Night wakings - rolling onto belly & screaming

[owensmommy]

My lo is 5.5 months old and has never been a good sleeper.  He usually wakes 5-6 times per night and although he is only fed twice (dreamfeed and again at 2:30pm) he is having a very hard time right now.

He has mastered rolling over and is struggling on his belly during the day to pull himself and crawl.  He keeps trying and I give him lots of tummy time but he's just not there yet developmentally.  The last two nights he's begun rolling over onto his belly and pushing himself up on his arms.  The problem is that he sleeps swaddled (but breaks out often) and uses a pacifier. 

Lately he's been waking for the paci so I was thinking of paci and swaddle weaning soon but I don't have a clue what to do about the rolling over.  Is this a common developmental issue close to 6 months?  Does anyone have any suggestions?

[angelina and andrew's mum]

hi, as far as im aware its common for babies whove learned new things to wake up often in the night-like the tummy rolling(it often wakes them up as there doing it or if they get stuck and cant roll back). im afraid i dont have any advice but im sure one of the other ladies or gents will have some suggestions for you.xx

[dillsmom]

Hi owensmommy

it is common yes.
First thing,you have to try and wean him off paci as soon as possible or if you can keep a couple of pacis in the crib for him to take for himself.

It is a akward milestone,because you will have to help him roll back.Just pick him up,put him in the position he sleeps in and sh/pt if its needed.
you can also roll up something and put it under a blanket,so that he does not roll over.
Practise with him during the day to roll over and back.
This will pass soon don't worry,if my ds rolls over and starts moaning and sees that I don't come to his rescue anymore he just falls asleep on his stomach.If I see his fast asleep I turn him on his back again.

[litomi]

It's developmental. (((HUGS)))
My LO used to wake up and had fun trying out her new skill in her cot in the middle of the night. Then after 20-30 min. she'd cry for help..
Just practice rolling back and forth during the day.

[londonlady]

We're going through the same thing at the moment. DS is 6 months old and has been able to roll over for ages, but about 2 weeks ago I put him on his tummy and he spotted the cat and it was like a lightbulb went on in his head! He loves the cat and obviously realised that if he could co-ordinate the rolling onto his tummy and the leg wriggling, he might stand a chance of getting to her! He's so caught up in this new skill that he is practicing any minute he can get!

We were lucky enough to be bought a "CCTV" style monitor for LO's room and DH and I can see what he's up to. DS only ever cries out when he gets an arm stuck underneath him and can't physically roll back. (We're working on practicing this during the day but I guess it's a strength issue.)  I've just been placing him back on his side and leaving the room and this seems to be ok for our LO but he's generally a good sleeper.

You could also try using bolsters - we've been using rolled up blankets or towels to support DS at night time as he loves to sleep on his side and he also likes to snuggle into something. Of course he's now figured out how to wriggle up the cot past them, but it does the trick some nights! 

Hope you get some sleep back soon!

[owensmommy]

LO woke every 30-45 minutes all night - rolling over and then freaking out.  Around 3am I tried just giving him the paci while he was on his belly and he fell back to sleep in that position.  The doctor advised that at 6 months it may be a losing battle to keep them on their backs or sides at night - but just to be sure to keep putting him down as I have been and try to help him get the most sleep possible - in whatever position works.

It was a long night and I am sure there are more long nights to come.  I plan to try working with this for the next few nights and see if there is any impovement.  This si the first time he's been unswaddled so it's a lot of changes for him.  I plan to try paci weaning soon but since he's unswaddled and rolling around I think it will be pretty hard.  Sigh!

[londonlady]

That's definitely a rough night!! 
Not much comfort to think that they'll learn how to roll back at some point... I'm not sure what the pro's and cons of weaning the swaddle and paci together or individually are. Might be better to tackle one thing at a time, but then again if you're going to use PUPD then you may be best to get rid of all props in one go... ???Definitely worth asking some advice in the props forum. I found it really helpful and supportive when we went cold turkey with the dummy / paci. Hard work but not nearly as bad as I'd expected and definitely the best thing we ever did!!!

Hope you have a better night and failing that - remember what everyone says when you first have a baby - "sleep when they do" during the day to try and catch up.

All the best.
xxx