Q&A; Rolling over in sleep...ACK!

I love it when readers answer their own questions. Nancy writes:

"File this under "don't brag about how your baby sleeps 11-12 hour per night" as it will come back to haunt you!  We sleep trained our 6 month old son with excellent results about 6 weeks ago and have had mostly amazing sleep-filled nights ever since (with the exception of a couple of teething incidents).  Last night at 1 am, he decided to roll over for the first time in his crib.  As he found himself on his belly, he immediately started screaming.  My husband flipped him over and was able to quickly get him back to sleep only to have him do the same thing again about an hour later.  This waking was much more involved and required about two hours of rocking, feeding, shushing to get him back to sleep.  He has very strong legs but his arms haven't quite caught up yet, and rolling over has been a pipe dream of his for the last month or so.  Any ideas about how to help him get through this? Is the prescription just lots of tummy time so he can master this milestone during the day?"

You've got it. He's more wakeful in general because he's working on the rolling over, and the only way around rolling over is through it.

There's no way to force a kid to get through physical milestones (hearing stories about someone "teaching" their kid to walk always makes me laugh), but the more a child can work on the skills the sooner s/he'll get good at them. So tummy time is exactly the prescription to end your nighttime wakeups.

Once he can roll over easily on his own, he'll stop waking himself up by rolling, and he'll also stop being up and cranky and needing to be soothed so much, because that part of his brain will be able to relax again.

You'll probably have to sleep train him all over again after this is over (the dirty little secret of sleep training), but depending on how old he is when he gets through this, you might be in the middle of the 8-9-month sleep regression. Which is one of the worst times to try to change your child's sleep, and will make you really frustrated. So I'm hoping he comes through it more quickly and you can get on a more even keel first, but if you end up with this movement leap transitioning into the developmental stuff of 8-9 months, just know that it won't last forever, and he will sleep all night again eventually.

Oh, and here's a good point to mention that although we're all told to make sure our kids sleep on their backs, once they can roll onto their stomachs we can let them keep sleeping that way (if they will).

Comments on rolling? Milestones? The upcoming weekend? Which of the new toys are still in favor and which ones have already been ignored?

Comments

[Julie]

Hedra....will you please be my big sister? I think you are so wise and thoughtful and wish I had you to bounce ideas off of. Your kids are incredibly lucky.

[Steph]

I can't believe it. I came to Ask Moxie because my 2 month old rolled over in his pack and play tonight. He has been rolling on his side for a few days, and has always preferred to sleep on his belly on me, but this is still freaking me out! He was 13 lbs last week, so he's a big boy, and can lift his head really well during tummy time, but whoa! We're not supposed to be here yet. However, he fussed until he got himself turned over, then fell very deeply asleep! So...deep calming breath...I guess I'll leave him like that! Great timing for this post!

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[Sanjay]

I want to say his he guy is very handsome and all the best.

[hgvlgv]

I've got nothing to add on the sleeping thing, since Mirabelle hardley never slept, ever (at least as I remember it).

But - favorite toy was an HGV truck from grandparents. It was the first thing she opened, and Christmas was pretty much over after that.

[Nike Vandal]

A blog shows a kind of style, a kind of taste, a life... So I often came to everyone's blog and leave some sincere greetings....

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After read the article.I have just one word to say,you are so brilliant.I like all of your article.Well done.

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[lauren]

My son is six and a half months old and i like many people hate hearing him cry but what i found seems to work is when he rolls over and starts crying to let him cry for like five mins to make him realize that he doesnt like to sleep that way and that ill leave if he does and then i come back in the room flip him over and tell him its okay and rub his head and he falls asleep pretty quickly i hope someone finds this helpful

[Musawenkosi]

Dr. Ram$namaskaaram aadi naarayana reddy gaaru.. nenu naa 4 va ttaagrai varaku achham meeru cheppina laanti badi(school) lo ne chaduvukunnanu.. kaani maadi saakalaivoru badi kaadu.. Foster& achhamma pantulamma gaari badi.. pasuvula koshtam lo oka mula anni taragatula pillalaki class lu..aite maaku kula mata bedhaalu levu ane cheppukovachhu.. maa paaleru valla pillalato kalisi kurchoni chaduvuknnamu..taruvata high school ki aite maaraamu kaani, 10th class varaku kudaa maaku aa sisaa buddlu kindaa, laantarula kinda kurchoni chadive adrushtam maatram poledu.. chaalaa thanks andi, naaku marala naa paata rojulu gurtu chesaaru..mee saakalivorulu chaduvutunte taliyakundaane manasuloo edo teliyani garvam tongi chustundi andi..

[Allian]

Thanks so much! Ya know, before I had her I had zero isntreet in staying at home. Not for me, I thought. I can't imagine going into an office ever again. And I pray every day that I never have to. Honestly, when I thought my life was at its best, it was nowhere near as good as it is now.

[Ximenna]

Thanks Joules! I love, love, love those stacking anilmas (way more than Moxie probably ever will)! And, I figured out that if I shrunk the fridge pic just a little bit, it looks WAY cleaner (is that word?) than it really is. Thanks for stopping, I hope to see you again!Andrea