Boom

on October 7, 2012

Such a crazy thunderstorm this morning! I actually sleep with a white noise app on, and it plays the sound of pounding rain, so you know that when I wake up to the sound of real rain, something serious is going on.

I had to roll over to check the iPhone and confirm it was NOT a tornado.

It wasnâ€™t â€“ it was just a wonderful, wonderful thunderstorm. My favorite kind of weather (when Iâ€™m dry and warm in the comfort of my bed!).

Speaking of rolling over, Henry has decided that all the cool babies sleep on their tummies. Doctors are, of course, pretty insistent that you put babies to sleep on their backs to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Now, SIDS is really rare, and Iâ€™ve been pretty non-paranoid about it (well, I have my moments of checking to make sure he is still breathingâ€¦). Anyway, the new â€˜sleeping on the tummyâ€™ thing is really freaking both the Husband and me out, especially because Henry insists on putting his little face straight down into the mattress. We spent half the night getting up and turning his face to the side.

I think it may be time to move him upstairs to the big boy crib â€“ itâ€™s so much firmer than the pack and play mattress, and if heâ€™s going to insist on putting his face down, I want it to be on less fluffy surface. I just donâ€™t think Iâ€™m emotionally ready to move him upstairs! Any advice on easing the separation for us both?

Breakfast:

Courtesy of the Husband.

Eggs and toast, baked beans, and apple.

And a huge cup of coffee.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

{ 33 comments }

Katie October 7, 2012, 10:39 am
No need to fret over the tummy sleep issue – once a baby can roll over they determine how they sleep. I would definitely agree that moving him to a firmer matress is a great idea, so that even if hes face down air can get to his sweet little nose. Both my babes have done this, and continue to sleep on thier tummys even now at 4yrs and 19 months. Best way I found to ease my anxiety when it was time to transition to the crib in a different room was to have the monitor on all night – on low. If you jack up the volume you’ll never sleep from all the moving about that Henry is sure to do.
Wendy October 7, 2012, 11:07 am
I found that once we moved our daughter to her crib, everyone slept better. I was worried about the separation, but after that first night of improved sleep it was worth it. Good luck!
Becky October 7, 2012, 11:08 am
Monitor really helped our transition -and our little guy just went across the hall. Both he and I are even sleeping better now that we have been separated for a few weeks. We must have been waking each other up. And now I rarely need the monitor since he is so close.
Jackie October 7, 2012, 11:08 am
Face down in the mattress is so terrifying! My son started doing that at an early age. Our doctor assured us 100 times that the face sleeping was ok. She said if he could get himself into the position, he could get himself out. He’s still a tummy sleeper now (7 months), but no longer face down. One thing that helped ease my worry was having a fan blowing in the room (in my mind, if a lot of air could flow around him, he’d get enough down by his face).

And I definitely cried the first night our son wasn’t in our room! But for me, it got easier and easier every night. And once we both started sleeping better because we were in different rooms, I was soooo happy we made the transition. Hang in there – anyone who has co-slept knows what you’re feeling! Be strong – and remember you’re making a good decision for your baby.
Nikki October 7, 2012, 11:24 am
Totally unrelated, but I thought you and the husband might be interested in this:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/07/science/earth/british-gardeners-battle-over-peat-for-bogs-sake.html?ref=global-home.
My favorite is when they call Flowerdew a “celebrity gardener.” A close second favorite: the name “Flowerdew” itself:-)
Robyn October 7, 2012, 11:33 am
My little guy has been tummy sleeping for some time now and I’ve also been trying to formulate a plan for his move into his room, although I ‘m really not looking forward to it. I have to say the one thing that has kept our sanity with his tummy sleeping has been our angelcare monitor. I still check him frequently (we have friends who lost a baby to sids) so I am super freaked out by it but he has always slept better that way. I think once we do get him in his own room that will make me less likely to panic but right now I am thinking I will sleep in the room with him and end up having to wean myself out of there eventually!
La October 7, 2012, 11:48 am
It sounds like he is ready for the crib. We freaked out about it also at first, but then we realized that our daughter started sleeping better and longer once she was on her tummy. I would recommend getting mesh bumpers (if you don’t already have them) because that kept me up the first few nights she slept on her tummy as I was waiting for Amazon’s delivery 🙂 In a few days, you and your husband and Henry will probably all sleep better. Good luck!
Bobbie October 7, 2012, 12:00 pm
Every one of my girls started sleeping on their tummies the minute they started rolling over. I wouldn’t worry too much about it. I do agree that the firmer mattress may help you feel better about the situation. I know it can be worrisome but the transition will have to happen eventually and I can almost promise you that everyone will sleep better after the transition. 🙂
Jennifer October 7, 2012, 12:13 pm
One tip with a monitor. Run white noise or a fan in his room also so you can hear it through the monitor. It eased my (probably irrational) fears that the monitor was on and picking up enough sound.
Katie @ Talk Less, Say More October 7, 2012, 12:28 pm
Awww little H getting ready to move to the real crib! He’s growing up so fast! 🙂
Janelle October 7, 2012, 1:20 pm
You will ALL sleep so much better with him upstairs in the crib. And if he needs you, he’ll get your attention. I promise. Both of my kids were tummy sleepers, and we decided not to fret over it or fight it – as you said, SIDS is super rare!
Regina October 7, 2012, 2:05 pm
woah I live in the Greenville, SC area lol I saw that and was like woah hey lookie its us! haha That storm woke me up at like 6am because it was SO LOUD the thunder claps were the loudest I’ve ever heard it was pretty amazing, I got out of bed to check it out gorgeous rain!
Karen @ Runner Girl Eats October 7, 2012, 2:26 pm
Once babies can roll over on their own belly sleeping isn’t much of a safety concern. But for piece of mind, I would switch to the firmer mattress. I love the baked beans for breakfast, so English of you 🙂
Jayce October 7, 2012, 2:28 pm
Maybe don’t move him yet? Having baby in the same room lowers SIDS risk, and that is one risk factor you can control.
- Carrie October 7, 2012, 3:27 pm
  I just read this too – had no idea but it’s making me reconsider moving my baby to his room!
- Becky October 7, 2012, 4:08 pm
  My pediatrician said the reason for that was to have some noise to prevent them from falling into too deep of a sleep. He said city living and household noise is enough, so they do not need to be in same room.
- Steph October 7, 2012, 5:28 pm
  Agreed – our pediatrician recommended room sharing for at least the first 6 months to reduce the risk of SIDS.
  - Caitlin October 7, 2012, 9:24 pm
    I just tried to move the crib with the firm mattress downstairs but its too big to fit out of his room!
    - Jayce October 7, 2012, 9:41 pm
      Is your pack n play mattress just the thin one that also folds up to wrap around the pnp for travel? That is what we have, and our LO (Henry’s age) sleeps his first stretch in there on his tummy every night. He has never stayed asleep on his back, so we switched to tummy a long time ago. I feel it is firm enough, but if you’re concerned maybe you could move the crib mattress in and put it on the floor by your bed? I don’t know. Sleep is such a personal parenting choice. But I get your SIDS anxiety :/.
    - Claire October 8, 2012, 8:35 am
      We kept our daughter on the arm’s reach mattress in our room until 4-5 months (we also wanted to keep her in our room for the worst of the SIDS risk from 2-4 months). Actually, the mattress on the arm’s reach co-sleeper was a lot firmer than her crib mattress, I would think that the pack n’ play mattress would be the same way?
      The other big thing of course is that we had to stop swaddling once she could roll over – she needs her arms free to help her move! That was the scariest thing about her rolling onto her tummy; with her arms swaddled she had trouble moving around once she got on her stomach.
Emily October 7, 2012, 2:58 pm
My twin boys (now 4.5 years old) both slept on their bellies the moment they could roll over. They both rolled over very early (the one gross motor thing they did do early!) so they must have been pretty motivated to be belly sleepers. Once they can pick their own way of sleeping, that’s the way that’s best for them. Just make sure his crib is clear of bumpers and blankets .
My boys always slept in their cribs, but I started off sleeping on an air mattress in their room. I figured it would be easier to ween myself than to make the change for the boys! When I felt ready, I would spend parts of the night in my own bed until I felt ready to be there from start to finish. Good luck!
Amy @loveamyx October 7, 2012, 4:49 pm
I have cried several times today – William seems to have broken up with my boobs {we were combi feeding after weight issues}. I have so not ready to give up breastfeeding, I thought we’d stop around 9mths or so. I guess it’s just the beginning of our boys telling us how the land lies rather than waiting until we’re ready!!! Personally I found chocolate cake and a sobfest seemed to take the edge off the hurt…
Rebekah October 7, 2012, 4:50 pm
I just had to lol at the pic of beans for breakfast- my fiance is British also and pretty much eats them at every meal which is still odd to me! lol
Victoria October 7, 2012, 5:32 pm
If you are concerned, there is a fantastic monitor that can monitor motion/movement down to a baby breathing. My niece would NOT sleep on her back from the day she was born, so my sister ended up spending the money on the Angelcare monitor. It put her at ease that it would warn her if my niece wasn’t moving/breathing. 🙂

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2343185
Amina @Furiously Writing October 7, 2012, 5:34 pm
I understand your concerns about tummy sleeping and this article might be helpful: http://www.babycenter.com/404_should-i-worry-if-my-baby-rolls-over-onto-his-tummy-while-as_3571.bc

My son Babyface is 15 months old today and when he started sleeping on his tummy, his naps and nighttime sleep got longer. Of course, I still check on him several times during the night just to make sure he’s okay. He always is, I just get nervous… But I’m not mad about the good baby sleeping! And blackout curtains are worth every penny.
Aja October 7, 2012, 5:47 pm
Lucky. I love thunderstorms. I’m sorry about Henry sleeping so funny. I would be crazy paranoid about that, but only because I’m paranoid about pretty much everything already.
Steph October 7, 2012, 6:22 pm
Yup, I got caught out in that storm…lucky you for staying in bed!
Kristy October 7, 2012, 8:07 pm
I dot know how you can eat baked beans for breakfast!
Meaghen October 7, 2012, 8:18 pm
My son has slept on his tummy since he was 3 days old. Even swaddled super tight on his back, he would startle himself awake after a few minutes. The first two nights, he did not sleep at all unless we were holding him. DH and I took turns holding him while the other slept. It was awful. Finally after two sleepless nights, I put him on his tummy on me and he slept for an hour straight without stirring. I then decided that it was better that we all sleep than keep trying to make him sleep on his back. That first night, I woke up many, many times to make sure he was still breathing. My fear came back many times after that too. But he slept so much better on his tummy. He was sleeping through the night (7pm-5:30am) by the time he was 8 weeks old.

Also, sleeping on their tummies might be a risk factor, but so is having “things” in their crib, having a smoker in the home (especially the mother), not having a firm mattress, etc and I assume none of those risk factors apply to your situation. And why don’t you move the crib into your room if you’re concerned about his face being down and the distance? It’s a win-win then.
Juls October 7, 2012, 9:40 pm
Have you used the pack n play primarily up until this point at night? I’m 4 months pregnant and going nuts over researching the safety of bassinets and am leaning towards PNP.

Might be time to try the crib, Henry is ok in it for naps right?
Sarah October 7, 2012, 11:04 pm
My son has slept on his tummy since day 1 and in his crib in his own room from week 1. My philosophy is pray and go to sleep. Their lives are in God’s hands. I know someone who lost a baby to SIDS, he would be 4 tomorrow… Like all parenting just follow your instincts 🙂 I think you’ll enjoy your room back though!
Jen October 8, 2012, 12:21 pm
No advice, just a hug. My son is 10 months now and I remember feeling emotional about moving him into his big boy crib and out of our room. I think we did it around 4 months? Can’t remember anymore. I will say that life got better after we moved him into his own room. You get adult time back! Especially when they start “sleeping through the night”. Oh and I can also say that our son starting tummy sleeping around 6 months I think and started sleeping better. Again, no advice – just our experience if that helps at all. For me the SIDS worrying went completely away after about 5 or 6 months I think. I don’t think of it at all anymore. Good luck with the transition. It’s exciting, isn’t it?
Mari @ Wine Required October 8, 2012, 4:43 pm
I used to worry about my little one sleeping on his tummy. I got a wedge that would place him on his side/back and keep him from rolling over.

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