Active 9 month old sleeping in all sorts of positions...

[Darkmere]

My DD has just started crawling and this seems to have resulted in some bizarre sleeping positions. She moves in her sleep all over her cot and now more often than not rolls on to her front. Does anyone else whose DC does this try and put them back on their back? I have tried once but it woke her up and resulted in awful how-dare-you-wake-me schreeching that I have not dared to again.

She also moves up to the top of the cot and has once managed to get herself horizontal. I worry worry worry about everything Im afraid and now this new active sleeping is making paranoid she will get herself wedged somewhere she shouldn't and find myself waking every few hours in the night to check on her. (Stupidly I assumed I would sleep through once she did!)

Is this something that settles once she is more used to her new crawling skills?!

Hello,
it's all completely normal. When my two became active they got everywhere in the cot. We still hear horrendous noises coming from DD's cot but it is her legs slamming into the bars, not her head! If you DD can go onto her front and return, then I wouldn't worry, she will sort herself out. I heard one description of a child doing 'handbrake turns' which I thought was hilarious and so apt.

I had a friend who when the front sleeping first started actually tucked the ends of the grow-bag into the bottom of the mattress so they couldn't roll! Didn't work though..

Your DD will let you know if she's not happy and they seem to be quite contents to sleep with cheeks wedged against the bars!

Thanks TSF

Hmmm I don't think she can roll back on to her back. I have never seen her do it although she can the other way round.

I have considered tucking the grow-bag into the mattress before now. Nice to know Im not the only one although by the sounds of it I shouldn't bother.

I don't know how she sleeps the way she does... like you say sometimes with face against cot bars. My instincts say she will let me know if she isn't happy but I'm glad to hear that its common.

The advice on the FSID website is:

My baby keeps rolling onto his front. What should I do?
If your baby is less than six months old and you find him sleeping on his tummy, gently turn him onto his back. Don?t feel you need to keep getting up all night to check on this. Whatever your baby?s age, always place him to sleep on his back.

I'm guessing your DD is older than 6 months so I really wouldn't worry. My DD (17 months) sleeps on her front most nights - I think she's nore comfortable that way.

My 6 mo old DS has just learnt to roll and I find him in all sorts of weird places in his cot. Getting onto their front is usually the hard part, they often just fall back over to get onto their back - I worried that his sleeping bag would stop him from rolling back but he seems to be fine. Occasionally he sounds unhappy and he'll be in a weird one but this is getting less common, the more mobile he gets.

One good thing is that he sleeps slightly better now he can sleep on his side!

DS (nearly 10mo) is a master at this

he ends up face down with knees drawn up and his bottom in the air

He does 180 degree turns

Face squashed against cot bars

Arms trapped awkwardly under him

etc etc

When I go to bed, I move him away from the bars/sort out any trapped limbs but I do not try to turn him over - I would get the same response as you get I suspect!

DD always did this too and it didn't really calm down until she was about 3...

We are currently going through the same thing here. DD (9 months) goes to sleep really well, but wakes 2 or 3 times in the night in a crawling position at the bottom of her cot. We then have a good 5 minutes of screaming before we can resettle her again. Its been a few weeks now and already its wearing a bit thin as neither I or DH are getting a decent nights sleep now. I`m hoping its a phase...

My DD has motored around her cot for as long as I can remember (she's 2.8 now). If it's any reassurance at all, when I was a baby, I would only sleep on my front - totally against all the advice given now.

Can I do a little bit of a hijack and ask others who have roving babies (mine 10 months) what size cot they have? We have quite a small IKEA one and was wondering if having a mahoosive expensive cot bed would make any difference.

My dd tends to get wedged halfway through turning you see. Mind you she is huge ahem.

thanks fuzzypeach - thats what I thought.

Same here DD is 7.5mths and wriggles all about the cot in the sleeping bag.

Ive tried the tucked in sleeping bag too but it made no difference at all!

Trouble here is DD rolls onto her front then hasnt got that she can roll back - She can do it but hasnt "realised" it if you know what I mean. She then wakes up and starts shouting and screaming till we go in and put her on the back. Trouble is that then shes wide awake and it can 2 hours to get her back off!
Nightmare!

I think if shes happy sleeping like that then leave her too it.
Id leave my DD on her front if she didnt kick off about being there!