Help! Baby Keeps Waking up Screaming on His Tummy

When my son was 6 months old he went through the same stage. It involved a few weeks of restless nights as he rolled onto his stomach but wasn't totally comfortable sleeping that way and he'd wake up, push up and cry. But now as an 8-month old he sleeps on his stomach, and sleeps for longer periods than ever before. It is a developmental stage that will pass, so hang in there.

Can he roll over yet? If he can't work with him on rolling over so he can put himself into a more comfortable position. If he can do it himself, then he will be able to get comfy and sleep longer.

It may be that he feel insecture in the crib. But he also may have gas or something like colic. try some gas drops.
Try rolling some heavy blanket & putting one next to the crib rail & another behind his back. Also try rubbing his back or stomach & see if this will sooth him. this will also help if he has gas.

Mine use to do that too, How long has this been going on?
Have you ruled out the possibility of Gastral intestinal problems? At this very tender age of 5 months your baby's digestive system is not fully developed which can sometimes be the reason for Colic. It's hard not to be frustrated when you want to help your little one and nothing seems to work well enough. Try not get worked up, your little one is depending on you not only physically, but emotionally, too. You don't want to transfer your frustrated energy to him and cause insult to injury. Don't tough it out too long before you take him to see his Doctor.

P.S. Make sure he's not terrified of the dark, When my Son was a baby (5 Months)he was.

I wish and baby well.

There is probably a homeopathic remedy for this- consult a physician

We had the same experience. We would turn him back over onto his back. It lasted about a week or so until he learned to "be comfortable" on his stomach. Did you have the same experience with your first child?

you could get a sleep postioner from walmart or kmart

Hi N.
I am a mother of 3...Son (30), Daug. (22) and Daug. (almost 4)...
Years agao when My son was still a baby (before 1), I noticed that whenever we go somewhere and spent the night he would be very restless. No matter what we did he would not sleep and cry and cry and cry. I was in Germany @ the time and I wrote my mom and she said to try and bring with us something from our home that was his when he went to sleep, like a blanket, pillow etc.
Maybe u can ust try to take something that is detachable from the bassinet and let him lay on it on his crib and see what happens.
Hope it works!

Good Morning N.,

You might want to consider food allergies. Sometimes food allergies cause sleep problems with all ages.

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I have been working with my NAET allergist since the fall and my body is responding to the treatments and my allergies are being elimiated. If you have any questions, you can reach me at ____@____.com well.

N.

Ha! My son is five months old and does EXACTLY the same thing. It cracks me up to see just how far he can move and what bizarre positions he can end up in. My husband and I are always like, "How the h*ll did you end up there?!" I think it's because he can roll onto his stomach but can't roll onto his back, so he gets stuck.

So there it is. No advice. Just commiseration.

My friend's baby did that at right around the same age. She was exhausted and frustrated and unsure what to do. However, in her case, her baby girl, after about a week, just figured it out... and then slept through the night, no more crying. I think they had to just let her cry a little bit so she could figure it out. I think it just scared her but then she got used to it and all was OK!

My daughter woke us up several times a night, just furious and screaming, until she learned to roll herself back over. As soon as your son learns that he can re-position himself, it should get better. Hang in there!

We went through this, too. I felt like a human spatula. My son was already sleeping in his crib but had outgrown his sleep positioner, which was making him "float" in the middle of the crib. We solved it by putting a long body pillow under the sheet on one side of the crib so he had less room to roll around -- it was like a little ravine in the crib! We only had to do this for a few weeks before he learned to flip on his own and then we got rid of it. Good luck!

Try a Back to Sleep support you can either place him on his back or his side in it and he will not be able to roll on his tummy

Hi N.,

My daughter did the same thing right about the same age. She learned how to roll over from back to front, but had forgotten how to roll from belly to back (which she had done much earlier and then stopped). So she would roll over, get stranded on her stomach - which she wasn't used to at night - and would cry out. She would also scoot and turn a lot in her crib, so she often ended up face planted in a corner or on the mattress, which was nerve racking. But after about a week of checking on her frequently and helping her get off her belly if needed (sometimes she figured it out and went back to sleep) she got used to it and actually snoozed more soundly/longer than she had before on her back. During that week I also upped our belly time every day to help her remember how to return to her back by herself. I think once she could go both ways again it didn't scare her to end up on her belly.

All in all, sounds completely normal and it'll likely pass quickly. And it sounds like you are on the verge of longer sleep periods, which is great. Good luck!

My daughter was the same way, although not until she was closer to 8 months. Unfortunately, you need to just wait it out until he becomes comfortable with this new sleeping position. And with both of my kids, once they got comfortable with this, they slept better at night! Good luck, and just be patient.