So, my daughter just learned how to roll over yesterday. I put her to bed at 7:30. It's an hour later, and I've already been her room 3 times because she has flipped herself over and woken herself up. Is this just a phase because it's something new she can do? How do I know she won't stay planted on her face? Any suggestions on what to do? Thanks so much!!!
When my daughter went through that phase, I put the car seat positioner on her crib (kiddopotmous brand). She slept in that and couldn't roll over. I gave her plenty of time to roll over after sleeping, and once she was a pro, she could fall asleep on tummy or back. Until that point, she cried every time she rolled over, I guess because she was "stuck".
Good luck, hope this helps.
My daughter is 6 months and at 4 months we went through the same thing. It was awful- on me - because she would scream until I flipped her back over. Finally, one night I decided to let her cry until she fell asleep that way with the hope that she would learn that sleeping on her tummy was not so bad once she got used to it. It seemed to work, but it was a long night... Now, she can roll every which way and still chooses her tummy for sleeping. It is just one of those stages that keeps us awake!
if she can do it on her own, chances are she'll be fine. don't stress yourself out too much about it. against all societal advice, we ended up stomach sleeping our daughter starting at 12 weeks b/c she still startled and woke herlself up. our peditrician actually agreed with us on this as she seemed to do really well. as a result, she had a lot of upper body strength, started crawling earlier, loved tummy time and was able to soothe herself back to sleep.
if you're really worried (and trust me, we were!), you can get a monitor (angel care?) that actually goes under the matress and senses the lack of breath motion... if your baby stops breathing for more than 20 seconds, an alarm goes off. we found that the sound monitor with it sucked and used it for the alarm only. it took a lot of stress off of me!
if you go that route, keep in mind that your baby needs to be on top of the monitor square under the matress for it to work, so once your baby starts moving around more and more, you'll start to get false alarms. we stopped using it around 6 months after 3 nights in a row of the alarm going off, my running to my daughter's room only to find her sleeping at the top of her bed!
good luck!
This is a good thing for your daughter to do at such a young age. It is definitely a milestone and rolling over needs to be praised. Please let her continue to roll over and don't try to stop her progress. This is a stage that she has reached and it is very exciting for her because it is something new. Make sure that you always monitor this behavior because sometimes it is difficult for a baby to roll back over once he/she is on its stomach but eventually they'll get it. Continue to monitor her progress and congratulations.
If she's strong enough to flip, she's strong enough to lift her head if she can't breath. Let her fall back to sleep without your rescuing her or that will never stop. Once she falls asleep, then check on her. She'll get use to sleeping in the position she wants.
If she can roll over already than she is strong enough to lift her head & move it to the side. Just make sure their are no toys or blankets near her head.
Babies almost always learn to roll from front to back before they learn back to front. If this is the case for your daughter, then stop worrying! Once she can roll herself over, the risk fo SIDS is largely gone, since she can clear her face if it becomes obstructed. She'll likely roll all over the place now. It's what babies do best.
we just went through this with our son. we would go in there and flip him a zillion times a night. finally one day for his nap i just rubbed his back and let him get comfortable on his belly and he's been a great belly sleeper since. there were a few night in the beginning that he was face down on the mattress but you can either gently move her head to the side if you don't think she'll wake.
I remember those days... I believe it will stop. The other thing is that if she can roll, she will. She will find air. We read from some book that claimed to know it all (it may have been Dr. Spock) that a baby will move to find air. Our babies were fine even when they started sleeping on their tummies AND were much better sleepers!
Both our children did this. It was a bit more unnerving for our first born, because he was a 26 weeker, so after bringing him home anything that even had the chance of causing anxiety increased one hundred fold. Our son never really woke himself up, just decided he was a tummy sleeper and has stayed that way from about four months to now. When our daughter learned to flip she went through a phase where she would do this in her sleep, wake herself up, cry and need to have Daddy turn her back over (I work nights, so this is what I was told by bleary eyed Daddy upon arriving home.) We worried, but after about a week she didn't cry anymore. At the start she would plant her face into the bed and rub it back and forth wimpering, which we thought might mean she was having some difficulties, but she soon learned to keep her head to the side and now only will sleep on her belly. I think the key is to know that as long as there is nothing soft for the little one to bury their face into and the crib mattress is firm (we kept it on the newborn side until both our kids were six months just to be safe) they will move their heads enough to breath just fine. They have pretty strong necks and can shift around as needed. I can totally understand your worry. It kept us going up and down out of bed to check on them for a while around age four to five months. I don't know how big your little one is, but if it is causing excessive worry or distress, you might be able to buy a "bumper" system (like the ones for newborns) that will keep baby on her back. We had this for both of ours, but once they both figured out how to flip, the bumper caused more issues than the flipping.
Well, my second rolled over when she was two months old and she liked sleeping on her tummy. well you know that freaked me out. My doctor told me to go in and roll her over when I thought about it but not to worry about it too much. If she is strong enough to roll over she won't stay planted on her face she will roll herself over. However, it is more important than ever now that she have nothing in her crib at all, not even a blanket because she can get tangled in it. I would use a sleep sack and fleece footy pj.s when the weather is colder.
My son did the same thing at 4 months. I would keep going in and turning him over but it kept waking him up. My pediatrician said that once they learn to roll over there's not much you can do. You could try to use a sleep positioner, but I know that even with that, my son could roll over.
I'd ask your pediatrician and see what their advice is.
Roll up a couple of receiving blankets and place it on each side of her tucking it slightly under her body. This will keep her in place. They also sell something (I have gotten mine at Toys R Us) that keeps them from rolling over.
C. T.
Once they can roll, they are safe to sleep on their tums as they are strong enough to roll back and/or lift their head. yes it is very exciting for them and they will likely do it a good bit for the first while. So learning to get back to sleep is a good thing for them to learn. My doc advised just letting little sweetie cry a bit and then she would get back to sleep. I also at doc's suggestion helped her find her hands rather than a pacifier so she could self-comfort. After a few days, my little one was a pro and became a great sleeper :)
My daughter learned to roll over when she was 3 or 4 months, too. It was a lot earlier than I was expecting. I kept rolling her over and she kept waking up. My husband thought I was insane. As long as she can lift her head up she should be fine. If your concerned, like I was!, give her extra tummy time every day to make sure. Of course, then my daughter learned to crawl early too. Good luck!
Our daughter did this also and after asking the Dr about it I was reassured that this is normal and that she would be just fine. I was doubly nervous because I had not raised a baby in 17 years and sooooooo much had changed. Plus she was a preemie.
The second night she did this her alarm for movement in her crib started going off. I figured she just moved off the sensor. The 3rd night it went off and kept going. I came in the room and nudged her and she took a huge breath. I watched her very closely all that night and found that she would stop breathing because she would cover one nostril with her hand as she sucked her thumb and the other nostril in the matress. She did not know to move to breathe again- probably cuz she was a 34 weeker.
Anyhow, we took her to the hospital to have her evaluated and she was put on a true apnea monitor and that gave us comfort but before that and now (she is 26 months) I have an Angel Care baby monitor that picks up movements, including breathing. THat gives me LOTS of comfort. I believe you can get them at places like Once Upon a Child for about $10. Or brand new for over $100. It has saved her life several times- LONG story- if you want details on how it saved her please send me a line!!!
I wish I could promise you that she wont stay planted on her face, she is probably safe though since she is capable of moving and as long as she was a full term baby her brain should send her the signals to move. But if you are uncomfortable check out the monitor. Even check the reviews out at Babies R Us.
Many blessings to you and yours!
As long as she can lift her head to clear a blanket, she'll be fine. I'd make sure there are no loose blankets or sheets, and if it really concerns you, remove the bumper if there is one. I think she'll be fine! We've let our daughter sleep on her tummy since she was 2 months with no problems.
My doctor said after 4 months, don't worry about it but I would ask your own doctor their input.
I used a sleep positioner with both of my kids... two soft wedges with velcro to help kids the kids from rolling over... you can find them at Babies R Us, Wal-Mart, Target, etc.
