Tummy Troubles

As I've mentioned before, Kyle is a Snuggle Bug. He is quite happy to fall asleep in your arms, and when he's really dozy his favorite position is tummy-to-chest. Since he was born, this meant that to put him in his crib, we had to flip him to his back to sleep...because 'back is best', doncha know. But he would always freak out. His arms would shoot out in front of him like he thought he was falling, in that newborn reflex kind of way. Swaddling him didn't help, it only made him angry.

So, at first, he slept on us a lot, and his crib and bassinet stayed empty. But that couldn't last forever. We got desperate. So we started to transfer him from our chest, to his crib...without 'flipping' him.

*GASP*!!! I know. It was an awful, awful feeling. The general consensus these days is that, because tummy sleeping is a known risk factor for SIDS, I was sentencing him to death by putting him to sleep on his tummy. But it was that, or risk smothering him in my sleep as he slept on my chest.

I told my baby doctor, and she wasn't overly reassuring. I expected her to say 'oh, lots of babies sleep on their tummies!', but instead she pointed out that I was increasing his risk, even though it was the most minuscule increase, and that I need to do what is within my comfort level (you know, how comfortable am I risking his life every night...!!!) and make sure he is on a very flat surface, with no blankets, blah, blah, blah.

So, with that guilt trip in mind, I kept 'trying' him on his back, in the hopes that one day it would just click in his brain that his back felt great! Still hasn't happened. He mocks me by happily laying on his back when he's awake, kicking about and such.

There are a couple 'pros' to tummy sleeping though...

1) His neck has always been very strong.

2) He has never needed official 'tummy time'.

3) He has a perfectly shaped head.

4) HE ROLLED FROM FRONT TO BACK LAST NIGHT, before his two month birthday! Rhys did that for the first time when he was 2.5 months (proof here in the OMG VIDEO). Kyle was in his crib sleeping on his tummy, when I heard him start to cry. I picked up the monitor to check on him and HE WAS ON HIS BACK. I of course had to go in and flip him back to his tummy so he could fall asleep.

Good job little man. We'll have you walking by six months, I know it ;)