Rolling over in sleep sack at night

sidey1

We usually use the magic sleep suit but DS (5 months old) spit up all over his right before bed last night so while it was in the wash I decided to try him out in a sleep sack. I'm not sure he even really noticed the difference because he slept great for about 5 hours then around 1am I woke up to a big grunt and DS had rolled over onto his stomach, I went in and put him on his back and he immediately flipped back over onto his stomach. What are you ladies doing in that type of situation, just leaving him on his stomach? I was very excited that he could sleep for a stretch without that sleep suit but now this is a whole new issue that we haven't dealt with before. Any advice? He was making some noises when I went in there so I'm not sure he would have just fallen back to sleep on his stomach.

kplow8610

My son sleeps in a sleep sack (5 months too) and shortly after I put him to bed for the night, he rolls over onto his stomach and sleeps there for the night. At first I would place him on his back again, but now I let him stay on his stomach as he prefers it. My doc also said, once they can roll over to their stomach, they can sleep on it.

lhotkami

Yes, they say once they can flip over they can get themselves out of a bad situation if they need to so the risk of SIDS is down.  So if LO flips over by himself you can leave him that way and let him and yourself sleep and no be worried!  They still do suggest putting him to sleep on his back though.

MrsWindyCity

You just mean a regular sleep sack, right (not one with a swaddle)? If so, then yep just leave them. As soon as they can roll on their own, you can let them sleep on their bellies.

natalie115

lhotkami said:

Yes, they say once they can flip over they can get themselves out of a bad situation if they need to so the risk of SIDS is down.  So if LO flips over by himself you can leave him that way and let him and yourself sleep and no be worried!  They still do suggest putting him to sleep on his back though.

Quick follow up question...DS can flip back to front, but not front to back. Would he still be able to get himself put of a "bad situation"? We have a pedi appt tonight so I'll ask her, but I was just wondering if you had an idea.

sidey1

Yes a regular sleep sack, no swaddle. DS isn't so good at flipping himself back over as well, so I'd be interested in what your Pedi says. I really think the kid has been dying to sleep on his stomach for a while now so sounds like he'll be ok and maybe even sleep better! I'm just pysched he might not need the magic sleep suit anymore!

Brady77

I believe the theory behind once they can roll you can leave them on their stomachs has more to do with their head control, mobility and strength then actually flipping back over.  So even though a baby can't roll to its back, the likelihood of it ending up face down in the mattress goes down. A baby that can roll can switch from facing one direction to the other easily.

Again, not entirely sure b/c I have kids that are late rollers and prefer back sleeping.

green867

I've also heard that once they can flip onto their tummy on their own they should be fine, even if they have a difficult time flipping the other way. That is certainly the case with our son, who lets us know he wants to be on his back by hollering for us to flip him over!

VPGIRL06

Once they flip to their tummies, they have the strength to raise their heads and turn them to the sides. Its just more annoying for them when they can't flip back to their backs and they want to adjust. my DD is all over the place in her crib. 

sidey1

Well ladies, I wish he would actually sleep on his belly but he keeps waking up everytime he rolls over and wont go back to sleep. Tonite so far we've tried sleeping on his side, which lasted about 45 minutes and then he was fussing and rolled over onto his tummy and woke up. He is back in his rock n play at the moment. Total regression back to two months...uggggg. He is congested right now which I think is why he wants to be elevated.