Does ANY baby like to sleep on their back!??!

[Wugz22]

My first born didn't, and my newborn appears to be no different! I know all the recommendations obviously, but what baby can actually comfortably sleep flat on their back on a rock hard mattress?!?! She'll be sound asleep in my arms, but the second she goes on her back, her little legs kick up and she won't settle. Now if I give her tummy time, she'll easily drift off for a (supervised) nap. Why is the most uncomfortable and unnatural sleep position have to be the safest?! UGH

 

[zorak]

I find its best to put them down either awake or drowsy. Neither of my boys had any problems sleeping in any different type of bed, bassinet, crib etc so it is possible.

 

[SarahBear]

I bedshare which has protective factors (assuming all the risks are accounted for), so I have never forced mine to sleep on their backs. I would try to roll them to their backs, but I also accepted when they wanted to sleep on my chest (on their tummies) or on their sides next to me. For a while, Leo would sleep on his back if I cradled him while he did it. Now he's rolling all over the place, so It doesn't really matter.

 

[zorak]

Yup once mine start rolling I just leave them to it.

 

[SarahBear]

Leo and Violet were both side-sleepers for the most part and I think that has a lot to do with them rolling toward me or nursing to sleep while bed sharing. When Leo learned to roll from back to front though, he started sleeping like this for a while:

 

[hanni]

I must have the only one. My son loves it. He's never slept any other way way because he's never wanted to. I can't even lie him face down on my chest and snuggle him to sleep because he wants to be on his back. I guess I got super lucky in that way!
I understand what you mean about the rock hard mattresses looking uncomfortable, I always put one of his nice cosy blankets tucked in underneth him to make it seem a bit more snug.

 

[SarahBear]

Lucky in one way, but those snuggles on the chest with a newborn are kind of nice

 

[Loozle]

Ds1 slept fine on his back, ds2 and dd are both tummy or side sleepers. DD's preference is to sleep on me still at 6 months though..

 

[Buttercup84]

Both mine have been fine sleeping on their backs, didn't realise it was unusual!

 

[hanni]

Lucky in one way, but those snuggles on the chest with a newborn are kind of nice

Aw he did when he was a newborn. But now he's actually more aware of things he can usually only fall asleep on his own which sucks. Sometimes if I'm lucky he'll fall asleep while being fed and I can get sleepy snuggles then. Now if I try and snuggle him into my chest he just lifts his head up and eats my nose.

 

[Kirsty3051]

Our son is a side sleeper too. He sleeps in his cot, facing me. He slept on his back until he mastered rolling and then that was the end of that

 

[SarahBear]

Lucky in one way, but those snuggles on the chest with a newborn are kind of nice

Aw he did when he was a newborn. But now he's actually more aware of things he can usually only fall asleep on his own which sucks. Sometimes if I'm lucky he'll fall asleep while being fed and I can get sleepy snuggles then. Now if I try and snuggle him into my chest he just lifts his head up and eats my nose.

Haha. Yeah, Leo didn't do it as long as Violet did. And you really don't want the chest sleeping lasting too long. Violet went through various phases with it and was doing it a LOT when I was pregnant with Leo and obviously that could only last so long. She got pretty upset when I stopped letting her do it.

 

[AnonymousCAT]

Lol my theory is that back sleeping is the safest because babies can't sleep on their backs! Therefore no baby will ever die of SIDS if they are waking up every 10, 20, 30 minutes etc.... At least that's what happened with us. However, the research doesn't seem to consider back sleeping safety in terms of mom going crazy due to sleep deprivation... If they considered that point it definitely wouldn't be considered the safest sleep position in my opinion

 

[Wugz22]

Lol my theory is that back sleeping is the safest because babies can't sleep on their backs! Therefore no baby will ever die of SIDS if they are waking up every 10, 20, 30 minutes etc.... At least that's what happened with us. However, the research doesn't seem to consider back sleeping safety in terms of mom going crazy due to sleep deprivation... If they considered that point it definitely wouldn't be considered the safest sleep position in my opinion

LOL so true!!!!!!!

 

[ElizabethK_]

Mine never was and slept on her tummy form 4 weeks.

She now can roll around and she does sometimes sleep on her back, but she always turns round again and usually sleeps on her tummy.

 

[StranjeGirl]

Both mine liked the back! DD2 seems to roll to side often, but has never slept on her tummy, and dd1 didn't start sleeping on her tummy til she was a toddler, and still sleeps on her back a lot...but so do I!

 

[misspriss]

My DD has been an excellent back sleeper since she was born. She was STTN at 2 months. She nurses to sleep then rolls to her back and sleeps all night!

DS however, was a side sleeper, didn't like his back.

Just depends on the baby!

 

[mel28nicole]

Mkne slept fine on her back but when started to roll she was a side sleeper (I think mostly due to thumb sucking so it was easier). Now that she's older she sleeps on her belly majority of the night.