tum and would flip herself over before we left the room. We do have an Angelcare breathing monitor though, so this definely gave us peace of mind. I have also cosidered buying a SafeTsleep, which is basically a sheet which wraps around the matress and that has a thing which wraps around bubs belly to hold them in position overnight ( Sort of like the velcro harness in the older style baby capsules). It can be used on beds and couches also and can be used for newborns to three year olds. I think some baby stores may sell them, or you can order them over the internet. I didn't end up buying one myself so i can't tell you how good they are. SIDS is a terrifying thought for any parent, so i hope someones tip or suggestion, maygive you peace of mind.

My baby girl only sleeps on her tummy. I tried for several months using all the highly recommended sleep strategies only to find her one day on her tummy and having the best sleep of her short life. (tried for weeks to break this habit but she just kept rolling onto her tummy) Hannah is only 5 months old now, so she is still in the SIDS risk period, but she rolls herself around the cot anyway, so there's no way I can keep her on her back.

Like others have said - the SIDS risk period is from 3 - 6 months. Seeing as your baby is out of this period and most likely rolling around, I would think that there isn't all that much you can do to keep your baby on their back. But think about it - do you sleep on your back all the time??

I have found a mat and I am going to pick it up tomorrow. Hopefully that will help with a few things. I have been lucky with Timothy with reflux and colic etc. I had a good birth, 12 minutes to push him out, so there was no trauma, so I am putting it down to that. The more I think about things though, I think I have a son with bad sleeping habits. He has always slept on top of the bed, and not under the covers because he's always kicked his legs around - from when he was in my tummy to present day, so that wakes him up if I have him 'tucked in'. Both my husband and I are both first time parents, and I think we have contributed to the problem by not letting him cry a little and settle himself when he's woken up in his short life, we always have gone straight in to calm him. Next child will be different. I will see how I go with the mat and letting him sleep on his tummy, and if there is no improvement in a month, I might have to investigate Riverton.

I was told not to put my son on his stomach to sleep because of SIDS but that is the way he has chosen to sleep. He has been sleeping like that since he was a newborn and he is now 5mnths old. He use to sleep on my tummy when he was newborn and he has just continued with that. He relates to lying on his tummy means sleep time. I just check him every so often and make sure he is alright, day and night when he is sleeping.