3 Month Old Won't Sleep on Her Back

I am reposting my previous answer to this same question.
"I would put her on his tummy as long as no one smokes in the house and you have no reason to fear Sids. My daughter,who is 23 now,slept all night when she was a month old and I breastfed her. My son was two months old not sleeping through the night yet.I was putting him on his back as they were pushing at the time.I put him on his tummy and he slept through the night after that. He is 17 now."

Does she roll onto her back herself? If so, then it's OK, not great, but OK. My baby did this and my doctor said that if I can roll her back onto her back without waking her then do so. If she wakes, don't bother.

If she's not rolling yet, she probably doesn't have the neck control that she needs to sleep on her tummy.

They now force parents to sign contracts for this???? Yikes.

I vote that the baby's natural desires should be considered.

You know, I went and read the actual 'research' on the 'back to back sleeping' position. And I was shocked to learn that there is no official research. It was just a questionaire conducted in clinics asking moms how they put their babies to bed. Without any follow up on if the baby rolled themselves over. Then that loose-goosey info was written down, analyzed and now passed out as scientific fact. It was conducted as a SIDS clinical study.

So, I am one of 7 children, and my mom put all of us to sleep on our tummy's, rolled up like burritos, and we all made it.. And I put my kids to sleep by alternating sides, so they would not have that ugly, flat, bald head spot.

But by age of 3 months, I no longer could control how they slept. They chose.

I don't think the contract you signed was a life-long , enforceable, mandate for the baby.

I have 4 kids.... when they were born, the advice THEN was to have them sleep on their tummies in case they spit up....

They all survived...... I also covered them with multiple blankets in the winter (heck, we lived in Iowa, and it was COLD!!!)

A contract? Or a notice that you were informed?

I'd call my pediatrician to discuss.

Is she lifting her head on her own? Pushing up on her arms? If she is, she is probably safe to sleep on her belly now. Just keep any lose toys and blankets out of her crib. I really hate all of these rules that supposedly fit all. The majority of babies would be fine on their bellies. There was a period of time where they encouraged people to have their babies sleep on their bellies for the fear of choking on spit-up. Were there really that many more infants dying of SIDS during that time? I believe I heard that the biggest risk factor for SIDS is being exposed to second hand smoke or other medical issues. If your baby is otherwise healthy, I would just let her sleep on her belly. Being on their tummy is also great for developing core strength and visual motor skills necessary for crawling and other important milestones. Before you know it, she will be able to roll on her own, and at that point there is no stopping her from sleeping in whatever position is most comfortable for her!

If that is the way that she is comfortable, you can probably be sure that she will be fine. As time goes on they are finding issues with children sleeping on their backs as well. Both my now 11 year old and 6 year old slept on their bellies. I made sure they were on a firm mattress and nothing else in the crib. Both were born in the winter so they slept in those blanket sleepers to stay warm.

So many things have changed from when our parents had us and you know what we all survived. You can't follow all doctors rules because each child is different. You do what you feel is best for your child.

My daughter wouldn't sleep on her back either and hated being swaddled. At first I could put her on her side with blankets rolled up to support her. She soon learned to turn over on her stomach and lay on top of the rolled blankets. I talked to her dr and she told me to let her sleep on her stomach. She said some babies don't like sleeping on their backs.

When I would put my daughter on her back her legs and arms would stick straight up in the air and she would scream until I layed her on her stomach. Rocking her to sleep didn't help. As soon as I would lay her on her back she would wake up screaming. I will say I didn't sleep good at night for months until she got older. I was up often checking on her.

Your daughter just doesn't like sleeping on her back. Ask her doctor for advice. If being on her back disrupts her sleep like it did my daughter you may have to lay her on her stomach.

At that age, our kids slept better in the swing or in their carseat or in a bouncy seat or in our bed. They really didn't sleep well in the crib at all. She doesn't have to sleep in a crib or even flat on her back. Remember, the best place for baby to sleep is wherever baby will (safely) sleep. Try some other safe options and see if she likes any of them.

Some kids do , do better on thier tummys. Both of mine were on thier tummys by 6 weeks old. After my first who was laying on the floor in front of me, spit up and started to choke on it, it was then that I said no more sleeping on his back. He would have died on his back if I was not right there.

Yes, they say that sids shows less deaths by back sleeping, but you really need to take into account your family history, and your specific child.

My neice, I would not feel comfortable putting her on her tummy, For tummy time she puts her face strait down, ( my kids always turned thier heads. My son was doing "push-up" at 2 weeks old and lifting his head and looking around. every kid is different.

You have to feel comfortable with how she sleeps..

My 2
10 Cousins all slept on our tummys
All are still fine.

Jim at home is so right. Unnatural. Little babieslove to be on their tummies
Curled up. My four kids slept in their cribs first day home on their tummies.
They are all grown with families of their own. They always slept in a very cool room which I think is much better. Let her sleep on her tummy. If she is happy on her side at night. Then let her be. Soon enough she will be rolling over and it will be out of your control.

I used a sleep positioner with my first (those foam wedges that go the length of the baby's body). That kept her on her back and side. But my second was very much a stomach sleeper. But he was born full term, BIG, we are nonsmokers, and he was in a crib with just a firm mattress. He survived just fine.

Ha! our child was the same way..

Within 6 weeks of being born she was rolling over. I finally asked the doctor about it and he said, "if she is rolling over on her own, let her sleep on her stomach."

This is when she began sleeping 6 to 8 hours straight at night. I had her in a bassinet right next to me.

Ask your doctor about it. Can she also raise her head and turn it?

Our daughter lifted and turned her head the first time I said her name right after she was born in the hospital! We knew we were on the ride of our lives from that moment..

When those that are older had kids we were taught to sleep them on their stomachs. This was in case they spit up or regurgitated milk. They wouldn't suffocate. It was the "safe" way to put our kids to sleep. We didn't have a lot of dead baby's from them sleeping on their tummy's.

Today there is research that shows baby's do better on their backs BUT that child does have some say in it. IF she can turn herself over then she can sleep any darn way she wants. You can't stay up all night constantly rolling her back over.

At 3 months you do have the option of making her do anything you want. Sleep her in a bouncy seat, strapped in of course, so she's partially sitting up. We did this with our boy that had reflux. It was a life safer, he was able to sleep and not wake up every little bit with puke everywhere.

Of course she will sleep on her back. If that's where you put her, and she cannot roll over yet, she will fall asleep when she is tired.

@ Mom B - I am happy your babies all lived. The back to sleep campaign has saved many lives. Saying you put yours to sleep on their tummies so it is fine, is just like saying 'well I have driven the car without wearing my seat belt, so nobody needs to wear seat belts'.

You know, when we were babies, our mothers were told to put us to sleep on our stomachs. I'm not sure that there was any higher incidence of SIDS in those days. I actually read a study that said that air flow in a room is more important than whether a baby is sleeping on her stomach or back. As in, if you have a ceiling fan in the room and turn it on, the baby is exponentially less likely to die of SIDS, regardless of sleeping position. I believe the study was from Japan, but I could be mistaken. Anyway, if your baby won't sleep on her back, then have her sleep on her stomach. At 3 months, she can lift her head, and is probably well on her way to being able to roll over on her own. Once they can do that, it's not like you can control where or how they sleep, anyway.

I agree with jennifer - my daughter learned to turn to her stomach at that age, but couldn't flip back. I was so freaked out because I was trying to follow the letter of the recommendation. I found that it was easier and safer for her in the swing - no GERD, she was more comfortable, no rolling.

Never had to sign a contract with any of mine. Sounds like you need to call your doc to see what they suggest.

Look around - how many people do you see who are over 40? Well, they were ALL put to bed on their stomachs and as you can see, plenty of us survived.

That "contract" thing is nothing except a tool to make you feel guilty if you have the audacity to question their rules. Throw away the contract and do what works for you and your baby!

Our son wouldn't sleep on his back either. It was 3-5 months of crying. He was able to lift his head early on, so we went back to the doctor with him and asked if we could put him on his belly so long as we kept his crib empty and him just bundled up in pajamas. The doctor saw that our son had really good neck strength and was able to lift himself up if something was in his face. That's what really matters. Can your baby get away from something that might be suffocating her. Don't put any crib bumpers on her crib, put only a bottom fitted-sheet on the mattress, no other blankets, stuffed animals, etc. and put her in well fitted (not too loose) pajamas so she's warm enough without a blanket. And, make sure she can lift her head off the mattress if needed.

I struggle with this too in my new born. My compromise is this, day time naps on tummy unswaddled once baby old enough to have some neck control. Then put baby to sleep on back at night and rock them to sleep first so they won't fight the position. Do what you have to do.