This is Alpha, the first-born, when he was 2YO.
This is Beta, the second-born, when he was about 2YO.
This is Gamma, the third-born, when he was about 18MO.
Back to Basics
Jul
18
2011
I’ll let you in on a secret that the US government doesn’t want you to know.
Babies sleep better on their tummies than they do on their backs.
The government, of course, pushes the Back to Sleep program, which is intended to deprive parents of sleep.
If you want to make the government happy, you put your child on his back in the crib.
If you want the baby to sleep well (so that you can get sleep), you put your child to sleep on his tummy.
The only problem is visit to the doctor’s office. During the check-ups while the baby is an infant, the doctor will ask how the baby is sleeping. This must be required by law or by the medical establishment, because they always ask. But the wording is up to the doctor.
This is one of the differences between an average doctor and a good doctor:
an average doctor will ask if you lay the baby down to sleep on his back, whereas
a good doctor will ask if you are aware of the Back to Sleep program (that babies should sleep on their backs).
Note the difference – the average doctor places you on the defensive (in the spotlight) but a good doctor places you at ease. Because if you’re like us and sleep the baby on his front, how are you to answer?
Plus, a good doctor will already know what you’re doing and won’t need to ask.
Does the baby have a misshapen head? Must be a back sleeper.
Does the baby have a bald spot? Must be a back sleeper.Must be a back sleeper.
Can the baby roll from back to front but not front to back?
You don’t need to directly ask which way the baby sleeps.
We have a good doctor now.
Note: if you want some interesting reading, go learn about the success of the New Zealand mattress-wrapping campaign. That’s a better way of doing things – investigate and then address the actual problem, rather than guess and pick something that opposes basic biological tendencies.
In peace I will both lie down and sleep, For You alone, O LORD, make me to dwell in safety.
Psalm 4:8
This little article thingy was written by Some Guy sometime around 6:19 pm and has been carefully placed in the Life category.
July 18th, 2011 at 8:06 pm
Did you guys buy one? I always just ran the fan and changed the water-proof mattress cover every several days. If Malachi hadn’t always choked on his own spit while “sleeping” on his back, I don’t know which direction we would have chosen.
Oh, and while none were back sleepers, they still all got the bald spot from the carseat. That’s what happens when you have fair haired children. I got a lecture once about having more tummy time with Cora (because of her bald spot). People and their advice.
July 18th, 2011 at 8:28 pm
Mine all slept on their tummies. I heard from a nurse that the biggest factors with SIDS were (1) parents who smoked and (2) non-breastfed babies. So I figured we were safe and all my babies slept fine on their tummies. I didn’t have to lie to the pediatrician either, because he would say, “You know about laying babies down to sleep on their backs, right?” And I could say yes, because I did know about it. I just didn’t follow it.
July 18th, 2011 at 10:29 pm
There’s so much conflicting information out there.
Sleep on the back, sleep on the stomach, back, stomach….
I’ve just decided we’re going to make our kid sleep standing up.
Compromise!
July 18th, 2011 at 11:09 pm
That makes a lot more sense now. I yell “back to sleep” when I wrestle with Malachi, but it’s much more clever in the context of Sudden Infant Baby Syndrome.
July 18th, 2011 at 11:13 pm
I yell “Sudden Infant Baby Syndrome” when people cry at our house. Maybe I really am a communist: our house has a lot of slogans yelled.
July 18th, 2011 at 11:37 pm
We don’t have an official mattress wrap, but our ceiling fan is always on and we change the mattress cover occasionally. We aren’t doing that stuff because of what the internet says; it just worked out that way.
July 18th, 2011 at 11:38 pm
There’s another alternative, Ricky – tie the child to a spit. He could rotate all night. Over the crib, of course.
July 20th, 2011 at 1:19 am
You’re a genius!
We have a spit, and I don’t like using it for meat because of the cleanup.
This way we’ll still be able to put it to good use.
July 20th, 2011 at 11:38 am
I was just kidding about the spit. I didn’t think you actually had one. In fact, I can’t think of anyone else I know who has a spit.