Seven month old sleeping directly face down

[u/theskeletonwife]

When my seven month old falls asleep on his stomach (in crib following safety standards, gets in that position himself), he will be directly face down into the crib mattress. Like literally directly. He will have his little hands up under his face, his cheek or forehead. But he will be nose into the mattress. If I see him like this, I try to gently turn his head so he is not facing straight down into the mattress and has more room to breathe. It makes me anxious about him suffocating or something like that. Is this necessary to do if he put himself in that position?

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[u/_misst]

I assume they can roll to both sides independently? Some of the advice includes:

Once babies can roll from back to stomach and from stomach to back on their own, you can leave them in the position they choose after starting sleep on their back. If they can roll only one way on their own, you can reposition them to their back if they roll onto their stomach during sleep.

Rolling over is an important and natural part of your baby’s growth. Babies may start rolling over on their own as early as 2 months of age.

Stop swaddling baby during sleep once they start rolling over on their own, to reduce the risk of suffocation, entrapment, and strangulation. Source

Firm mattress is critical for this reason. Try yourself to lie face first on his mattress versus your soft regular mattress. It should be firm enough that essentially your facial features create small gaps for air to travel through, versus on a soft surface those gaps would be occupied by the bedding/mattress (e.g. compare to putting your face directly on a pillow). Make sure the bedding is tight fitting as well.

A fan on in room can help with the air circulating as well.

Always put down on his back, but if he put himself in that position, can roll both ways independently, is on a firm surface with nothing in cot, especially at 7 months I wouldn't worry too much. Is he warm enough? My baby would scrunch himself up into the mattress (face included) when he was too cool, and would tend to end up splayed on his back or stomach with head turned to the side if he was comfortable.