My son is 3 1/2 months old and has figured out how to roll. I put him to bed on his back but he often rolls onto his side or stomach. I remember this happening with my older daughter but I think she was more like 7 or 8 months. The doctor said once they can easily change position the risk of SIDS is greatly decreased and to let her be. However my little guy can roll, but often gets stuck or 'forgets' how to rolll back. If i see him stomach sleeping, should I leave him alone or flip him?
Just let him be. Babies like their stomach and if he can roll over himself
he is old enough to sleep on his belly.
In home childcare, with our mandatory training, we are told to let them be once they master this task.
I would continue to monitor him for a bit, to be sure "master" is the appropriate word here, but then let him be. Make sure there are no other potential risky items in there. NO bumpers, blankets, stuffed animals, etc. Nothing but the baby. Thats it (also what training and rules mandate for us here in MN).
And yippee for baby getting mobile!
When my son was that age he'd often get 'stuck' as well and I would turn him. It was a personal choice for me but it made me feel better. Truthfully my son was never sleeping outside of my eyesight but just in case I always had him back-to-sleep unless he was sleeping on me. I believe it's better to be safe than to have him get stuck and have the worst possible thing happen.
all of my kids were stomach sleepers.
I would leave him alone. If you aren't going to sleep and worry about SIDS, then do what you need to do. But I would leave a sleeping child, sleep!!
All four of my kids were stomach sleepers, it really was the only way they could sleep. It is a know you kid kind of thing. If your child has the strength to roll they also have the strength to lift their head if they find themselves face down smushing their nose.
When my older two were newborns the opposite advice was true, always sleep on their stomach because they could aspirate on their spit up.
I guess I am saying this is a best judgement kind of thing.
I agree to let him be if he did it on his own...but I will add that I know how difficult and stressful this might be! ;) I am a worrier, plain and simple, for the weeks or so following my chidren's rolling over milestone I barely slept b/c I was constantly checking them! Neurotic? Yes, sadly. It won't take him long to figure out how to roll back if necessary. I would however still keep pillows, blankets and animals out of there, especially if he can only roll one way.
Oh, and I must confess there were a few times when I checked on my son before I went to bed and found him sleeping on his tummy so I rolled him over, but then he would just roll back 5 minutes later, so you can do it, it's just futile! ;)
I would place him on his back if you find him on his stomach, until he truly masters flipping back. And what another mom said, no bumpers/blankets/lovies/stuffed toys either.
leave him be (provided you don't have anything in his crib like stuffed animals and pillows that could obstruct his breathing).
We were all born with an innate ability to survive. If his face is planted into something and you feel suffocation is possible, then by all means, flip him. It may by his preference to sleep on his stomach. My son never slept on his back. He would scream and scream until I flipped him over. I lived in fear of the "authorities" coming and removing him because I didn't do what you were supposed to. Look at it this way, when I was a baby, my mother was encouraged to have me sleep on my stomach. Preventing SIDS is a guessing game anyway. If your child is more comfy that way and you're ok with it, then it's the right thing to do.
My son learned to get onto his stomach to sleep by 8 weeks. I talked to our Doctor and he said once he is able to do it himself, just leave him. He said that unless I planned to sit in front of the crib to flip him back each time he did it, he was going to sleep how he was most comfortable. So, I would put him to bed on his back and he would get to his stomach. We did take everything out of the crib though. It stressed me out but I am a stomach sleeper as is my daughter so I guess it is just how he is most comfortable.
leave him be.
The only way my daughter would sleep was on her stomach.
And years ago when my sibblings were babies( they are all 10-16 yrs younger than I) it was tummy to sleep to prevent babies from choking on their spit up.
Now, it's back to sleep.
Drs. for all our medical advances we don't actually know what causes SIDS.
Let sleeping children lie.
Once he can turn over he can sleep however he wants. It is a child that cannot turn over themselves that they seem to want to sleep on his back. When my daughter was small it was sleep on the tummy. Science is a wonderful thing.
If he can turn over he can move himself and it will do you no good to worry about this. He will sleep how he is comfortable.
