I do understand and abide by the Back to Sleep campaign. My son has only ever slept on his back but he recently began rolling to tummy quite a bit. He's desperate to sleep on his tummy but doesn't know how to turn his neck to to lay his head down. I have heard from several moms who do allow their babies to sleep on tummy and would like to let him try to nap that way but don't know how to help him learn to turn his head. Has anyone ever experienced this before? Thanks!
Echoing the other moms' advice - our doctor told us at our 4 month checkup that our son's default position when playing on the floor should be the tummy. That way we can hold rattles or mirrors to the side and above him to teach him to turn and hold his head. After doing this for just a few days, our son no longer fussed when on his tummy and quickly learned to roll over from tummy to back!
Both of my boys (1 and 3) were tummy sleepers as soon as they could role over on their tummies. We started with a sleep positioner for side way sleepers and they progressed from there.
I am not for or against the back to sleep campaign idea. As a mom of 3 boys, my youngest being just 2 1/2 months they have all slept on their stomachs. We do use a sleep sack to prevent any kind of choking hazard with a blanket. I did discuss it with my doctor and the fact that my kids all screamed if I tried to have them sleep on their backs combined with the fact we are the only country to have the "back to sleep" idea, he said go ahead and do it. Now the head control thing is an issue. I would say lots of tummy time during the day so you can monitor his progress and try a nap with you watching. Good luck!
M.
Give him lots of tummy time during the day so he can strengthen those neck muscles at his own pace. Do five minute intervals of tummy time throughout the day. Get down on your stomach and try to coax him to look at you or make a noisy toy squeak so he has to turn his head to look at it. If he gets it during the day he will quickly learn to turn his head during sleep.
I would give him lots of tummy time so that he can strengthen his neck. I understand that once they can turn over onto their tummies, many babies prefer to sleep that way and it is virtually impossible to keep them on their backs. That being said, I wouldn't put him to sleep on his stomach if he cannot figure out how to turn his head and neck on his own. Also, I'm sure you probably already know this, but SIDS does not only happen at night but can happen any time a baby is asleep including nap time. Good luck.
