Ok I'm clueless!

For the last month and a half my boys have been sleeping on their bellies. It has been really nice because they would pretty much put themselves to sleep once I put them down. Well now that they are really rolling over, I put them down on their belly and they instantly flip onto their back. Which would be fine, I would like it if they slept on their backs, but THEY DON'T SLEEP. They will be just about to fall asleep and then they will flip and as soon as they hit their back they are wide awake and they can't get back on their belly. I have tried just leaving them like that and they will (well it's actually one more than the other) lay there for an hour and then finally just start crying. Needless to say my excellent sleepers are now driving me nuts, bedtime starts at 7:30 and goes on for 2 hours before they finally fall asleep. It basically comes down to me sitting there with them and making sure they don't roll over. I have tried rocking them to sleep and putting them down on their back, they wake up within 5 minutes. I have not swaddled since they were a month old, they don't take paci's anymore and I have never tried sleep positioners. I really have no idea how to change this and I feel like we are starting some really bad habbits. I am back to letting them nap in the swings and one DS has to fall asleep in his swing at night now and then after he wakes up to eat at night he will go back to bed on his tummy in the crib. So PLEASE any suggestions will help. I don't know if they are teething or what the deal it but bedtime is just a fight now. :angry:

 

I think at 4 months, we were still swaddling. So, I'm not any help. SLeeping habits change when they learn new things. GOod luck! I'm sure others will chime in!

 

I think mine are close to your's age. we have a fight at bedtime and I am currently trying to move up their bedtime to around 7. It takes me rocking and walking to get them sleepy and they will go to sleep for about a hour and then they will wake up and we have to go through all of this again. Now when they wake up I have started putting them in their swings and they will go back to sleep and I will just take them out of their swings and lay them in bed. My goal would to say ok it is beddy bye time and go lay them down and they would fall asleep .. hahaha. Hope you get some good replies because I need some suggestions too.

Missy

 

Ericka, I swear I was logging on to post this exact question. I was writing it out in my mind "someone please help... my boys are flipping over constantly and won't sleep... I don't know what to do anymore..." This has been going on for four weeks now. I keep thinking it's a phase and soon they'll grow tired of flipping over and things will get better. Well, this must be a long phase and I'm not sure they're ever going to stop. I've tried leaving them on their backs but they'll just lay there laughing, smiling, talking, fussing, crying... anything but sleeping. So I find myself spending every second in the nursery trying to prevent them from flipping over. This is ALL day and ALL night. I sat down on the floor by their cribs last night and just cried because I don't know what happened to my good sleepers. Sorry for rambling... just know that you're not in it alone - we're going through the same thing. Can we come up with some device to tie them down?? :winking0009:

 

I wish I had an answer for you. I see this very problem looming in my very near future. I hope you get some responses...even if someone just says..."yes, this happens and yes, it will end". That is my new mantra, I just repeat "this is just a phase" over and over again in my head.

ceb023 - big hugs to you, four weeks is a long time to be battling the rolling game.

Amy

 

We had this problem when the girls first started rolling except it was that I would put them to sleep on their backs and they would immediately flip onto their bellies and then get upset because they couldn't roll back. I asked all my mommy friends and they all assured me that they would learn to roll both ways very soon. They didn't! It took Meara about a month to master the art of rolling everywhere and Ana is still working on getting from her belly to her back.

I wish I had great words of advice for you, but I don't. It took a couple of weeks of really rough bedtimes, but now I put them to bed on their backs, they immediately roll onto their stomachs and fall fast asleep. One thing I did with Ana since she doesn't like sleeping on her belly as much as Meara, was to put her in her bouncy for a little while and then when she is more sleepy, put her in the crib. Oh the other thing DH and I did was help them practice rolling during the day. If they were fussing on their bellies, we'd give them some time to see if they would figure it out and then we'd go over and place their arms, and give them a little push to show them how to get back onto their backs. Meara doesn't roll onto her back the way we taught her so I don't know if this helped at all. But Ana seems to be using the techniques we taught her, so maybe it was worthwhile. I don't know.. its all trial and error.

GL to you! -Leighann

 

Confession: I am just starting to stop swaddling and my boys are almost 7 months old! I still swaddle (with one arm out) for all naps.

 

roll up a blanket and put it on either side of them like a "U" and it should act as a bumper for them so they don't roll over.

you could also try an earlier bedtime -- mine were going down at 5:30 at that age and it worked wonders for them


Teri D

 

QUOTE
roll up a blanket and put it on either side of them like a "U" and it should act as a bumper for them so they don't roll over.

I was also going to suggest that. Or even a sleep positioner.