Baby Rolling Over

I am from the old fashioned era where babies did sleep on their tummies. But everything I have heard and read say they should be on their back until they can learn to roll over to their stomaches. You can not stay awake all night watching to see if he does not breathe. I think you need to start putting him on his back to go to sleep and let him cry it out. He will eventually learn to go to sleep on his back or learn to roll over to his stomache. Best if he can put self to sleep in any position I think.

It's a phase, he'll figure it out. Until then, you might have a few sleepless nights. It's totally normal though. He'll have to learn how to either flip back all by himself, learn to sleep on his back, or learn another way to soothe himself back to sleep.

let him work it out....which is absolutely o.k. as long as he does not become totally stressed!

You might also try encouraging him to sleep on his side, by using a rolled-up blankie for him to roll against. This prevents him from rolling all the way over on his back... which is the source of his frustration.

I have two kids and had the same issue w/ them - they would not sleep on their backs. Unfortunately, there is not a lot that you can do until he figures out how to roll back over. He will eventually learn to sleep on his back. Give it a few nights (sleepless maybe for you) but he should figure it out. Good luck.

You could start trying to have him sleep on his side, this is a great option sometimes. Just prop a pillow behind his back, I would try this at nap time first. You could also try finding him something soft that he can hang onto and will snuggle into. Some babies like the feel of something like Minky and some like the feel of satin.

N.
www.lovems1.etsy.com

We have a tummy sleeper, too, and he also likes to sleep as far over to one side on the mattress as he can. We put him close to the side and use a rolled-up blanket so he can't roll over as easily, be he can still get onto his side. It works like a charm!

I wasn't sure of your question. Do you want to know how to soothe him to sleep once he's rolled over, or do you want to know how to get him to fall asleep on his back? Just curious. I have a 4 and a half-month-old daughter who is also a tummy sleeper. She is the youngest of three daughters I have who've all slept on their tummies, despite our ped's best recommendations. Sometimes, you've got to do what works... I think part of the reason that APA recommends sleeping on the back is because of a fire retardent (toxin) that they treat infant mattresses with and tummy sleeping makes them prone to inhaling it. That's just my conspiracy theory. You can always double sheet the mattress. But my daughters have also all slept in our bed with us (where they are probably not inhaling the fire retardent)... just my novice thoughts on the subject. Perhaps this puts your mind at ease? I hope. You can write me back with your original question if you'd like. Take care,
K.

My thought on this is to let him have some tummy time during the day to let him practice his rolling. The sooner he figures out how that's done, the sooner you'll be able to rest. ls

M S, maybe let him cry a little and see if he will fall asleep on his back? If that is the case, when my tummy sleeper rolled over I would just put them back on their stomach and gently pat their backs until they went back to sleep...is he waking up because he is hungry? Also he may be big for this but if you can get him interested in sleeping on his side they make these great little wedges that you can place one in front and one in back ( they velcro and are totally adjustable) and that gives the baby some stability w/o feeling trapped like swaddling. Or just do what good old mom and dad did before all these new baby paraphenalia was on the market and roll a towel to prop baby with to keep him from flopping over.
Babies will wake up, whether you need sleep or not = ) It is just a fact of life...wait until teething begins. Lots of luck!
B.

Thank you for the question. I just posted the same thought on here for my daughter, 3 months old. She goes from sleeping on her side/back and rolls to her tummy and wakes up. I am reasured that it can be ok to have her sleep on her tummy if she is content. I also would swadle her up in the begining and then she got bigger and out grew the blakets, and would kick her way out of the wrapped up burrito style blanket. By morning time the blanket was completly off. I just stopped wrapping her up, and she doesn't seem to mind sleeping with out being swaddled.