8 Month Old Flipping onto Stomach

I agree with Molly. Teach her this skill during the day when she's awake, and then let her do it on her own at night. As weird as it sounds, you can even tell her before you put her to bed, "If you roll onto your tummy, just remember that you know how to roll onto your back all by yourself!" I realize this sounds crazy because she is only 8 months, but she understands more than you think, and it can't hurt to remind her of what to do just before bedtime. This is just the first of many times where you'll have to teach her to help herself, and resist the temptation to step in and do it yourself! =)

H.,

Practice rolling with her during the day, several times a day. She will get it that she has to figure out how to do it herself. Don't rescue her! Otherwise she will know that you will eventually come in and turn her over-

Molly

Just to add to the advice below, I think you need to teach her to flip back over first before you let her cry it out. My girls took a little while to learn how to flip back and I think I was told not to let them fall asleep on the tummies if they were crying to be turned over. Once they can manage the skill themselves, or fall asleep on the tummies without getting upset, it is safe to leave them that way. I think it took a couple of weeks of getting up at night to flip them once or twice before they settled down.

I think she should be able to roll herself back if she doesn't like it. As others have said, help her learn this skill in the day, so the nights will be easier and more restful for all.

Stephanie

OH i so feel your pain. My first son was a large baby at birth and was rolling over at 7 months and didn't like anything to do with being on his tummy. He would get stuck in the middle of the night yelling. I was going nuts not getting any sleep due to this. My mother suggested I put his changing pad in his crib and let him sleep on that. My pad is shaped like a cocoon so he couldn't slide off the top or bottom. It worked like a charm till he learned how to finally roll on to is back. As for my second son. Op problem. He was rolling over at 3.5 and wanted to stay there. I would put him on his back and he would flip over and be happy sleeping that way. I worried about sids but the dr said if he can roll over he is fine. Since then he was crawling at 5 and sitting up at 6mons and walking at 7.5months. He is almost running at 10 months and has had acid reflux since 4months which the dr said is why he rolled over so early to get relief.

Good Luck
SAHM/Zombie 40yrs old, 2 amazing, funny sons. 3.5yrs and 10 months. I love being a mom. Just wish I could get one night of sleep.

Like others said, give her lots of tummy time during the day so she learns to flip the other way. The same thing happened with my son and after a couple of sleepless nights he got the hang of it. It's just a phase; this will pass.

Hi H.,

My first question is does she have an ear infection? Not all babies get fussy with them but the movement of turning over and laying there could be throwing her equilibrium off, making her dizzy and uncomfortable so she doesn't want to turn back over. Two of my kids have had ear infections that we never new about until we went into the doctor for something else. No crying, no ear pulling, no fever, absolutely nothing.

I don't want to be an alarmist, but after six kids I do have a little experience especially since my kids are all special needs (they are adopted) so I have had to learn a lot about child development. By 8.5 months, she should be easily rolling herself both ways. If she's not able to, then you need to talk with her pediatrician even if she's meeting her other milestones. My one daughter struggled terribly to turn over even after she was walking, so if she is still making her other milestones it doesn't necessarily mean everything is okay. My daughter had issues that had to be addressed by early intervention services. Now at almost 5 y.o. she can do age appropriate stuff, but if really watch the way she moves you can tell she uses her muscles differently than other children.

First of all, don't panic from what I said. I do have questions though because if you do want to take her to the doc over this then maybe I can help with some other things the doc may need to know that a lot of people wouldn't realize are red flags. Is she sitting? Is she self-feeding? Does she seem to not like certain movements, textures, or sounds? Does she cry easily or avoid certain situations? Does she have reflux or allergies?

You can e-mail me if you want and you think the situation warrants it. I hope I didn't scare you because that was not my intention.

L.

Dear H.,
I would put her down on her tummy during the day while she's awake and play with her by rolling her back and forth. She'll get the hang of it. It's usually just a matter of them figuring out what to do with their arm on the side they are trying to roll on (either tuck it or raise it).