Help! My baby can't roll back!

[FirstTimer2020]

My 4 month old has just in this last week learnt how to roll forward and now she does it all the time. I never taught her to roll forward as I've been so focused on getting her to roll from her tummy to back. As of yet, she still can't do it.

I've just been watching her settle herself to sleep and she has rolled onto her front 3 or 4 times but cannot get herself back and now I'm really worried about SIDs if she does this in the night while I'm asleep - I am right next to her and think she would cry but there is part of me that worries she wouldn't cry if she was too drowsy.

Has anyone had the same issue? Any thoughts or advice in how I can encourage her to roll back? I do 40 mins of tummy time a day with her.

If she can roll herself, she should have the muscle strength to get her head out of the mattress if needed. Dont stress too much about the SIDS side of things.
Time and opportunity will be the only thing that will get her rolling front to back. Mine was desperate to get to the cat, who helpfully would sit just out of baby reach. Maybe her favourite toy in line of sight, but out of reach, needing her to roll to get to it? Combined with tummy time.

Is she able to throw blankets off if snugly tucked in? I had to tuck mine in (they were a bit older when they started rolling though) blankets right under the mattress (not too heavy or tight obviously) but it wasn’t long until they mastered going back onto their backs.

I watched kids on the move videos on YouTube which included excercises to help encourage them to roll back (core strengthening exercises basically). The twins liked watching another baby do it as well on those videos.

My healthcare visitor told me you don't need to worry about them rolling on to their front. Once they are big enough to do that they are big enough to move their head as needed. She will soon work out how to roll back but she may just like front sleeping. Lots do.

I think it's fairly usual for babies to roll into their fronts first rather than the other way round. It was the same with DS. I wouldn't worry too much; the fact they can roll at all means they've got a fair amount of neck strength and the rolling the other way will come in time. DS is now 9 months and rolls like a demon. He always sleeps on his front now and flips as soon as I put him down on his back.

@KittenVsBox She has amazing neck muscles so I know she could hold her head up, I just worry that she might get herself into a position where that's not that simple .

@NaviSprite She will throw blankets off immediately, she absolutely hates them. She is in a sleeping bag so her arms are free and she can wiggle herself.

I'm just so scared of SIDs, I may just have to keep checking on her throughout the night in case she rolls!

I think wanting to breathe is a fairly instinctive response for a baby. I used to watch DS when he was a newborn and was amazed at how he was able to adjust his head if there was any range of him not being able to breathe properly.

@Clemmieandareallybigbunfight oh, is that the case? Everything I've read up to this point has lead me to believe that if they can't roll back there's a concern!

@mynameiscalypso oh is it?! My SIL told me that it was very unusual for them to roll forward first! I wouldn't be surprised if she sleeps on her front in the future because she sleeps on her front on me during the day but I think my mind would settle more if I knew she could roll herself back.

Both of mine rolled onto their fronts first. But it was only a matter of days after that they cracked rolling into their backs. So you might find you don't have to worry about this for long!

My baby rolled on to her front to sleep at 5 months and couldn't roll back. I was also worried about SIDS and spent a lot of the night checking on her, listening for breathing etc. Babies can be very quiet! She even slept face down occasionally with her face smooshed into the mattress which scared me more! I ended up accepting I couldn't do anything about it and basically just prayed she'd be okay 😬 Which probably isn't what you want to hear!

Thank you guys! She didn't attempt to roll in the night so that's put my mind at ease, I think she might only want to do it when she is fully awake!

In the 80s we all put our babies on their fronts all the time. As long as she can move her head she'll be fine.