Rolling from tummy to side and getting stuck at night

[MLC]

hi, does anyone else's baby do this? my LO is 3.5mo old, she has been sleeping on her tummy all along due to reflux and has no problems sleeping through the night. recently however (past 2 wks?) she has started slamming her legs against the mattress and squishing her little butt upwards to try and turn to the side. problem is she wakes herself up doing so. this can happen for 2-3hours each night and i'm worried that she's not getting good quality sleep. i have no idea what she's trying to do. what should i do? should i re-position her back to her tummy? she doesn't sleep on her back (at all) - even while swaddled... pls help. i've been staring at her for few hours each night debating what to do.

[Purplecattypants]

Bless her, sounds like she is trying to practice!! Milestones are certainly a sleep killer. I would suggest you give her as much practice at rolling as you can during the day, and try a sleep positioner....perhaps one that allows her to sleep on her side. They are readily available from amazon/ebay/the net 

[MLC]

thank you... i have her on a sleeping wedge with the side supports - guess this is what's preventing her from rolling on her back lol. let me clarify - so should i go and put her back on her tummy each time she rolls on her side? or should i leave her be? she kinda scratches her face and pulls her hair/ear whenever she ends up on her side... grrr

[Purplecattypants]

If she's happy to stay on her side i'd say just leave her 

[mayamom]

Hi MLC - I have the same problem.  When my dd was 8 weeks old, she rolled over once while she was trying to fall asleep.  She is also a stomach sleeper so she rolls from her stomach to her back, then gets stuck.  It only happened once until 2 days ago.  Now, she is doing it more often - she is 11 wo.  She will either do it when she is trying to fall asleep or when she wakes up and is trying to go back to sleep.  She rolls from her stomach to her back, gets startled/scared, then starts crying. 

I have a video monitor so I can see what happened, and I go and roll her back over.  If I don't, she won't stop crying.  If you lo doesn't cry, you can try to leave him/her to fall back to sleep.  Otherwise I would roll him/her back over.

I'll keep you posted on what happens with my dd and maybe I can give you more advice.

[MLC]

thanks.. she does cry when she rolls from tummy to side. not sure if its hunger or whatever but i feed her anyway and she sucks really hard for 5-10min before falling asleep so i guess she was hungry and tried to wake up?

[mayamom]

Does your lo only do this at night?  I noticed mine will only do it while trying to fall back to sleep or when she wakes up.  I tried to get her to do it during 'tummy time' during the day but no luck. 

[MLC]

yes.. she only does this at night. when i try letting her practice rolling in the day, she looks very surprised like 'wow.. this is the first time i'm doing this!' lol

last night she rolled herself onto her side, made small crying noises, and then rolled onto her back!

followup question - i've heard how the tucker wedge/sling can help to elevate during night feeds.. but i'm concerned that by using it, i'm hindering her from learning how to roll at night..kwim? is rolling at night a desired thing - is it essential to her developing properly?

[mayamom]

I'm not exactly sure what a tucker wedge/sling is.  But, I think as long as she has some time to practice during the day, you should be okay.  A lot of times as my dd is falling asleep, I keep pressure on her back so she won't roll.  I think the same thing - am I stopping her from developing?  But if I don't keep pressure on her, then I will prevent her from sleeping.  My dd doesn't try to roll during the day.  Usually, lo's don't learn to roll until 4 or 5 months so they seem to be early anyways.  For now, I am focusing on sleep

[mayamom]

MLC - Is your dd still rolling over and getting stuck?  Mine is doing it more often now.  I was up 4 times last night to flip her back over (she usually only wakes once for a feeding).  I tried leaving her but she just cries.  Sometimes she gets stuck on her side and sometimes on her back.  I've been trying to encourage her to flip from her back to her stomach but she hasn't learned that yet. 

Today for her nap, she flipped and I left her on her back.  She just stayed awake, looking around.  After 15 minutes, I put her on her stomach and she was asleep 5 minutes later. 

Just wondering if you found a solution
Thanks.

[MLC]

hi mayamom, we accidentally found a 'sorta' solution - for now!

LO would wake up crying whenever we put her to sleep on her tummy. one night she was crying inconsolably (think her reflux was hurting her), and DH put her on her back. To our surprise, she babbled and yelled for about 30min, then fell asleep.  She used to wakeup whenever we put her on her back, but this time, we both stayed out of sight and let her 'vent' it out. To cut a long story short, we now swaddle her with one hand out, and put her on her back.

No more rolling for the moment...

[mayamom]

Hi MLC - I am still struggling w/ DD getting stuck on her back and crying.  I put her to sleep on her stomach and then she will roll to her back as she is trying to fall asleep.  Sometimes, she will stay there and 'play' for 30-45 minutes.  Other times, she will just cry.  She still hasn't learn to fall asleep on her back.  Is your lo still sleeping on her back?  Has she learned to roll from back to stomach?  I've tried teaching my dd but she hasn't learned yet   Just wondering if this will ever end!
Thanks.

[Izraelsmom]

My 5 1/2 month old son is doing the same thing. He too sleeps on his stomach and has discovered how to roll over. This wakes him up and he can't go back to sleep. This has been going on for about 3 weeks and seems to be getting worse. I think it's causing early wakings because he was sleeping from 8pm to 8am and now is up at 5:30, on his back. I've been trying to teach him to roll back the other way, but no success yet. Anyway, I unfortunately do not have a solution. But I will keep checking this thread.