For the past 2 weeks off and on my 5 mos son has flipped himself on his tummy at night and during some naps, and gets hysterical as he can't flip back (he will during the day but doesn't in his crib). I will not use any type of sleep positioner etc. but want to know what other moms have done in this situation. So far, we've been going in and flipping him back as he won't sleep on his tummy but it is getting a bit much. Shall we continue to flip him back until he learns or let him cry on his tummy till he figures it out? Sometimes it seems we're playing a game...and we don't want it to turn into one but we also feel bad for the little guy. Thanks so much!
Well everyone, my son is continuing to "get stuck" and we are continuing to be "spatulas". I don't want to start him being dependant on a pacifier, sleep positioners are not recommended due to suffocation hazards (that's why I'm against them) and I guess he'll still need to figure out how to either roll back onto his back or inevitably sleep on his tummy. SIGH...thanks for listening though.
I experienced the same thing with my now 10 month old son and what I did was buy the Miracle Blanket. It was recommended in a book called Baby 411. It worked great and my son slept like a baby afterwards.
I would try when he is awake to keep practicing flipping back and forth. I went through this with my daughter. I would run in quickly flip her back before she became wide awake and wouldn't go back to sleep. I think if you let him cry he is going to become wide awake and it will only be more difficult to get him back to sleep. I would give him more tummy time during the day when he is awake and let him try to figure it out then. He will probably fuss a little but it's better to do it awake during the day then in the middle of the night. This is all normal behavior, wait till he learns to stand up LoL!!!
W.,
My first born who is now 11 years old slept on his tummy all the time, so did my middle one (9yrs) and my youngest (8yrs) would spleep on her side with the help of a sleep positioner or just a rolled up towel. It be best to put him on his tummy during the day time even just to spend time in the crib or playpin where he can play and try to flip back. I would for now just try to put him on the side during the day time and see how you both feel about it. Hope this helps.
I.
sleep positioners are a good thing.. why don't you try it.. have you had a bad experience??? good luck
When this happened to us, we ended up bring our DD into bed with us. Of course, she ended up in our bed for five months, so be careful!
Oh my goodness W., by all means keep turning him b/c he is too young to be able to handle that himself and can cry himself to exhaustion and fall asleep face down!
That could be disasterous!!
Perhaps if he is sleeping in another room, let him sleep in a pack and play set up in your room so you can be there and hear him better. It is far less exhausting for Mom and Dad if baby is right there with you than if you have to get up all the time and go into another room to help him out.
My daughter did this too and it is for a very short time, but you have to be there to help him out. You can't let him struggle like that on his own.
The very first time she did that was during the morning when I had gone in for a shower and I came out to her screaming and her sheets were all wet from her tears and her sweating!! I felt terrible for her and knew if I I not paid attention to her, I could have lost her.
I mean, who knows if that is a contributing factor with SIDS? There are so many unexplained reasons!! And a baby crying himslef to exhaustion face down in a crib is dangerous!
I know the whole positioning thing is worrysome for us and everything is "back to bed". At his development, no matter what position you put him in, he will try to roll on his tummy, so those pillows won't help much. It is just a matter of a few days to weeks that he will do this and then one day he will flip over on his own.
Just be there for him each time until he can.
Good luck to you and congrats on your baby boy!
P.
What's wrong with a sleep positioner? My babysitter used one with my son for this very reason during his naps. She would use the wedges or a rolled up blanket to keep him on his back so that he could get a solid rest. My son is still a very active sleeper, but was not able at that time to roll himself back over.
Make sure he is getting plenty of tummy time so that he can learn to roll back the other way. In the meantime, check out some of the sleep positioners. They work pretty well and are reasonable.
This will probably go on for about a week and then he'll get the hang of rolling over both ways and all will be well in sleep land again!! I found with all my kids that we had terrible weeks of sleep when my kids learned to roll over, when they learned to crawl, and when they learned to stand. When they went through those developmental phases, they'd be up several times a night... standing and not knowing how to sit down; rolling on one side and not knowing how to roll back etc.... It will be ok in a few days...
