Unpopular Baby Decisions: Tummy Sleeping

Unpopular Baby Decisions Tummy Sleeping

This guide is the first in a series on unpopular decisions we parents make about our babies. Tummy sleeping is generally frowned upon by most pediatricians, other parents, and anyone who watches the news. We all know the latest SIDS research warns against letting your baby sleep in any position except on his back. I do not mean to undermine these warnings, and this guide is not meant to provide medical advice, but to talk frankly with other parents who have already made the decision to allow their babies to be tummy sleepers. If you are unsure about tummy sleeping for your baby, please consult your pediatrician.

My son came into this world healthy, but with a number of strikes against his well-being. He had a sensitivity to milk proteins that gave him terrible gas before we found a formula that worked. He had colic. And he had a mild case of reflux. After a month of getting to know him, we had not yet solved these problems for him, and he just was not sleeping. We all know that young babies do not sleep for long periods of time, but after rocking him for half an hour to get him to sleep, he would wake up the second we put him down in his crib.

I asked my pediatrician about this, as it was incredibly exhausting and frustrating for us. She said we could try letting him sleep on his tummy for naps during the day while I could keep an eye on him. When he did so well, my husband and I decided to allow him to sleep on his tummy at night as well.

It was a hard decision, especially since the newest SIDS guidelines had just been announced. There was a lot of guilt involved in allowing him to sleep on his tummy. What if something happened to him? We...