My 5 month old son has learned to roll over on his stomach and now he does it while he is asleep. So far as I can tell, whenever he has done so, he wakes up startled and crying. Since he sleeps in our bedroom, I can rush over and roll him back. I'm terrified that one day he will be in deep sleep, roll over onto his face, and not be able to wake himself up. Needless to say, whenever he sleeps, I check in on him every 15 minutes which is totally exhausting me. He does tummy time several times a day and is able to hold himself up for a few minutes at a time. Does anyone have any advice or past experience with this? Am I being paranoid? Will he outgrow this in a few weeks? I would appreciate any suggestions or help.
M., I had the same exact problem with my son. And no matter how I centered him in his bassinett, he would roll onto his tummy, scoot himself over and would end up smashing his face against the side-rails.
I got a sleep positioner and it solved the problem. Here's the link to the product:
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=258566...
Good luck and hope you get some sleep!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
C.
He is five months old. It is time for rolling over. Just make sure that you don't put a blanket in with him and he will be fine. He's getting bigger sooooo fast, huh?
Once your baby can roll himself onto his stomach its fine to let him sleep that way. No need to panic, if he has the muscle control to roll over, and you don't have anything in his crib he can suffocate on (pillows, large blankets, stuffed animals) than he should be just fine!
Also, it might be nice to move him into his own room now. When I finally moved my daughter into her own room (at 3.5 months,) everyone got a lot more sleep :-)
I have been putting my son on his stomach to sleep ever since he could hold up his head. I know that Dr.'s say not too, but it seems that he has a better sence of comfort that way. If your son rolls himself over then he should be fine sleeping that way. If he deos put his face down in the matress he will move his head if it hard for him to breathe. It is instincts. as long as he can hold up his head, you shouldnt have anything to worry about. make sure there are no pillows or toys in the crib and dont lay him on any kind of blankets. when he does wake up crying because the sudden movement probably did scare him a little, just try to get him to go back to sleep, but try leaving him on his stomach. he may sleep better that way. hope i could help, and good luck.
I would definitely recommend talking to your pediatrician, but as far as I know, once babies can roll onto their stomach they will be able to prevent themselves from suffocating. It's when they don't have that capability and are put to sleep on their stomachs and can't get out of that position that there is a problem. But it sounds like your son can control his body and head well enough, so I'm sure he'll be fine.
hun,
babies will roll all the time. my son refused to sleep on his back even with the roller protecters. so i just put him in his crib with a sheet on the mattress and no pillows or thick blankets that he could smother in and he did fine.
M.,
If you have a Babies R' Us around they sell an Angel Care Monitor. It is a montior of sound and movement. There is a pad you place under the baby and if it detects the baby is not breathing it will set off an alarm from the base monitor to startle the baby awake (to breathe or roll back over). If it still detects no breathing it sets off another alarm from your side of the monitor to wake you up to go check on the baby. This way you can let your little one sleep on his stomach without you having to worry. It is a little extra piece of mind. It is a little expensive but well worth it. I got mine for $99.oo. They probably sell it at other baby stores or Targets but I found mine at Babies R' Us. It was recommended by my sister, a mother of two and a full nights rest. Hope this helps.
Hi...our son did the same when he was that age (he's now 8 1/2 months) and he outgrew that within a few weeks. He figured out that he could flip himself back over when he did it & then rarely did it at all. I almost never find him on his stomach in his crib anymore. So, try not to worry too much about it. It is likely that your little one will do the same. Hope that helps.
has he been able to roll from front to back?my first advise would be to work with him on rolling the other way...that way you know that if he does roll over he can roll back himself. does he have good head control? more than likely he will not stay head down, but turn his head so he can breath. talk to your pedi and see if they have any suggestions.
As soon as both of my boys were able to consistently lift their heads I put them to sleep on their tummys. Yes I know this is against current medical advice but medicine always changes and you know what - they sleep better that way. I am sure you do "tummy time" with your son when play. You may notice that he lifts his head and turns it from side to side. If he is able to do this in play he can do it at night to. DONT WORRY. HE WILL BE OK
It is my understanding that once babies can roll over on their own it is okay for them to do so. Always put baby to sleep on his back but if he rolls he should be okay. If it causes him to wake up, feel free to roll him back over so you can feel more at ease. Check with your pediatrician if you are really worried. They may be able to put your mind at ease and tell you if it's anything to really worry about at this point.
My kids are tummy sleepers. I freaked out too with my first one, but my pedi. said that if they can roll themselves over while sleeping, just to leave them that way. Some kids are predispositioned to prefer sleeping on their bellies and while you should lay them down on their back, once they can roll themselves over, don't sweat it and let them do their thing. Next time it startles him, try just patting him gently and talking softly to him, but try leaving him on his belly and see if he'll get back to sleep on his own. If it seems to do more harm than good, go back to using the wedges or towels on each side to keep him snuggled on his back. Get some rest girl! :)
Hi, M.. If your son can roll over you don't need to overly worry any longer about him suffocating. He can turn his head and you can always roll him back over if he starts to fuss. Don't get up every fifteen minutes, that is doing you no good. Let him sleep and you sleep and if he is unhappy he will let you know.
J. M
When your baby is old enough to roll over, it is okay to sleep on the tummy. My baby also rolls over as soon as I put her down and she sleeps fine that way. Just make sure there are no pillows or toys in the crib.
Oh my God Yes. My daughter refused to sleep on her back. But as long as your baby can pick up thier head and turn it from side to side, then you have nothing to worry about. It's an old wives tale, It's also been said they can choke if they're on thier backs, so I feel safer knowing they're on thier stomach and can pick up thier heads. As long as you have a baby monitor near you at all times, try not to worry so much. He/she must love to sleep on his/her stomach. In the end Mom knows BEST, not Doctors or new moms. You learn from expierence, and every baby is different. My son only slept on his back, and he got a flat head, so I had to start putting rolled up blankets on his back just to keep him on his side. I was much happier when he slept on his stomach. Good Luck.!!! email: ____@____.com ( I have 3 kids.)
M.-
If he can roll over while asleep, and it wakes him up, I wouldn't worry too much about it. My son is 10 months old and I put him down to sleep on his back and when I come to bed he's rolled himself over on his stomach. He sleeps most of the night like this. Your son is fall enough along developmentally that is he rolls over while he's asleep, there shouldn't be too much to worry about.
My daughter slept on her stomach by choice from the time that she was 2 days old. As long as your son doent have his face down into the bed he should be ok. Just turn his head to the side. My daughter even learned to lift her head and turn it to the other side when she was only about 2 weeks old. If he is rolling over on his own he might be more comfortable that way. I'm not a doctor or anything but just telling you what worked for me
from all that i've read and been told by doctors, when the baby is old enough to roll themselves onto their stomach, they are also developed enough where they can prevent themselves from suffocating. by the time they have the muscle control to roll onto their stomach, they also have the muscle control needed for neck control. so basically, no you don't have to worry =) if he gets upset in the middle of the night it's because he probably is too asleep to realize he can roll himself over. so by all means, if he wakes up crying roll him onto his back, but otherwise he'll be just fine!
You are not being parinoid you are just being a good mom.My advice to you is to go to walmartand buy a sleep positioner.It is designed to keep your baby on their back and prevents them from roling over.They also have them at target and kmart.Hope this helps.
Him rolling over is not a bad thing. He has enough strength to roll over. I know the ped says to have him on his back when he's small. My now 18 month old will sleep on his stomach and on his side. It all has to do with how they feel comfortable sleeping. My question is does he have strength to hold his head up or roll back over. I know how exhausting it can be. My husband and I will wake up during the night to check on our son even though he's been sleeping through out the night for 1 yr. I would still check on him but know that it's normal for him to roll over now that he's getting stronger.
I was way too paraniod about possibly having to go through this myself, at that young age. This is the reason I swaddled my baby until she was 7 mths old. I wanted to make certain she was strong enough to roll herself over if need be. Its always worth a try that way she will sleep upright the entire night and you can also get some rest and not have continously be checking on your baby. Good Luck!!
Good Morning M.:
I too am a mother of a fixing to be 5 month old and when she was only about a month old she was startling herself while sleeping on her BACK... which as you know when they startle that means wake up time for us :). Anyways... my SIL told me that her son slept best on tummy.... so i tried it. Yes, that first week i was very scared and stayed up all night, but eventually i realized that my daughter was fine. She hasn't ever put her face down in the mattress, but I only have her tight fitted sheet and then a blanket to go on top of her. she sleeps a lot better!! I cant tell you not to be scared or worry but as for me the sleeping on the tummy has worked out fine. Good Luck!
