6 mo old flipping to belly in crib, face down, help!

What do I do? DS is 6 mo old and is flipping over and putting his face down on the crib mattress. DD flips but turns her head better. DS has torticollis and will be getting PT to loosen up his neck muscles, I wonder if this is why he does not always turn his head. I find him face down and I am petrified of SIDS. what can I do?

thanks.

 

Can you use a sleep positioner to keep him on his back for now?

 

Once they can flip, it's fair game. That is what the NICU team and peds told us here.

 

My DD slept face down when she first flipped. The pedi told me she was fine that way. I was also terrified and took several days to stop going in every little bit to check on her. I finally just had to believe that she was fine and get some rest myself. She eventually stopped doing it, but she still likes to have her face covered with her lovey....??

 

I was the same way. I checked every hour for the first few days and would flip them back, but that started to wake them up so I gave up the fight. My son Ryan still likes to sleep on his face.

 

You could try a sleep positioner but usually once they can roll, they shouldnt be on one due to SIDS. I was also told that once they can roll onto their bellies that they are fine to just leave. I hope you get some rest soon.

 

Sleep postioners are actually more dangerous once babies start flipping. There is nothing you can do to stop him. As long as he has a firm crib mattress with no extra blankets in the bed, there will still be plenty of airflow around his face for him to breathe just fine. Some babies just like the feeling of having their face/head covered. My DS will scoot himself into the corner of the crib so that not only is he face down, he also has his head pressed into the crib bumpers! Pretty soon he will be up on all fours and trying to climb the crib rails, and this will be the least of your worries!!!

 

I would say a sleep positioner

 

Ditto this. Both of mine like to sleep face down in the corner of the crib. We took the sleep positioners out around 5-6 months and they've been sleeping on their bellies ever since. :hug:

 

thanks everyone for your replies. I guess this is just normal then. But it sure has me worried. I guess I will just flip him if I notice it but not be so paranoid over it. He's been rolling for a while but this head down thing in the crib is new.
Thanks!!

 

I was always told the same thing & once mine started rolling, I just left them that way. ardon:

 

I have a hysterical picture of my first DD when she first flipped onto her stomach. Face straight on into the mattress. I got my camera and tried to turn her head to the side. She would have nothing of it. Weeks later she slept totally different. I guess it takes time to learn to turn your head. With the rest of my kids I think I was so happy they were sleeping, I didn't watch so carefully .

 

One of my kids was the same way... they started rolling on their tummies around 5 months and Miles scared the bejeezus out of me every night with his face straight down. After a few weeks he got the hang of turning his head, but I probably checked on him about five thousand times a day while he was doing it. It just doesn't seem possible that they can breathe like that!