Saturday, April 9, 2011

My little tummy sleeper

I know, I have plenty to update on the blog, but I thought this one would be a good, quick post so you didn't think we had fallen off the face of the earth.  I do have posts to share about our trip to Indiana (including our first plane ride), the joys of nursing, and a two month summary, among other things... but first, our sleeping saga.

Colin has recently decided that he is going to only sleep on his tummy.  He is 2 months old so that is NOT old enough to be sleeping on his tummy.  In my mind, the only time it is okay to sleep on his tummy is when he puts himself there.  Granted, he is rolling from his tummy to his back (more on that later) but he is not going from his back to his tummy.

It started when we were in Indiana... the first time we let him sleep on his tummy it was just long enough to get him to sleep then we turned him over.  That lasted one or two attempts before he started to wise up and wake up as we turned him over.  Most of the time in Indiana he slept in the bed with me though so it wasn't a big deal. As long as he's right next to mama, he sleeps great.  Once we had been home for a few days, though, he started fighting the back sleep again.  I tried and tried to fight back and ultimately had to give up.  Nothing I could do would get him asleep on his back.  No matter how deeply he was asleep or how tired he was, he would wake up immediately upon hitting the mattress.  And it's so sad to watch - he flails his arms and legs and just keeps getting more and more upset.  So then I decided to try his tummy - against my better judgement (he has all the increased risks of SIDS - a boy between 2 and 4 months in the winter) but, lo and behold, he fell asleep and slept great.  Mommy didn't necessarily sleep great though so that was another problem to address.

I remember my friend Bonnie had used the AngelCare monitor with her daughter a couple years ago so I texted her to find out more about it.  She said it was the only way that she got to sleep when Hayden was little.  Essentially, it's a movement monitor that goes under the mattress and sets off an alarm when the baby hasn't moved for 20 seconds (the definition of apnea).  We started using the monitor tonite and I must say it does make me feel a bit better.  I still go in the room all the time when I'm still awake after Colin goes to bed, but I can just look in at the door to see that the monitor is picking up movement by the blinking light and I don't have to bug him (like I have been doing - accidentally startling him when I touch him or putting my finger near his face to make sure I feel his breathing...).

I'm not saying this is a cure-all for our fears of tummy sleeping, but it's the best I can do for all of us at this time.  I definitely feel better because he does roll over already - in fact I have gone in a couple of times for night time feedings and he has been on his back so I know he does it when he wakes up - but I still will worry... it's in my blood as a mother and as a PICU nurse.  As I have been saying for the past two months - if Colin can survive having a neurotic PICU nurse for a mother, he'll be doing great!

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