Would you let a 2 month old nap on their stomach?

amother

IndianRed

Fri, Aug 18 2023, 6:51 pm

My kids all slept comfortably on their stomachs - until the one, who died of SIDS!!!

Just because most kids do OK on their stomachs (as did my older children), doesn’t mean they all will (as evidenced by my child, who did not wake up one morning. Crying

) PSA: Most children will do OK on their stomachs, but how do you know if your child is one, who won’t? My child had no warning signs, and my pediatrician (20+ years ago) had given me a green light to put him on his stomach.

It’s true it’s a relatively small risk - but, given that the potential consequences are devastating and irreversible- is it worth taking the chance???

baked ziti

Fri, Aug 18 2023, 7:12 pm

I had my then two months old on his stomach for a nap. I was with him the entire time. I noticed that at some point he burrowed his face in the mattress and stayed face down. I waited an extra second to see if he would budge. He didn't. That was the first and last time I had him on his stomach. He wasn't and still isn't a good sleeper. I still wouldn't take that risk. Even with me there. I don't want to get complacent with time.

amother

Birch

Fri, Aug 18 2023, 7:53 pm

amother IndianRed wrote:

I’m so sorry for you, that is every mothers worst fear. I was educated on SIDS so for me it wasn’t worth the risk of putting babies to sleep on their stomachs. I did swaddles to sleep until they showed signs of rolling. I would maybe do a daytime nap if I was right there in the room on the belly but otherwise no until they could roll.

amother

Snowflake

Sat, Aug 19 2023, 2:05 pm

No, I wouldn't.

For all my kids, I kept them on their backs at night and for naps. When I was a teenager, a family that I knew had a baby die of SIDS during a nap. So I was pretty traumatized by that, and I have not put my kids down on their stomachs. With one of my kids, she wouldn't nap on her back in her bassinet so I even had her nap in my arms for for the first 3 months so she would sleep even though I didn't really want to be doing it.

SIDS is silent - you don't hear your baby gasping for breath, you don't hear/see them flailing around, there aren't really signs that it is happening - being in the room doesn't mean you'll notice. And it can happen very quickly - even just a matter of minutes. Even if I was in the room, I don't have eyes and ears on the baby's breathing all the time, and even a few minutes looking away can be enough to miss it. I personally would not risk it.

amother

Papayawhip

Sat, Aug 19 2023, 2:20 pm

amother Snowflake wrote:

Is the cause of chas vashalom a SIDS death sleeping on their stomach? Is that what causes it? Has a child never died of SIDs who was sleeping on the back?
I'm not being argumentative, just actually asking because I don't know.

amother

Calendula

Sat, Aug 19 2023, 4:58 pm

amother Periwinkle wrote:

For the record, the ABC recommendation for sleep is fairly recent advice and only in America. Other countries will include sleeping on stomach in their recommendations

UK advice is very strongly tummy to play and back to sleep

amother

Calendula

Sat, Aug 19 2023, 5:00 pm

amother Papayawhip wrote:

I’m sure sadly there has been deaths from back sleeping, but I know that in the UK, since guidance was changed to only back for sleeping, rates of SIDS have decreased dramatically. Something that was happening too much in my parents generation, BH is mostly unheard of in my generation.

amother

Salmon

Sat, Aug 19 2023, 5:25 pm

Definitely. And my 5 baby's ended up sleeping on their tummies from very young. In fact my youngest had such good head control it was scary. He turned his head around in his bassinet from very early on. Maybe a couple of weeks old, I don't remember. Mine had terrible reflux and it was the only way we both got some sleep!

amother

Salmon

Sat, Aug 19 2023, 6:00 pm

amother Periwinkle wrote:

For the record, the ABC recommendation for sleep is fairly recent advice and only in America. Other countries will include sleeping on stomach in their recommendations

In the UK the advice is back for sleep and tummy time for playing at times throughout the day, but not for sleeping. I'm not saying I kept to it, as I wrote above, but this is their advice. The health visitors are also ok with naps on the tummy if youre in the room, or check frequently.