Can a newborn baby sleep on the stomach after feeding? Is it possible for a newborn to sleep on his mother's stomach?

With the advent of the baby, the life of a young family changes cardinally. The parents have a lot of worries and new questions. One of them is related to whether a newborn can sleep on the stomach. It is interesting that the opinions of both parents and specialists differ on this score. But in any case, to have information about the benefits, and the shortcomings of this position is necessary to make a weighted decision.

Why does the child sleep on the stomach?

Moms often notice that their child is more comfortable sleeping on the tummy. And this applies more to older children, who already know how to turn themselves. However, newborns also sleep better in this position. What is the reason for this phenomenon?

Most likely, it's so easy. After all, every person has favorite poses for sleeping. And newborn babies are no exception. However, this position has both obvious advantages and significant disadvantages. And to determine whether it is possible to put a newborn to sleep on the stomach, parents should know about them.

Why is it useful to sleep on your stomach?

Supporters of this posture put forward many arguments in its favor. We list them:

• First of all, in this situation, the probability of milk entering the respiratory tract decreases. Given that many infants are observed regurgitation, this is a very weighty argument in favor of sleep on the stomach. Fortunately, the child can not choke on this. However, the question of whether a newborn can sleep on the stomach after feeding, pediatricians respond negatively. Even if the baby is very fond of this pose, you need to wait at least half an hour to avoid regurgitation. By the way, talking about whether a newborn can sleep on his stomach after eating, you need to remember something else. Having finished feeding, it is best to abuse the baby in the arms vertically, with a so-called column. Then the air swallowed during the meal will come out and the risk of regurgitation will be greatly reduced.

• It is noticed that when the crumb sleeps on the stomach, the colic that occurs in almost all children and brings a lot of grief to young mothers, disappear earlier and do not inflict so much on the child. This is due to the fact that in such a pose there is a kind of massage of the abdominal cavity organs, so that gases leave quickly and the state of health and mood of the baby improve.

• According to pediatricians, children who are accustomed to sleeping mostly on their stomachs, develop faster than their peers. In particular, they hold the head before other toddlers, and also start to sit and stand on their own. This is due to the fact that sleep on the abdomen helps to strengthen the muscles of the neck, back and chest.

• This position is favorable for the proper development of the hip joints. The legs of the baby are bred in the sides and are located in an ideally suitable position. Therefore, the risk of developing dysplasia decreases.

• When a child sleeps on the tummy, he does not flinch at loud sounds, does not interfere with his handles, as often happens on his back.

• There is one more advantage of this position. In this position, the skull of the baby does not deform, in contrast to the cases when the child is constantly lying on his back or side.

It would seem that all of the above allows an affirmative answer to the question of whether a newborn can sleep on his stomach. But, unfortunately, this is not entirely true. This position is fraught with a very serious threat.

What is the danger of a dream on your stomach?

Analyzing the question of whether it is possible to put a newborn baby to sleep on the stomach, there are only two arguments in favor of the fact that this position is not suitable. But both of them are so serious that you can not leave them without attention:

• First of all, the opponents of sleep on the stomach remember the syndrome of sudden death of babies. This terrible diagnosis is made when the completely healthy child suddenly stops breathing. And according to statistics, the situation on the abdomen is one of the risk factors. Therefore, a dream in this position increases the probability of this phenomenon. The child can just bury his nose in the mattress and, unable to change position, suffocate. And although this has not been scientifically proven, a large number of parents and pediatricians are therefore negatively responding to the question of whether a newborn can sleep on the stomach.

• There is another reason why you should give up this position. It is widely believed that sleep on the stomach can adversely affect the cardiovascular system. However, this does not apply to all babies. It is best to consult a pediatrician about this.

Opinion of specialists

As already mentioned earlier, the opinions of experts about sleep on the abdomen vary. Experienced doctors strongly advise parents to closely monitor children, if they are in this position. Mainly because of the risk of suffocation and the above described syndrome of sudden death of infants.

Many famous pediatricians do not bypass the question of whether a newborn can sleep on the stomach. Komarovsky Evgeny Olegovich, a famous children's doctor and author of many works on pediatrics, also mentions this. According to him, such a posture is a factor statistically increasing the probability of occurrence of the above-described syndrome.

However, the mechanisms for the development of this phenomenon have not yet been studied. Sleep on the abdomen is considered just one of many risk factors, but not the only one. Also, they include the age of up to three months, the winter period, the male sex. In addition, a short-term stop of breathing can be caused by an ordinary runny nose and dry air in the room.

Therefore, as the well-known pediatrician asserts, first of all you need to take care of favorable conditions for sleep. If the room is humid and cool, parents do not smoke, the child sleeps on a hard flat mattress without a pillow and is under supervision, sleep on the stomach is possible. But failure to comply with at least one of the conditions may lead to a halt in the breathing of the crumbs.

Sleep on Mom's belly

Very interesting is the question of whether it is possible for a newborn to sleep on his mother's stomach. This position is most pleasant for many kids, they very quickly and with pleasure fall asleep just like that. A strong emotional connection is established between mother and child. However, the dream in this position, though very pleasant, but uncomfortable for a woman. Therefore, if you allow the baby to sleep on his mother's belly, then not for long. After all, having got used to it, he no longer wants to fall asleep in a different way.

Laying on the belly

There are different opinions about whether a newborn can sleep on the stomach. But to lay out the child so during wakefulness is absolutely necessary. Suffice it to recall the advantages of this posture: rapid physical development, reduction of colic and others. Lying on the tummy, the child will soon learn to climb on the handles, hold the head and turn over. Of course, lay out the baby should not be immediately after feeding, but after a while.

Alternative postures

What are the alternative poses? In fact, there are not so many options: on the back or on the side. However, in the first case, the risk increases that, after regurgitation, the milk will enter the respiratory tract. In addition, sleep on the back often causes deformity of the skull.

Very favorable and safe is the position on the side. It is convenient, but the child does not choke. But on the side, the pressure on the hip joint increases. This, in turn, can provoke the development of dysplasia.

What should parents do?

If in the beginning parents choose, in what pose to sleep to the kid, in some months the child starts to lay down how it is convenient for him. What can parents do if the child turns over on the tummy? The most important thing is to create favorable conditions for sleep: to remove the pillow, to lay on a firm and even mattress, to provide clean, moist and cool air in the room. And, of course, take a closer look at the baby.

In the end, the child will still begin to sleep in the position in which he is comfortable. And the task of parents is to provide a sweet and safe sleep.