How to keep baby from rolling at night?

Mandy - posted on 04/02/2012

I have something called an ergo cocoon for my 7mo daughter. It's like a sleep sack but you can close the arm holes to keep them snug like a swaddle till they're ready to sleep with their arms out. That's the thing that bothers her, she used to always get her arms out and wake up flapping and hitting herself. She can roll and sleep whichever way she is comfy, but still feel snug.

Ellen - posted on 04/02/2012

Switch to sleep sacks - they're safer (for sleeping) than blankets at that age anyway.

Rachael - posted on 03/31/2012

I use a grobag (a sleep suit). Both my boys as soon as they started rolling over did when they were sleeping. I found this the best thing as they couldn't then roll out from under the blanket and consequently wake up mad and cold.

Diane - posted on 03/31/2012

Put her in a blanket sleeper so she won't get cold without a blannket, and let her go! She has learned how to roll over and will learn how to keep herself comfortable. Too many nights of rolling around then crying for Mommy will get you trained in no time!

Iolanthe - posted on 03/30/2012

Put her in a grow bag. Mothercare used to sell them when my kids were small

Markita - posted on 03/30/2012

Lol, be glad she's not crawling yet! My 6 month old is crawling and crawls himself into a corner, which of course wakes him up and pisses him off.

Anna - posted on 03/30/2012

i dont mind if she rolls over if she would just stay asleep, she gets so mad that she is on her tummy, so i just figured she didnt want to be there but she cant help it.

Shawnn - posted on 03/30/2012

Boy, I guess I'm horrible then. My kids never coslept, and always had blankets, even in the bassinette.



They never smothered or strangled themselves either.



Why would you force your kid to sleep in positions that are uncomfortable to them? If your daughter is rolling, it's unlikely she's going to stop, and restraining her to one position is, IMO cruel. Well, not CRUEL, per say, but definitely not the way I wanted to treat my kids.



Yes, when they are babies...before they can roll, certain restraints are in order. But, once they hit that benchmark, they will move. I do not know a single person that sleeps in one position, and one position only, and it's unfair to assume that baby will want to!



If she's pushing her blanket away, and getting chilly, then when you to to cover her vocalize: "Time to cover up". If you do this every time, it will begin to penetrate, and she'll connect: I get chilly, momma comes and says those sounds and puts my warm thing back...maybe I can get my warm thing back...



My youngest had a thing where he'd sit up in the middle of the night, and then lay forward onto his legs. It took us a bit to realize what he was doing, and why his hips were bothering him. He STILL talks himself to sleep at night "I won't sleep on my legs"...LOL...because short of me staying awake all night for days in a row to retrain his brain, that was the only way we could get his subconscious mind to get the message to him when he's asleep.



I'm like Sherri, I've never NOT had stuff in their beds with them!

Becky - posted on 03/30/2012

When my son was a baby I had a bumper for him. It kept him on his side. I switched from side to side to back on different evening to shape his head. He has a beautifully round head. You can find one in the store by the crib stuff.

Melissa - posted on 03/30/2012

It is normal when a baby hits a new milestone to alter their sleep patterns for a bit, she'll practice her new skill a bit and then return to sleeping better at night again.

Elizabeth - posted on 03/29/2012

I also should say, that every kiddo is so different in their sleeping styles and nighttime needs. Try to get an understanding of how your child is most comfortable and what she is trying to do when she's getting comfortable.



My two girls are opposite sleepers - my 4yr old wants to be cuddled, tucked in tight, warm covers - loved being swaddled as a baby. My 2yr old kicked out of her swaddle in the nicu, kicks off the covers now - she wants to be uncovered, practically naked, and almost cold, she is a nursaholic, but she doesn't really want to cuddle -when she sleeps with us she just wants to be able to reach over and touch someone once in a while. When the 4yr old climbs into our bed she clings to the warmest body like a second skin - she's the best snuggler ever. :-)

Heidi - posted on 03/29/2012

I actually use a special made sheet, it is about 40cm wide and long enough that it wraps around the cot mattress and velcro's together to hold it in place. In the middle of this is another piece of material also with velcro on each end that actually belts the baby in the middle, either on back or on tummy depending on which way they sleep best. I can send you a photo of it if you like, i have used it with all four of my children and it works a treat. All the best.

Elizabeth - posted on 03/29/2012

Sherri - I appreciate that, but that was in a crib with bumpers, pretty good cushiony ones. She disliked it that much - I watched, she would wiggle and roll until she hit them, bonk her head a few times and then get angry that the bonking hurt. even with a thick bumper. The palette on the floor was a perfect solution for us. We have baby number three on the way and I'm not even bothering with the crib this time. This one will do cosleeper to palette/our bed to kiddo bed.



Actually though - they are recommending against bumpers now, as they are a suffocation risk - though isn't everything.

Sherri - posted on 03/29/2012

Elizabeth M. that is why they make crib bumpers to prevent that from happening.

Elizabeth - posted on 03/29/2012

At six months old, she's not likely to smother, especially if she's strong enough to roll herself over - provided there's nothing really fluffy or thick where if she pulls her head back from it, she won't be able to make a passage of air. So, thin blankets (I used muslin wraps and cottons sheets) should be just fine. Stuffed animals and comforters, I'd keep out of the cot.



If you want to keep her from rolling, you'll have to wrap her, then place a sheet over her that's tucked in pretty good. Also, if she's strong enough and really wants out, it won't work - but if she's only rolling accidentally, that's what I was taught to do in the hospital. If you wrap her at this age, I'd recommend wrapping her with one or both arms out. It depends on how much she flails and if she's waking herself up by flailing. Good luck!

Elizabeth - posted on 03/29/2012

My daughter hated her crib. she would roll and get mad because she hit the hard sides. You need to know what is making her mad - is it being in a new position (unlikely) or is it hitting the side or feeling tangled in jammies/blankie/sleeper. As soon as she outgrew the cosleeper attached to our bed, we had to just skip the crib after trying it for a while. So from about 6mos on she slept on a pallette of blankies on the floor. We laid two firm but thick quilts (not comforters) on top of each other to make a firm but comfy surface and put pillows around it for her to roll into - same thing, as firm as we could find. When she would roll she would hit the pillow and reposition herself, but not get stuck or bonked or wake up. She was safe from suffocation, free to move a bit, but somewhat confined. We also coslept with her in the bed for much of the night for nursing. She is 2yrs now and that helped her sleep tremendously. She would wake up to nurse, but not from having bonked into the crib sides.

Ma. Patricia - posted on 03/29/2012

If she really gets disturbed at night, I suggest you put a pillow on each side of her body. However, make sure that it's not too tight, too that she can't move even at all. The space should make her turn at least to her side, left and right.

Fiona - posted on 03/29/2012

I used to wrap my son up like baby Jesus to keep him from moving round in his cot and playing with his hands. I used a cotton blanket tucked his hands in and wrapped it tight enough to stop him wriggling and he slept peacefully from 11.30pm to 6.00am every night and needless to say so did his mother.

Yurena - posted on 03/29/2012

Growbags worked well for us, both my kid mov so much they end up without covers. Mine rolled very early and prefered sleeping on their tummy. xxx

Jennifer - posted on 03/29/2012

My son started rolling over and was already in a sleep sack but would get upset because the sleep sack would make it harder to roll. I ended up just using a pair of blanket sleepers that were a couple sizes too big overtop of his regular sleepers. That way he's nice and warm and can roll around as much as he wants. It worked like a charm!

Susan - posted on 03/29/2012

Not sure what anyone else has told you but they make pillows that will keep your baby in any position you need them to sleep in. I used to use a baby blanket rolled up and put it slightly under her so if she moved the blanket kept her from rolling over.

Michelle - posted on 03/29/2012

Oh, and his name's Dr Sprott I think :-)

Michelle - posted on 03/29/2012

^ I'd look into that quite well before spending money - it's fairly controversial and has been largely discredited. We don't have a high rate of SIDS I think because we have a large awareness program about sleeping babies on their back, being smoke free around the baby, and it's recommended to use a new mattress for each child -but that's just as much an issue of dust mites as anything else.



There is a danger with wrapping mattresses - you need to wrap them in the right stuff as there is a danger of overheating if the mattress can't 'breathe'. (so the deeply cynical would say that this unproven cure has been quite the money spinner for the person who sells the mattress wraps, as there is only one brand available here I think).



And I'm in New Zealand and I look into most things pretty well :-)



We do have a good product here called a Safe-T-Sleep that holds the baby in place, but at this age I wouldn't bother. It's more for infants. The general view here is that if they can roll (and preferably roll back) then they're probably okay.



My Lass started rolling and we used a wedge to keep her in place before then. But she rolled over it once she started learning t get on her hands and knees, so it was time time get it out of the cot.



Now, a 7m she sleeps how she wants, and I help her get comfy if she needs. Forcing her to stay on her back would just have me an unhappy child.

Melanie - posted on 03/28/2012

I always used a sleep sack, but as far as SIDS worries, go you might want to look into the New Zealand doctor that is pretty sure he has determined the cause of SIDS - a combination of the flame retardant chemicals in mattresses and the mold that often grows on a mattress from the various wetness problems babies can have. He says that it creates a toxic off-gas type of thing that can hang around the mattress like a little cloud (why sleeping on the back has been helpful in reducing SIDS) and that can be fatal to small babies. They have done a huge public service campaign in New Zealand supposedly and it has wiped out SIDS 100% with those who wrapped their traditional mattresses in plastic that keeps the toxic gas inside.



I plan on getting an organic latex mattress next time I have a baby since they aren't required to be treated with toxic flame retardant chemicals. Spread the word! It's worth looking into, and I just feel crushed every time I hear of a SIDS case that possibly could have been prevented. Anyway, my point is, the smothering issue may not be the real cause at all??

Good luck!

Anna - posted on 03/28/2012

i am coming at it from "she wakes herself up". i hope it dont last much longer, it has been about 2 weeks. so maybe she will just start rolling back over and go back to sleep. i hope!!!

Elfrieda - posted on 03/28/2012

I think it's just a stage she's going through. I think you're coming at it from "she wakes herself up" and not "she'll get SIDS", right? She's probably learning to roll during the day and can't help practicing at night. My son did this at 9 months with crawling. He would roll onto his stomach while sleeping, and once he was there, his arms and legs started going and he'd smush himself into a corner of the crib, still half-sleeping and crying! It was so annoying, but it only lasted a week or so.

Anna - posted on 03/28/2012

sherri i agree with you. i put her blanket on her bottom half so if she gets out of it she cant reach it. i know she is strong enough to roll but she just seems to be more sleepy since she wakes up so much during the night. she puts things in front of her face all the time but seems to know when to move them, but i always watch her just in case

Sherri - posted on 03/28/2012

Don't worry about the blanket in her crib. All my kids including my newborn sleep with blankets and always have. I also always had toys in their crib at that age so if they woke up they would play in their crib for awhile before I would need to get them.

Nicole - posted on 03/28/2012

There is a velcro belt that goes around the matress the the sleep sack will stick to so the baby cannot roll. A friend of mine used it and it was very handy.. we put 2 rolled up recieving blankets in the crib so my son could not roll.

Katrina - posted on 03/28/2012

I agree she is old enough to roll and sleep however she feels comfortable. Just make sure she is sleeping in a crib with not too many blankets to prevent SID's and her sleeping in a crib will prevent her from falling out of the bed and getting injured and being smothered by others sleeping in the bed.

Donna - posted on 03/28/2012

You don't need to keep her from rolling. She will lay whatever way she is comfortable. She is old enough to move around so I wouldn't worry about it.

MamaTo2 - posted on 03/28/2012

As the others said, once she's strong enough to roll as she pleases she should be ok. Around that same age my son started sleeping on his stomach with his face down on his hands. At first it freaked me out and I'd check on him constantly and try to place him back onto his back, or at least his side. But he'd always immediately roll back onto his face. That's just how he likes to sleep and after a while I realized that obviously he can breathe and he must be more comfortable that way if he likes it so much so now I leave him be. And he's fine.

~♥Little Miss - posted on 03/28/2012

Seriously, if she is strong enough to do it, she can. Just ask your pediatrician. And you should be really thinking about not having anything in the crib until she is older. If she needs to fall asleep with the blanket, fine....you can always go back in and get it later before you go to bed.

Anna - posted on 03/28/2012

i have tried taking her blanket out but she will not sleep without it. it is strange and nerve racking. she doesnt like the sleep sacks. i will have to try the rolling up blanket thing

~♥Little Miss - posted on 03/28/2012

What do you mean "get out of her blanket'?? Is she in a sleep sack or does she actually have a blanket? It is not recommended that a child of that age has anything in her crib, and uses a sleep sack. And, if she can roll onto her stomach, and onto her back, she should be fine. YOu cannot do anything to stop her. If she is strong enough to do it, really she should be fine....but get the blanket out of her crib, or she could smother.

Kate CP - posted on 03/28/2012

I think it's time for a sleep sack and let her roll.

Krista - posted on 03/28/2012

There's really not a lot you CAN do to prevent that, unfortunately. They have "sleep positioners", but they're not really safe.



The only thing I can think of is maybe to use a sleep sack instead of a blanket. It'll make it more difficult for her to roll over, and if she DOES roll over, she won't be all uncovered and cold.

Sara - posted on 03/28/2012

roll up a receiving blanket and place it next to her side so she cannot roll