My Baby Sleeps Face down into the Mattress

Hi
I had a simular problem with my children. I used the angelcare movement sensor monitor. It will sound an alarm if it doesn't feel any movement (included breathing) for 10sec. The sensor pad is very sensitive so they don't need to say on the pad. The pad is placed under the crib matress and their is a montior for the babies room and for your room. You can set the montior to make a little sound every movement or you can turn that feature off. This was my life saver I could actully get some sleep at night. We also started using it after my son went into a toddler bed because he would get up in the middle of the night and sleep walk. The alarm would sound 10sec. after he had gotton out of bed. We also invested in a t.v baby montior so that I could check on him with out having to get up everytime I was worried, I could just roll over and look into the montior and see him. We still use it with our children 3,4 and 7. I have placed it in there playroom so that I can keep in eye on them when they are down stairs playing and still get something done. I got both of these items at toy r us/baby r us. I hope this helps.

The only way that I would be able to get a good nights sleep if I were you would be to put her in a bouncy chair to sleep. Tons of kids sleep in them for reasons like yours and for reflux, colic, etc. It's not going to hurt her to sleep in a bouncy chair, especially at her age because she's active and won't be on the back of her head when she's awake too.
Best Wishes,
J.
Mom of 4 ages 5,4,3 and 1 and adopting a 6 year old. The 3 and 6 year olds have Angelman Syndrome www.angelman.org

Once they can move their heads, and even roll over I'd think sleeping on the tummy is just fine. Your duaghter seems ahead of schedule with her development and I'd think she'd be just fine. If you put her to sleep on her back and she rolls over all by herself to her tummy that's a sign she's ready.

I've seen alot of babies sleep on their tummies no matter what mom/dad try and they just give up.

Edit:
That would be scarry but what can you do? Your child is crawling, standing up on her own I can't imagine using a bumper or something to restrain her. Unless you put her to sleep in a carseat which wouldn't work how would you correct this? My daughter walks in her sleep, grinds her teeth I just deal with it as it comes. I was told along time ago some kids will hold their breath until they basically faint(tempertantrum) and the brain's normal reaction to come out of it and breath. So if a kid does that let them. That's what I was taught in a child pysch. class. So if she were to smoother herself face down her brain should trigger her to move her head and take a breath of air. The only other thing I can think of is have a sleep study done and contact your pediatrician.

oh, I can completely relate! Our daughter did the same thing when she was young, and we had one instance where she gave us a really good scare. Makes it hard not to worry, huh? We used a sleep positioner to help with that problem til she did better with it. I don't know if that would work for you or not, because yours sounds very active, while ours wasn't active til later. Otherwise, maybe you could do some daytime practicing with her about how to put her head to the side when she's on her tummy. Sometimes once kids are shown something a few times, they realize they can do it and it becomes more automatic. Don't know if this helps, but I hope so!!

I think this would scare me too. Maybe you could try one of those angelcare movement sensor monitors though if your little one scoots off the sensor pad, it wouldn't work. Anyway, I've seen them at Babies R Us so it may be worth looking into to get some sleep and peace of mind.

My son is doing the exact same thing. He is 8 months old now. I hear him on the monitor "every" night grunting and when I go in to check on him he is face down. When I turn him over onto his back he, like you daughter, gasps alittle but seems unfazed. I'm exhausted from lack of a good nights sleep because I worry so much of SIDS. Did you ever ask her pediatrician?? I see your post was from some time ago. How long did she end up doing this? Did you ever find a solution?? Should I be concerned?

I worried about this same issue - my son is now 4 and he has always preferred to be a tummy sleeper. Our pediatrician told us that if we lay him down on his back and he was strong enough to turn himself over than we needn't worry about it. I would go with the crib since she likes it better.

I have four children and one of them would only turn there head one way and so I had talked with people and they recommended a chiropractor and at first I was not liking the idea but, the more I talked with people alot of them said chiropractor also. So I did and he was all stiff on that one side from being inside. So that is something to try.

Good luck!

They do say once they can roll not to worry about it, but I think I would worry too. Is there enough room to put the crib in your room? When my little guy was ready for a crib, we weren't quite ready to put him in his own room. So we just set the crib up next to our bed. That worked really well until everyone was ready for him to go to his own room. If you are tight on space, portable cribs (different from pack and play) are a great option because they are wood, stand up off the ground for easy access, and are smaller than a regualar size crib. Sometimes you can find them on craigslist fairly cheap.
Good luck.

You could try laying her down (on her back)in one of those little bumpers...Its like a small blanket that has two pads that attach with velcro. You lay her down on her back or side and she wont be able to move or roll.
Gosh, I too would be up all night checking on her. No sleep for me if mine was doing that.
My son like sleeping on his back too, but not like what your describing.

my son is doing the same thing, did you find any good solutions??