Tummy sleepers--swaddled still?

[kim&savannah]

OK, I know there are at least a few young tummy sleepers out there--I'm just wondering, if you do put your baby down on their tummy, do you still swaddle?  Dh and I were talking about this and it doesn't exactly seem safe, but then if they need to be swaddled to sleep, I don't know how that would work.

I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with the idea of putting our lo down on his tummy or not, but he's more and more unsettled during naps and nights and is waking every 30-45 min. now, including at night (until I give up and bring him into our bed around 11 or 12), so I'm just trying to invesitgate my options and know that a lot of people who finally got their lo's to sleep did so by switching them to tummy sleeping.

~Kim

[owensmommy]

Hi there,

Our ds now sleeps on his tummy at 6.5 months and I really debated switching him to it earlier as he wouldn't nap at all.  I now lay him down on his side and he rolls over to his belly immediately - but he's no longer swaddled and is very strong so I now feel safer about it.

I did a lot of reading about SIDS and I really wanted to avoid it - I felt that if I put him on his belly that young I wouldn't sleep well anyways as I'd be anxious and nervous all night.

We also relied heavily on swaddling with our ds - in time it worked very well.  We combined this with side sleeping.  I bought a positioner (Secure Sleeper Ulta - 3 in 1 sleep positioner by DEX) that was a foam wedge (so his head was slightly raised) and then it had two velcro bolsters.  The wedge was made of a slightly ofter foam that molded to his little body.  I would position him between the bolsters and tuck him in tightly by wedging another rolled up blanket between the rear bolster and his back.  It sounds like a lot of work but once we started this position he began to extend his naps.  He felt like he was being held and the bolsters put gentle pressure on his arms and back - being on his side like this lessened the body jolts he experienced while trying to transition to the next sleep cycle.

Good luck.

[JennŠ]

Nope, tummy and swaddle do not mix.  How about a sleep sack?

[kim&savannah]

Thanks ladies. 

Owen'smommy~I think I'm going to get that sleep positioner, although I wonder if it will really do anything differnt than the set up I have now--His basinett is raised up a little at the head (phone book under the legs) and I have rolled up towels on each side wedging him on his side, so same idea.  But maybe the real thing will be more comfortable.  He actually naps in his swing at this point because it was helping him get through the 45 min. jolts, but that hasn't been working the last couple days either.  I'm just hoping he'll grow out of this soon and can't wait for him to be able to roll to his tummy on his own--he's also a very strong baby so I think it will happen pretty soon--and that's why I was considering just putting him down that way--he tosses his head around so much while sleeping that I really can't imagine him being at a risk for SIDS (he's also such a light sleeper, which I would think would eliminate a lot of the risk as well).

I definately won't swaddle if I do decide to try the tummy--we'll see.

~Kim