My baby is 5 1/2 months and has learned to roll over. Not a problem but he's doing it in his sleep. Last night he woke himself up by rolling to his tummy and tonight i just went to check on him and he was face down. My natural instinct was to freak out, so I just rolled him back over on his back. After a few minutes I went back to check on him and he was on his side, rolling onto his stomach again. I may be overreacting but the whole SIDS awareness has me worried. Is this normal? Should I try to keep him on his back or will he be okay if he rolls over??
Thank you guys! I feel so much better and relaxed now. His ped appt isn't for a couple of weeks so I wanted to find out what's best before then. Tonight I will let him do his thing! Haha It is amazing how fast these little things grow and learn! I almost can't keep up! Thank you again!! :)
To be honest my baby has always been a tummy sleeper...I get in trouble all the time with my ped...but seriously if he isn't on his tummy he doesn't go to sleep. Now he roles over on his side from time to time...and by what daycare tells me...it's ok for them to tummy sleep IF THEY can put themselves in that position...
This is completely normal, and there is really no way to stop it anyway! Luckily he is now strong enough to move his head if something is in the way of his breathing, but still not tremendously coordinated, so keep soft items like stuffed animals, blankets and pillows out of the crib until he can reach out and move things with precision (at least 1 yr old).
SIDS, as related to sleep position, is no longer a concern when they're able to roll over. This means his neck is strong enough to move his head. Just keep soft things such as a pillow, fluffy quilts or stuffed animals out of the crib so that his face doesn't get squished into them. So, relax and let him roll.
To the issue now of no cover..Target sells a cover that fits like a gown with a fitted top but acts like a blanket as it covers his legs and goes together at the bottom.
You do not need to worry if he is rolling over on his tummy while he is sleeping. If he is strong enough to roll over, he is strong enough to lift his head if he needs to in order to breath. I put my daughter to sleep on her stomach when she was 4 weeks old because she slept better that way. Just make sure there is nothing else in the crib like pillows or blankets or anything like that that he can get his face pressed up against.
I have five children. My first I tried to keep on his side, as was en vogue then. My second I tried to keep on his back. I gave up those ridiculous efforts--all of my children slept on their tummies. They are healthy, happy, and have no sleeping problems. Once, the other night, my five 1/2 month old son (June 10th for me--congratulations!) rolled so much he woke me crying that his face got covered by the blanket. (forehead and eyes) so, I dressed him warmly and took the blanket out of the crib. He was fine.
Your son will be fine. Let him sleep as he's comfortable, just take suffocating things out of the crib. A blanket is okay, too, just make sure it's not too heavy or too high on him.
Relax! :)
~A.
My kids are older now, but I was told to keep them asleep on their side. So we bought a wedge pillow. I'm sure they are still around somewhere. It's specifically for a baby and it's like a little triangle shaped pillow on either side of them so if they try and roll over, it won't let them. It's probably a foot long, so it's not up by their head and it worked great for us. If you are concerned you might want to try something like that. But please don't use a regular pillow or try to improvise one...that's too dangerous. Obviously talking to your pediatrition is a good idea too.
I freaked too when my preemie that I was on high alert with anyhow, started rolling over in his sleep. Our fantastic pediatrician said that once he could do it on his own he was good to go.
*But* like Marda said-No quilts, blankies, loveies, bumpers, pillows, stuffed animals-nothing in the crib whatsoever!
It's OK for the baby to sleep on his tummy; that's only natural. What you should do now is remove any fluffy or cush objects that he might press his little face against - like the crib bumbers, blankets, plush toys, etc.
One of the best things about a child rolling over is that they can! Once he rolls over, whether its from his back to his stomach or from stomach to back, he will roll back.
I definitely agree with everyone else in the respect of nothing in the crib and it is a consideration on whether your child will be warm enough at night now. If you have one of those thick/heavy one piece sleepers I suggest you use them now that the weather has turned cold at night. You might want to put a t-shirt on your baby under the sleeper as an extra layer to keep him warm (and if your baby is still cold an extra pair of pants underneath won't hurt either).
When our son started rolling the ped said it was fine. We stopeed swaddling him and started putting him in a sleep sack so he would stay warm - we LOVED those things! They come in different weights for different seasons - and it totally takes the suffocation fear out of the equation.
No, once he can roll, you really don't need to worry about SIDS anymore. It's instinctual that they'll move towards oxygen once they have that physical control of their little bodies.
So if he can roll, and wants to be on his tummy, let him!
You'll just drive yourself nuts if you keep trying to roll him back over, plus, I tend to believe, that you're hindering development if you don't let him do what he's naturally trying to do.
Don't worry mom! It's normal!
