How to get him to stay put!

[Harmony83]

I am having troubles getting my five month old to sleep, he has recently become an expert at rolling from his back onto his tummy, so when he starts to get tired, I wrap him up and tuck him in bed, 5 minutes later he is screaming, on his tummy and at the other end of the bed!! It's becoming a nightmare to try get him to sleep!! How do I get him to stay put and go to sleep :( ???

[Chickadee]

As far as trying to get him to stop rolling to his tummy, I wouldn't bother trying. DD started rolling at around 4.5 months and would insist on being on her tummy. I called the SIDs hotline in a panic, to find out about ways to keep her on her back or at least her side (there are all sorts of devices, some even physically pin bub to the sheets! :eek: ). I was basically told that if they can roll to their tummy that well then the risk of getting their head wedged or covered accidentally is low so long as I remove any risks (toys, blankets, etc). So I let DD sleep on her tummy, bum in the air. I used patting on her bum and a sing-song droning (imagine a creaky door) to help settle her to sleep.

[flower]

Ah the joys...wait till he's practising crawling and standing THEN he can do it in his sleep and wake up horrified.........yet to come.
Having said that apparently its quite normal for the babes to practise these dpmental stages in their sleep too.
I used a velcro sleep wrap thing for about the first month and loved it as bb couldn't wonder.....they have them for bb's up to a year old but I dont know about using it as they get to that age. As soon as mine could fiddle with the velcro belt he went without. Now I just let him roll around like a bowling ball..use a bumper......arn't they just SO much fun? ;)

[Harmony83]

Gggrrr, its so fustrating... I would leave him in there to amuse himself if he wasn't crying and see if he'd wear himself out, but he gets really upset, so I have to go back in take him out play with him again till he shows his tired signs, then it starts all ova again... Unless I am putting him to bed when he's not actually very tired and still wants to play?! So confusing... :o

[poshBecks]

Hi! By the time my baby was 5 months, i would just let him cry himself to sleep. I'd go in after 10 mins, settle him down then put him back to bed. I kept doing this every 10 mins until he went to sleep. It didn't take him long to figure out it was sleep time. The first few times was torture for me to hear him crying so much, but he would eventually wear himself out and go to sleep. Don't worry, you'll get throught it. Tip- turn the t.v up real loud, and set a timer. Then check on bub when the timer goes off. That's what i did to get through the worst. Connor is now a brilliant sleeper!!
Good luck :)

[xkwzit]

Hi Harmony
I know that this is a pain, but it won't last very long. It should be only a few weeks until he can roll back (as long as he's not stuck at the edge of the cot ;) ) and then he'll happily roll forward and back until he's comfy (and for most kiddies that seems to be on their tummy :o )

Just bear with...

[lucyp]

sorry to sort of hijack this thread - but I had same query as Harmony83, only I am now worried about him rolling into the side of the cot and banging his head! SIDS says no cot bumpers etc - but I come in and find hime up against side of cot and usually with one arm hanging though the slats! Any suggestions for this???

[JAK05]

I have the same issue as lucyp.....to use cot bumper or not???? Up at 4am this morning with 4mth old bub's head banging against side of cot. Took 1hr to resettle :confused:

[drewid]

Hi

My boy is 6 1/2mths old and we bought a cot bumper last week. He too has started rolling, but he is using the side bars of the cot as leverage! He sticks his feet in them and twists his body and using hit feet, sort of pushes himself over. I went into him one day and he had one foot sticking through the bars, and if he had twisted his body back again, he would have broken his foot! He's such a wriggly worm and I'm constantly finding him lying sideways in the cot, head squished up against the side.

So a bumper it is. It's fixed firmly, the cords are not long enough for him to strangle himself and are tied securely. Its also fairly solid fabric, so he can't be suffocated by it, or get himself behind it somehow.

Its a calculated risk, but one we decided was worth taking, to save injuries to his head and feet.

[Chickadee]

It's an individual choice of course, but I'd still recommend taking out any bumpers or extras in the cot until you're completely confident of bub's ability to move him/herself around his own. Particularly as you say


I'm constantly finding him lying sideways in the cot, head squished up against the side.
I'd personally rather have DD's head squished up against the hard cot bars than stuck under a bumper. DD shifted around alot and was constantly sticking various bits through the bars. I found her once on her tummy with both legs through the bars as far as they would go. I don't believe she would have tried to roll hard enough in her sleep to hurt her head or break anything - she'd have woken and yelled at the first twinge of pain. And if you watch them shifting in their sleep you'll probably find they don't thrash violently but just shift and wriggle. The only time she actually woke up yelling was when an arm was stuck between the bars and the wall and she couldn't get it back out. Solution to that was moving the cot away from the wall.

As I said, it's up to you. But weighing up a sprained wrist or broken bone against accidental suffocation, I still know which I'd choose.

[drewid]

Just wanted to point out that its not Andrews movements in his sleep that bother me, he is a fairly still and restful sleeper, but when he is awake and wants to play in his cot. The bumper is more for his protection when he is being boisterous in there!

I am very confident of his ability to move himself out of danger, he's very crafty in that area.

The bumper is attached in such a way that he can't get under it or behind it and it certainly isn't going to detach itself without adult intervention. The bumper itself is designed so that it has very firm folded creases in it, so even if the bumper was detached and was pulled down onto him, the folds make it so that it
can't possibly cover his face, especially not enough to smother him.

Naturally if he becomes an active sleeper, I'll rethink it, but at the moment, I'm not concerned.

[Chickadee]

Nicole, I didn't mean to offend or criticise your choice, if I did I apologise. You've obviously put a lot of thought and care into selecting a bumper so that the risk is reduced. To be honest, I never looked closely at bumpers so I'm probably out of date on how they are designed and fitted. How does it work that he can't get under it, does it extend below the level of the mattress?

I wish Andrew lots of sweet dreams, and bump-free play in his cot.

[drewid]

Don't stress MarthaM, I didn't think you were having a go, I just wanted to clarify myself!

We did put a lot of thought into it and DH can attest to a LOT of shopping around! He was very patient with me! :)

The old style ones are pretty useless - my Mum has an old one that she used for my brother who is now almost 20 (!!) and I really dont' feel good about having Andrew in that cot. It is loose and flimsy and the ties are easily undone with a gentle tug and not very good at all. Lucky for me he doesn't even like sleeping in that cot, so I haven't had to make an issue out of it with my mum!

Our bumper is fairly thin, but the fabric is firm, if you know what I mean. I have it so that the bottom edge of it is actually down the side of the mattress so its very snugly down the side of the cot and Andrew can't even get his fingers under it. All of the ties are on the outside of the cot and also out of reach. Its hard enough for me to take it off when I have to change his sheets!

I have to admit, a lot of the bumpers in the shops are just designed to look pretty....there really aren't many that I would see as being 'safe' to use.

[JAK05]

Nicole79 - do you mind telling me where you got your cot bumper from & how much it cost? I spent most of this afternoon trying to find one & can't get anything decent. Thanks