Sleep Training and Rolling Over

Updated on September 23, 2011
H.T. asks from Allston, MA
8 answers

My son is 5 months old. We started sleep training a week ago, and he responded well. He was sleeping ###-###-####, 1-8 every night without crying or waking. Last night, he started to roll over and woke up screaming because he hated it being on his tummy. My husband and I took turn flipping him over on his back for more than 2 hours before he fell asleep because everytime we put him on his back, he would flip over on his tummy and be angry all over. We tried a sleep positioner to hold him in place but it only made him angrier. Does anyone have any experience with this? Should I continue with sleep training and just let him cry it out when he's on his tummy? Should I flip him over each time? How long does it last? Any advice?

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D.B.

answers from Charlotte on

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2 moms found this helpful

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M.M.

answers from Chicago on

Stop flipping him and driving yourself crazy. :)

He needs to learn how to get comfy on his tummy, and once he's old enough to flip over like that, he's old enough to sleep on him tummy.
You'll have to let him cry until he figures out how to get comfy.
Otherwise, as you've discovered, you can flip and flip and flip until everyone's miserable...and he's still going to be mad. :)

Let him cry when he rolls over. It'll take a night or two, and he'll get the hang of it. Both of my kids did this exact same thing. It doens't take long for them to learn, but you have to allow them to "learn", even if it seems like they're just crying.

3 moms found this helpful

L.A.

answers from Austin on

If he flips over give him a few minutes. He may calm down. If not go in and lightly pat him on the back or on his bottom in a bit of a rocking motion, he may fall right back to sleep.

Instead of flipping him over try tucking his legs under him so his bottom is in the air. This may also feel good to him.

The flipping over is a big development for him. Soon he will raise and turn his head from right to left, then he will lift up on his hands and knees. They always have some crying , sleep schedule and feeding changes through these developments. You just face each one with the same comfort. soothing talk, small pats on their backs and let them adjust. It can feel like you are starting over every time, that is just part of it.

Sounds like Fanged bunny experienced what we did. Our daughter flipped onto her tummy at about 3 weeks and could lift her head. she would startle and then settle down. We would just co and pat her in the dark..

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L.A.

answers from New York on

Our guy never had any trouble being on his belly. He started flipping over, well before we expected him to, at 2.5 weeks. Don't have any advice for you re: how to proceed with sleep training, but maybe acclimating him to being on his belly, and rolling over on his own during the day might be a good idea.

1 mom found this helpful

C.P.

answers from Columbia on

Let him cry it out on his tummy.

Also, get him a stuffed doggie or other long (not round) plushy toy. Both my boys loved feeling it against them, and no matter what position they were in, if the could reach out and touch it, they would calm down. It also kept them on their sides when they slept, because they'd snuggle it to their tummies.

Be sure his nose is not stuffy...if it is, it might be hard to breathe when he ends up on his tummy. And guide his head to one side so he can see that he doesn't have to be face-down.

You might need to give him a lot more tummy time while he's awake too!

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S.L.

answers from Philadelphia on

This is a developmental thing that will pass in a few days when the novelty of his new skill wears off. I wouldn't sleep train while it's going on, but that's just me. One thing you might try is swaddling. When our son started rolling over we started swaddling him again and then he couldn't roll over. Within a few weeks he got strong enough to roll over, but by then he could roll back to his back, so we just stopped swaddling and it wasn't a problem.

Good luck!

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J.P.

answers from Chicago on

I had to take a few naptimes to "teach" my kids that sleeping on their tummy if they rolled that way was fine. They were so used to sleeping on their backs and having play time on their tummies, their heads would automatically pop up as soon as they rolled over- not a good thing in the middle of the night. We tried the roll-over-baby thing and soon found that if we were going to stick with it, we would be up all night.
When it was naptimes, I would lay my baby down on his tummy, gently push his head down onto the mattress, and pat his back until he was almost asleep. It took about three times of doing this for each, then they were ok with sleeping however they rolled. As soon as they knew how to sleep on their tummies, we went back to sleep training!
Good luck!

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R.C.

answers from Phoenix on

My pediatrician says that if a child can flip over on his tummy, let him. If he's able to do that, he's at little risk of SIDS.
Please don't let your baby cry. Meet his needs and teach him that he can truly trust you to take care of him. The consequences of letting a very young baby like yours cry for extended time periods is far worse than risk of having your baby actually enjoy being rocked to sleep. Please read this article and at least give it some thought:http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/fussy-baby/science-says-.... If you need more tips on infant sleep please see this link:http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/sleep-problems/31-ways-g.... Oh, and this is just a stage with him that will pass quickly. Best wishes! Nurse Midwife Mom of 3

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