What if my child likes to sleep on his/her tummy?

As a new Mom I had no idea what I was getting myself into when it came to lost sleep. The first week was easy. As most parents know, newborns will sleep ANYWHERE through ANYTHING, but after the first couple of weeks that stops and you're left with this restless, screaming baby, who just doesn't want to sleep. Olivia had really bad tummy issues up until about 3 months. I was up every couple hours with her and it would take at least an hour to get her to go back down; as a single working mom I would have done ANYTHING to get her to go to and stay asleep. I know how hard it can be to lose a ton of sleep and still have to function the next day.

It has been proven that babies cry less when placed on their tummies to sleep. It will calm them easier, and they are less likely to wake up during the night. Tempting right? Before you give in, check out the table below: 

	Stomach-sleep	Back-sleep
Cries more		X
Wakes more		X
Harder to arouse	X
More likely to over-heat	X
Re-breaths more	X
Increases carbon dioxide	X
Has more apnea	X
Spits up more	same	same
More likely to choke	same	same
Greater risk of SIDS death	X

* Changing concepts of sudden infant death syndrome: implications for infant sleeping environment and sleep position. American Academy of Pediatrics. Task Force on Infant Sleep Position and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Pediatrics 2000 Mar;105(3 Pt 1):650-656.

Still tempted? As you can see that while placing your child on their tummy to sleep can be good for your sanity, it's definitely not worth the risk! It has been proven that belly sleep has up to 12.9 times the risk of death as back sleep. This is the easiest and most effective way to prevent sudden infant death syndrome. Please share and help educate new parents and caretakers.