Sleeping on their bellies

Okay so I hope my question isn't a dumb one.

When is it okay for babies to sleep on their tummy's? My LO's are 8 months old, 6 months adjusted. They are rolling over both back to front and front to back. They LOVE sleeping on their tummy's and I let them do that during nap time (I'm constantly checking on them) but am a little skiddish of letting them do that at night. I do sometimes find them on their bellies in the a.m. where they have rolled over during the night and honestly it FREAKS me out. Seems like I have read in a magazine or book or something that once the babies start rolling over, the chance of SIDS is reduced tremendously. Maybe I'm a little too paranoid or maybe I just need some reassurance.

And if it's okay that they sleep on their tummy's at night, can I put them down (for bedtime) like that?

 

Yup, my Ped told me once they can get there on their own they are fine to keep that way. You can lay them down that way if you want, we always put the boys down on their backs and as they got stronger and stronger they were rolling to their bellies before we could lay them down lol

 

:good: Same here! Once they are rolling on their own you can't stop them. :lol:

 

Same thing here as well.

 

I agree. Once they can roll onto their bellies themselves, they are fine to sleep that way.

 

I agree too...DS has been sleeping on his belly for awhile now...sometimes with his bum up in the air, face straight down!

 

My pediatrician also believes that once they can roll front to back and back to front, its fine. My girls are only 4.5 months old and even if I put them on their backs, they end up on their bellies in about 2 seconds. After going in a thousand times at night to flip them, I called and got the okay. Just make sure nothing else is in their crib. One of my twins loves her lovey so I let her go to sleep with it and after 5 minutes, I go in and take it out. Its a pain, but she loves that thing.

I will tell you what my friend who lives in Phoenix and is a PA at a pediatrician's office believes: she thinks that belly sleeping does not cause SIDS unless its paired with other risk factors like smoking in the home. She has let both of her children sleep on their bellies from the get go. I don't necessarily agree with her, but just another point of view!

 

Thanks so much for the replies. I feel so much better now. I tend to worry a little more with these babies because they were so early. But I know that I can always tune in to TS and get the answers I need!

 

I agree with everyone else, if they can get to their bellies on their own, I would leave them that way. Maybe they might even sleep better for you!

 

mine are almost 5 months and they both roll from belly to back and jack can roll back again and abbey is pretty much there too, she can get to her side from her back...they've been sleeping on their belly since they were about a month or so old...when i put them in the crib, they just slept SO much better that way...abbey still does...jack prefers his back now...