Back vs tummy (part 2) Help!

My daughter liked to sleep on her side - this started in the hospital. When we got home, we bought her one of these items that prevents them from rolling over, so she could sleep on her side. When i told the pediatrician this, he looked at me like i was CRAZY!! So, from then on, we placed our daughter on her back to go to sleep and gave her tummy time during the day.

From the reading i have done on this, the number of SIDS cases have gone down from placing and infants on their backs.

As you mentioned earlier, as infants we were placed on our tummys. We also didn't have car seats when we were infants and as we got older we didn't wear helmets when riding bikes or roller skating. Nor did we wear seat belts as children. I guess i would go with what the latest "safety" information is in order to keep my daughter safe. (PLEASE don't take that as an attack - its not intended as one. )

just~me

I think I responded to your first post too. Obviously, this can be a heated topic, but people make their decisions based on their experience. With my first child, I would probably have chimed in about how you should always have your baby on their back. I put my daughter that way religiously and she always slept well. Then, I had my son. He started rolling over at about 3 weeks, and even though he was in a foam positioner, he still managed to roll to his tummy. I tried flipping him all night long and finally, I gave up and let the guy sleep! There are always risks, but I personally believe there's a birth defect or some other reason babies die from SIDS, we just don't know what it is yet. Babies unfortunately die from SIDS while sleeping on their backs too, just not as often. You are not a bad mom!

Hobbymommy, 38, is a discussion leader from Mesa. She is a happy stay-at-home mommy to a 3-year-old daughter and a 2-year-old son.

I think the statistic stated that when the back to sleep campaign started, SIDS dropped by more than 60+%. I always placed my son on his back to sleep, still do and he is two. He liked to roll over very early as well, but I still put him on his back when I laid him down. That being said, at some point you are asleep and babies when they are strong enough will roll themselves over to however they feel most comfortable. My son did this and it worried me, but my ped said that if he is strong enough to roll over the risk is decreased, but to still put him down on his back.

This is a tough one, especially because safety concerns have changed so much over the years. If it was me, I'd keep my baby on the back and buy those foam things that help them stay in place.

Susie is a discussion leader in the east valley for arizonamoms.com. She has two sons, ages 7 and 3.

My husband read an interesting article on this subject a while back. I can't locate the article right now, so I'll try to explain what it said.

A study was being done on SIDs rates in different countries. One area (the Neverlands, if I remember right) had much much lower SIDS incidents than anywhere else in the world. The thing the researchers found was that babies were being put to sleep on their backs. This was during the time that babies were put down on their side or stomach in most of the world. There wasn't a definitive reason found.

I wish I could find it again, it was really very informative.

As someone else already said, the SIDS rate has greatly reduced since back sleeping has been recommended.

I know my generation was put to bed on our stomachs so that if we spit up we wouldn't choke (of course we now know that baby just turns their head and it runs out the side of the mouth). The best practice for my now 12 year old was on her side. My little ones are 3 and 1 so they have been put down on their backs.

I found with all of them that once they were able to roll over, they slept in the position they wanted. Our pediatrician said the SIDS rate is greatly reduced once they can get themselves around. I still start the 1 year old out on her back, but she usually winds up on her side.

my 2 sleep on there stomach. Of course I was up all the time checking on them, not because of that but because I just did and I still do. I even check to see if my hubby is breathing especially when he isn't snoring.

I think it can really vary betweens kids. My oldest slept on his side with a positioner to keep him in place until he could roll to his stomach.

My youngest could hold his head up and moved all over the crib from day 1 and ended up sleeping best on his stomach. Now at 6 and 3 they both still prefer sleeping on their stomachs.

My son will be three months next week. I registered for the sleep wedge that prevents babies from rolling on their tummies. We started him on his back. But the thought of him gagging in the middle of the night still bothers me. He loves to sleep on his side. I am ok with that. And during the day when he naps I put him on his tummy. He loves to sleep on his tummy. But, I keep an eye on him as well. So who knows what is best. It's all a learning curve.