How to stop baby rolling at night.

[ILoveMyCatss]

My dd 4 1/2 months loves being in her tummy. She will pretty much be on it any time she lays down during the day. At night she falls asleep on her back and will roll to her side which is fine, I just leave her but the last few nights she's been rolling into her front and then crying because she can't roll back. I've been trying to encourage her to roll back during the day hoping this will help but she's got me up every half hour where I'm having to move her back and I'm just exhausted! So is she - she's not the greatest sleeper anyway and barely ever naps during the day for longer than 20-30 mins. I'm not sure why I can do to stop her rolling? Not sure about putting blankets there as she gets hot very easily.

Not sure there's anything you can do really. I'd be worried that anything you used to try and restrict her would be a suffocation risk. I'm sure she'll get the hang of rolling back soon enough :)

Have u noticed that she rolls in one particular direction? My daughter used to roll to her right mostly, so I put her close to the right side of the cot so she didn't have room to roll that way iyswim? Once she rolled both ways there was no stopping her though!

Ben there and done that with two DC's !! Nothing you can do except weather the storm and know it's a phase !

You prob can't do much about he nights but practice rolling back in the day

You could try a sleepyhead. My DD never rolled when in hers. But it'd be an expensive solution that wouldn't last long (mine outgrew hers by 7/8 months). However, if you're desperate and can afford it, it might be worth it. By the time she's outgrown it her motor skills should have developed so that she can roll back on her own.

Second the sleepyhead. See if you can get a second hand one.

I wouldn't waste the money on a sleepyhead for what will be only a few weeks until she can roll both ways. She sounds like she'll be a tummy sleeper and once you have a baby who can safely roll both ways, you can leave them to find their own position (as long as they start off on their back).

It's usually 2-4 weeks between learning to roll one way to mastering it both ways. Loads of focused daytime practice will help.

As for what to do during these few weeks to keep her on her back, try a tightly tucked in sheet or blanket. I used a sheet width ways across the cot, over the top of baby in a sleeping bag. The sole purpose of the sheet being to pin baby down.

I'd also suggest dealing with daytime naps because lack of daytime sleep will cause restless nights

The dreaded rolling phase! It's a killer!

I avoided it with DD2 as she had a Sleepyhead but it would be an expensive investment now so I wouldn't bother.

With DD1 she was killing me as she was awake from rolling every 30 minutes all night long! I got my nursing pillow, twisted it in the middle so the filling was compact in each end and then put it under her feet in a horseshoe shape up to hip level. This stopped her being able to lift her leg to roll over. I've heard of people doing similar things with a pool noodle or rolled up towel. Best to place a fitted sheet over the top so whatever you use can't move.

I appreciate this does not comply with SIDS guidelines but I took the view that given that it was placed well away from her face the risk of her rolling into it was very small.

The other thing I did was to put her in the bassinet off the pram and put that in the cot - ours was approved for overnight sleeping.

mini makes a good point about checking whether she tends to roll on one direction, most babies do.

Sorry for the late reply! Thank you for all your comments. I actually bought a cheaper version of the sleepyhead when she was younger so have put that in her crib and it seems to have stopped her, plus she's sleeping loads better aswell, she's not as restless in the night which is great. I guess she feels like she's being held? Whatever it is we're all happy. FATEdestiny - I'm not even sure how to deal with daytime naps, no matter where she sleeps in what position it's never longer than 30 mins. Once a week maybe, she'll have a 2-3 hour nap which is lovely! Thank you for all your suggestions xx

When mine was tiny and showing interest in rolling, my doctor advised using a tightly-folded disposable nappy to make a wedge to place under his hip on the preferred rolling side. We tucked it underneath the tight fitted sheet of his cot. I was always nervous about having anything at all in the cot with him but this seemed the lesser of two evils.

By 4 and a half months though, my understanding was that you should continue to put them on their back to sleep but if they rolled themselves, leave them to it. Am I wrong on this?

That's great! The sleepyhead was a godsend for me and our DD. My DD took short naps at that age too. It's developmental I think as she now takes longer naps generally, so I'd try not to worry and just make sure she's not awake too long between naps.

I'm not even sure how to deal with daytime naps, no matter where she sleeps in what position it's never longer than 30 mins

Naps of 30-45 minutes are developmentally normal at this stage. The key to avoiding over tiredness is to make them frequent. I would say awake time of 60-90m would be ideal, with the time it takes you to settle baby to sleep being included in awake time. So, for example, if it takes 15-30m to get baby to sleep then I'd start doing that 1h after waking from the last nap (or earlier if very tired) so that baby is asleep after a maximum of 90 minutes awake time.

More daytime sleep should give you better nights.

By 4 and a half months though, my understanding was that you should continue to put them on their back to sleep but if they rolled themselves, leave them to it. Am I wrong on this?

Babies develop at different rates, so while I wouldn't put an age on when baby can roll both ways confidently (it's in the range of 4m-7m ususlly), it is correct that once they can roll both ways then they should be out down on their backs but can be left if changing position.