Does anyone do this too??

Question

My son is 3 weeks old. He stays VERY gassy. His Dr has switched his formula twice already, from Similac Advance, to Similac Isomil Soy, now to Similac Alimentum. And still gassy. Well, because of this he doesn't sleep well at all. Almost every night its a up every hour on the hour for him type of thing. I have found that he somewhat sleeps well on his tummy. Some nights its the ONLY way he will sleep period. Sleeping on his tummy on either me or his father, or sleeping on his tummy in his crib, or my bed (no blankets or pillows around)... Now my question is, has anyone else gone through this? And would or do you let your infant sleep on his or her tummy even though the Dr. warns not to?? Am I a bad mother for even letting him sleep like this?

Please no mean comments, I am only here for suggestions.

Answer 1

I let my second sleep on his belly on my chest.  Firstly its the only place he would sleep, secondly I didn't want to force my toddler out of my bed before he was ready and with the baby on my chest I knew the toddler couldn't roll over on him (which allegedly toddlers really can do unlike adults, then again twins are frequently in the same crib so I don't know)

Bed-sharing is controversial in the US, Canada, and the UK (mainly the US) however lots of studies prove it is safer.

If you can tolerate it try inclining your bed to about 15degrees and that may help your baby sleep even more.

(Obviously co-sleep safely which includes not doing so with any adult that is on sleep inducing medication, illegal drugs, who smokes, has a sleep disorder, blah, blah.  There are lots of articles on how to baby proof a bed, if you need them I will find some)

One of the main doctors studying it is Dr McKenna:

Why babies should never sleep alone: A review

of the co-sleeping controversy in relation to SIDS,

bedsharing and breast feeding

http://www.nd.edu/~jmckenn1/lab/articles...

The University of Notre Dame Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Lab is both a research and teaching laboratory. Upperclass undergraduate students at Notre Dame gain first hand experience conducting cutting-edge research examining issues of national and international significance. These issues include the safety of different sleep environments as well as the the physiological and/or psychological consequences of the different choices of sleeping arrangements parents make.

http://www.nd.edu/~jmckenn1/lab/index.ht...

CO-SLEEPING: YES, NO, SOMETIMES?

http://askdrsears.com/html/7/T071000.asp

Need vs. Habit

http://www.naturalchild.org/tine_theveni...

Gesell argues that a child passes through predictable stages of development at predictable times.4  Thus what might seem to become a habit, may be simply a gratification of a need.

Hymes, in his book Child under Six, describes a habit as an action which can easily be broken. "If you run into any major difficulty at all," he writes, "Beware! You are probably not dealing with an old outworn habit. The chances are that you are tampering with a human need."5

If the body indicates a need for food, treating it like a habit and disregarding it will not make the hunger go away. Ignoring the sensation of wanting to lie down and sleep will not cure one forever from having to sleep eight hours a day.

But if one is in the habit of putting his keys in his right pocket, there need be only a worn-out pocket to change the habit from putting the keys in right to the left pocket.

The child who seeks his parents' bed at night is expressing a basic need. And this need must take its own time and pace for satisfaction.

The child who is thus allowed to be with his parents will gradually mature to being satisfied with sleeping elsewhere, usually seeking the companionship of another member of the family. Should this child choose to sleep alone, it might do well to be aware that he has not transferred his seeking security from his parents or siblings to an inanimate object. If the child wants to sleep with his parents, it means he needs it. If he crawls into his parents' bed but then is content to be taken to a sibling's bed, it may mean that he was in the habit of going to his elders' bed.

For some strange reason we tend to think that to satisfy a child's need is to make it into an unbreakable habit, where in truth the exact opposite is true.6

When our children develop a "good" habit, one that suits us, we are afraid it is not going to last. But when our children develop a "bad" habit, one that does not suit us, we are afraid it is going to last forever. So many people are afraid that their children will not grow up. We are told to feed them solids with a spoon at three weeks of age, lest babies will never learn to eat solids, let alone with a spoon. We are told to toilet train them when they are one year old or they will never quit wearing diapers. We are told to begin to discipline them at one month, otherwise they will never listen to us. We are told that children must always sleep in their own bed or they will always want to sleep with us. It is commonly believed that babies need to be weaned by the mother. And yet when weaning is left totally up to the child, it happens in a natural, healthy, and relaxed way. At the time the child no longer needs direct physical contact with his mother, then he weans himself from the breast. Likewise, parents' experiences indicate that the healthy child will wean himself in time from the parental bed.

Answer 2

The incidence of SIDS does rise for tummy sleeping but it is only a very small rise. If it is the only way he will sleep then I say go for it AFTER you have gotten the ok from his Dr. just incase there is some reason he shouldn't do it. However, I would say ONLY in his crib with the firm mattress. Your mattress is softer and so he is much more likely to squish his head into it. And on yours or dad's tummy is too risky... he may roll and fall off, you might roll if you fall asleep etc.

Answer 3

the advise ive read is good so far, i just want to add, go and get some mylicon drops, you can buy the name brand or you can go to wal mart and get the equate brand and they work just as well and have the same exact ingredients, they were a life saver with both of my kids for gas.

Answer 4

Are you certain it's gas and not GERD? My son had similar issues with discomfort, but the cause was reflux. The Dr. put him on ranitidine for a few months (most babies outgrow it by 5-6 months once the esophagus is more developed). The difference was night and day!! We went from lots of crying and obvious pain to a super easy, mellow, anjelic and happy baby.

MOST BABIES WITH REFLUX ARE MORE COMFORTABLE ON  THEIR TUMMIES!

Good luck!

Answer 5

My son was gassy too...we changed his bottle to the Dr Brown bottles...the swaddler helped my baby during the first few weeks fall asleep well.  If you are not familiar, you can find it at Babies R Us...it doesn't help gas, but it does provide comfort for your newborn!  Hope this helps.  Oh, another thing to try is gripe water.  You can find it at Babies R Us too...or a health food market (like Henry's...if you have one in your state).  Mylicon drops did not help my son...but it worked miracles for his cousin!

Answer 6

My daughter has slept on her tummy since day 1.  That is the way she prefers to sleep and if I wanted to get any sleep I had to let her sleep that way.  I don't really care what the doctor's say, if something is going to happen it's going to happen whether she's on her tummy or not.

Answer 7

The big concern for the baby sleeping on his tummy is the whole SIDS thing. My doc said that tummy naps were okay, but only naps. However the views seem to change on this all the time. It's really up to you I think. Do you feel comfartable with him sleeping like that? Or have you tried those gas drops? I'm not sure if he can have them at 3 wks old. There are also formulas specicifcally to reduce gas but I'm not sure on their details so is that what you have already been using?

I would really say it's your choice.