5mo rolling over and waking himself up

[GuineaPigMum]

My 5mo DS has just perfected the art of rolling over onto his tummy and now seems intent on practising this new skill all through the night!

Which is fine... But he's such a light sleeper that he wakes himself up when he gets onto his tum and wakes me up screaming, then it takes me at least half an hour to settle him and put him back down (I usually resort to the boob!). Last night he woke me up doing this about every 90 mins .

I've tried settling / patting him on his tummy without picking him up but by then he is wide awake.

I spoke to another mum at a mum's group this morning who said that she used to roll up a small towel or muslin and position it under the cot sheet to make a 'well' or 'ditch' for LO to lie in to stop him rolling over in the night. Has anyone else done this, is it safe, or are there any other solutions you can suggest?

I need more sleep!

My DS is doing exactly the same! Hopefully some kind MNers can give us some advice as I worry about him getting stuck on his tummy!

We went through this stage a couple of months back with DS2 and it passes - quite quickly actually. I found with DS1 that every time he learned a new skill - rolling, crawling, standing up, etc - he practised it in his sleep. It's very annoying, but they soon get over it.

As for danger - as long as the cot is a safe environment (no bumpers, no soft toys, safe covers, etc), then once they can roll they should be able to lift their heads up if they can't breathe and/or yell if they get stuck. Before long you'll find he can roll both ways and then he won't get stuck on his tummy.

I have always used rolled up towels either side, coming up no higher than his armpits. Work ok for me but obviously up to you. Good luck

I second juneau. DS started that at about 5 months. For a few nights he woke up 5-6 times a night having rolled over, and I'd have to go and turn him back over so he could get back to sleep, but then after a few nights he just stayed on his tummy and now he won't sleep any other way. So far every time I've started worrying about something he does the phase passes before I can work out what to do about it. Hopefully your little one will settle down soon and learn to sleep whichever way he ends up!