A Little Rest For The Wicked? Or Tempting Fate?
Neither of my kids have ever been stellar nappers. The stars must be aligned just right and we must do a simultaneous and intricate dance performance to the sleep gods for anything over 20 minutes.
Bella slept through the night from a few days old until about 5 1/2 months. Damned if both my kids aren’t teething at the same time.
Since then, she’s been nursing a few times a night but easily falling right back to sleep…in my armpit. Which – honestly? I love. Being the second child, it’s one of the only times we get to snuggle one on one in a relaxed manner. She’s never slept in her room yet so it’s easy to get her from the end of our bed and bring her in with me. It hardly disrupts my sleep at all because I’m sleeping before she’s even done snacking. However, at nap time and if I try to put her back in her playpen at night, she’s crying for me within minutes.
On our vacation it started to get even worse. She’s always hated tummy time so gets it rarely, which is fine because she’s strong as a horse. One day when I couldn’t help her get content, I plopped her in her playpen on her belly and, behold…
Mah preshus widdle baybee…
So, do I keep putting her on her belly? She’s 6 months now but doesn’t roll much. She can, but she hates it. She can get up on her hands and knees though so there’s no fear of her getting stuck face down. It’s the only way she can sleep more than 20 minutes in a row. She also likes her side but as soon as she flops on to her back she wakes up screaming (which she does even if I prop her up with a rolled blanket). Do I need to worry about SIDS at this point if we do everything else right? What would you do?
July 17th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
I’ve always heard that once they reach 6 months, the risk for SIDS is greatly decreased. And if she can pull herself up, that’s the main issue anyway. I don’t think it matters so much whether she’s actually rolling alot or not… just as long as she has that capability and can atleast pull her head up and move it if needed. Sounds to me like she’s just fine on her belly.
Hopefully your family will be getting some rest some time soon. I know how much that sucks not to have that precious nap time break.
My daughter (2 yrs) didn’t nap much at all her first year…. and she was a screamer. It was so hard. My son (6 months) is a champion napper and night sleeper. BUT, he has a few more teeth on their way in, so he’s been really difficult with naps just recently. Fun stuff… makes the day THAT much longer.
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July 17th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Sounds like she might be ready to sleep on her stomach. I know, I know the experts don’t recommend it, but sleep is sleep! My friend put her child — almost Fly’s same age — to sleep on his stomach and he was fine. He crawled early and walked early too.
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July 17th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
I put both of my kids to sleep on their bellies at 8 weeks old bc they just weren’t staying asleep on their backs. I’d say she’s fine. Besides you’ve eliminated some of the other risk factors by not smoking, breastfeeding etc…
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July 18th, 2008 at 4:28 am
It’s so hard when the experts say something, but it’s not working for you. There’s always a risk for something, it’s how much of a risk that is. I think that at 6 months old that risk has diminished significantly and you do need your sleep. If you are going to get sleep and not stay awake worrying about your baby, then I would say go for it!
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July 18th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
she sounds a lot like Lucas. I would put him to sleep on his side, but he would also plop on his back and wake up. He was only napping about 30 min at a time. One day I noticed while on his side he kept trying to go forward, so I helped him, and he slept and slept and slept. That’s how I put him to sleep now – on his tummy. He also gets up on his hands and toes (sometimes knees); he can roll over from his tummy (but doesn’t always do it). Sometimes you just have to do what works! Now nighttime is another story. He’s still in our room; we went through a short period where he slept through the night, now back to waking up quite often (I think he’s teething, plus he has a cold). I end up bringing him back to bed w/me too because I’m just too tired to deal with it!
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July 18th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
It is such a tough call (as your wise commentors have already pointed out). While we would NEVER do anything to place our children at risk of being hurt, there is a time when as parents we know what is best 2for our children.
Most “Experts” would also tell parents NEVER to co-sleep with their babies. pssshaaaa it is the only way we got any sleep with our little guy the first six months!
You share your room with her, you are not downstairs boozing it up with a cloud of smoke, partying like it is ’92, so I would she would be safe.
Go with your gut. You are an awesome mom, you’ll know what to do.
(I think E was 6-7 months old when he started to sleep on his belly)
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July 19th, 2008 at 6:49 am
I loved the night time feedings with Connor too – with him being the third, it was our snuggle time, even if it was at 3 am!
I agree with everyone else… it’s a tough one but you are also doing so many other things to reduce the risk. And if she can get up on her knees anyways, there’s not a lot you can do if she decided to roll onto her belly during the night. All three of my kids were belly sleepers once they could roll over (and co-sleepers), and my nights were a whole lot better after that!
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July 19th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
My daughter never could sleep on her back! She just basically didn’t sleep for the first 4 months until I relented and put her on her tummy, but I was so scared she was going to die so I still didn’t sleep until she was 6 months. A doctor told me that as long as your baby isn’t high risk (asthma, smoking parents, African-American,etc) they should be fine on the stomach. She has a lovely crib she has never slept in. I felt she was safer with me, despite statistics about bed-sharing babies. People chastise me about letting her sleep with me now that she’s10 months, but it feels very natural!
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