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Baby rolling ?suffocation/injury risk

15 replies

RubADubDubThreeMenInATub · 10/02/2018 22:08

DD is 7 months old & has slept through the night for the last few months. She goes to bed at 8/9pm when she has her last feed of the day and wakes around 8/8.30am for a feed. On the baby monitor, I can hear that she sometimes wakes overnight & plays with her dummy (rattling it along the cot bars) or chats to herself before falling back asleep with no input from us & generally didn't move much overnight except maybe from lying on her back to her side.

However, over the last week she has suddenly started rolling around in the cot at night. She's been able to roll for months so I don't know why she's decided this week is the time to do it overnight! She wakes me at least 4 times a night when I hear bashing on the monitor & go in to find that she's lying horizontally across the cot & is bashing her head/limbs/face off the bars trying to roll when she's already rolled as far as she can go. Or she wakes me by crying when she's rolled so far she's got herself stuck at the very bottom/top of the cot. She was crying when she rolled herself onto her front although she's now realised she can turn her head & sleep so that's one less issue. I go in 4-5 times a night and move her feet back down to the base of the cot. Half an hour later, she'll be back at the opposite end, horizontal stuck (she's longer than the width of the cot-very tall baby often wearing 12-18 month clothes).

Changing her yesterday, I noticed she has huge bruises down one leg from bashing them off the cot bars overnight. When I went in overnight following her trying to roll and hitting her head off the cot, she had red marks over her head from the impact. She has safety cot bumpers up I.e the thin mesh ones so she can't trap her limbs but can't suffocate as they're breathable but they offer no padding. She tends to sleep on her side with her face pressed right up against the bumper. I know the standard padded bumpers are a suffocation risk, presumably especially due to her sleeping position. Aside from sitting next to her all night & rolling her back as soon as she starts rolling, I don't know what else to do! I always get up the second I hear her on the monitor but it's obviously not soon enough with the bruises she's already given herself. She rolls around continuously during the day too but I can put cushions around everything & watch her constantly. During nappy changes she frequently rolls away mid change but rolls back when she's called.

Has anyone got any advice? I'd be so grateful if there's any way I can prevent her getting any more bruises from her rolling. Last night I resorted to sitting on the floor next to her cot holding her hand through the bars so I could tell if she was rolling & fell asleep sitting up against her cot because I don't want her to hurt herself but obviously this isn't sustainable. If it's of any relevance she sleeps in a sleeping bag in a standard sized cot which converts into a toddler bed in due course.

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
brownelephant · 10/02/2018 22:11

I would take the bumpers off.
cot empty of anything and low enough down so baby can't go over the sides.

Laineymc7 · 10/02/2018 22:15

Expensive but sleepy heads are really good. Growbags also stop limbs getting stuck in the cot bars.

Mammatron · 10/02/2018 23:13

My guess is she’s getting ready to crawl! I don’t think there’s much you can do really, it’s just part of what happens at that age. Mine used to bash himself lots in his sleep when he was learning to crawl/ stand/ walk but now that he tires himself out running round all day he’s much stiller in his sleep again!

RubADubDubThreeMenInATub · 10/02/2018 23:43

@brownelephant why take the bumpers off? They're the safety ones so they're not a suffocation risk & they stop her putting her arms out & getting stuck which she did before we got it. She makes sleepy time so difficult!

We had a sleepyhead but stopped using it around 4 months when she was able to roll because we were told it was dangerous to use them after that & she's very long so was beginning to look huge in it! She sleeps in a sleeping bag already in winter but sticks her arms through the bars and has been known to get them stuck at odd angles although this has been stopped by the bumpers. Prior to the safety bumpers, I used her cot as a holding area if I needed to shower quickly etc & she made it her mission to get her limbs as stuck and twisted as possible as the sleeping bag wasn't there to prevent the leg issue!

@Mammatron I think you're right! She's been doing the crawling motion but not really moving with it so I think she's gearing up! Time to babyproof the entire downstairs/get the cat therapy. She already chases the cat via rolling so can't imagine when she can actually crawlConfused

Just been in to check on her before I go to bed & she's upside down with her head at the base of the cot where her feet were half an hour ago. I don't even know how she does it!

Thanks for the help everyone! Really appreciate it Smile

OP posts:
brownelephant · 10/02/2018 23:52

I would worry about baby getting tangled when they start to be more mobile

NoNoCharlieRascal · 11/02/2018 00:03

We co-sleep with our 7 month old, who is very mobile (crawling, pulling up and cruising). I'm considering a Montessori floor bed for him, mainly as I'm sick of being biffed in the head on a night. I have heard you can pop rolled up sheets or pool noodles under the sheet to create a barrier to stop them rolling out, but it gives them more space to move in thier sleep.

Lemondrop99 · 11/02/2018 12:58

Mesh travel cot with a decent mattress? Just a thought

MincemeatTart · 11/02/2018 13:00

Just let her get on with it? Babies do learn to roll around.

TittyGolightly · 11/02/2018 13:03

You’d best get reading about the 8 month development leap/sleep regression.

gamerchick · 11/02/2018 13:06

I just let them get on with it. Once this is over and she’s learning to stand you’ll be seriously thinking of headgear to protect her head.

Sitting on the floor next to the cot is madness. Go to bed man

Ratbagratty · 11/02/2018 13:49

My dd is a bed roller, we have found just leaving her and laughing at the positions she gets herself into the best way. But then I'm a bed roller myself!

Countingsheeeep · 11/02/2018 14:01

Agree with @ratbagratty...don't over think it, she will soon figure it out for herself.

My dd has always been a real fidget, she changes position literally every hour, and will cover 99% of her cot throughout the night.

We don't sleep with a monitor on because she is so noisy we wouldn't be able to sleep, but our house is small so I can hear her crying without the monitor on.

Countingsheeeep · 11/02/2018 14:01

She is 1.

sycamore54321 · 14/02/2018 23:56

I don't fully understand what type of bumpers you mean but I would think any type pose more of a strangulation risk, which would for me outweigh any possible benefit. All babies get mobile in their cots, they just need to figure it out over time.

I would however be somewhat concerned about the bruising. Has she always bruised extremely easily? I would think it warrant a discussion with your GP or health visitor as it may be a symptom of something more serious. They type of crashing around a cot most babies do in their sleep should not normally result in frequent bruising - the occasional huge wallop, fair enough. But the regular tumbling and hitting off the bars, which isn't strong enough to make her cry, shouldn't leave her black and blue. I would prefer to seek medical reassurance if lots of bruising is a regular feature.

RubADubDubThreeMenInATub · 15/02/2018 22:53

Thanks for your input everyone. It's reassuring to know she isn't the only baby who treats her body like a wrecking ball overnight! She has actually improved over the last few nights since I initially posted- I think she's established after a few nights of trial that she can't get out of the cot/throw herself forwards to sit up while in a sleeping bag & it will result in a cot bashing. We've resumed rattling the dummy up & down the cot bars to entertain herself when she wakes before she quickly falls asleep again.

@sycamore54321 I'm not worried about her bruising excessively as I am a doctor myself although I can see where you're coming from as perhaps I didn't make it clear that she isn't just lightly rolling into the sides of the cot. She is really battering herself off the cot some nights so I'm not surprised she is bruised. I would be too if I did the same thing! She isn't rolling in her sleep- she is waking up & trying to mobilise but crashing off bars.

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