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Hi! I’m Dana Obleman, creator of The Sleep Sense Program. If you’d rather read than watch, I’ve transcribed the text of this video below.
This week’s question is from Kim, who’s son likes to practice his newly-learned skill of rolling over at bedtime. She writes:
“My son has learned to roll from his back to his belly and decides to practice it at bedtime, in the middle of the night or in the early morning and sometimes he will yell when he is on his belly and he cannot get to his back. Sometimes he has one arm stuck and the leg hanging out of the crib. Is this normal for them to practice tricks when they should be sleeping and is there any way I can stop him from doing this?”
That is a great question Kim and it happens a lot. In fact usually around every developmental milestone, whether it is learning to roll, sitting up in the crib or standing up in the crib, is a bit of sleep disruption — and really it is almost like they are compelled to keep trying. The only way you master a skill is by practicing it, and when they are learning to roll, they just keep rolling. It even sometimes seems like they do not really want to be rolling — and often they do not like to be on their stomachs once they get there — but they are just compelled to keep practicing!
There really is no way you can stop him and it is very normal. If he is stuck on his stomach and he does not like it there, you really have no choice but to go in and roll him back.
The good news is that it usually only lasts a couple of weeks. Once he has mastered it and you see him roll from his back to his front and his front to his back through the day and he can do it on his own, then you’ll need to let him do it himself. He’ll roll around and find positions that are comfortable and maybe he’ll even decide that his tummy is not a bad place to actually sleep part of the night.
In the meantime, if he is awake, calling you and stuck, you are going to have to go in there and roll him back. Hopefully, this started after he had mastered the skill of getting himself to sleep. A lot of times, clients of mine were right in the middle of teaching the child how to fall asleep on his own and all of a sudden he is now rolling to his tummy all over the place! You could also try getting the sleep wedges that you can buy at Babies R Us or something like that and positioning him so that he cannot roll.
That might work for awhile but once he is big enough, he might just roll right over top of it and you will have to go through it anyway. The same thing goes with sitting or standing. Unless they can do it all on their own, up and down, both ways, you are going to have to help. I can remember my son sitting up in his crib and being stuck there crying. We’d go in and lay him down and he would do it again. This went on for a week or two until he mastered the skill so gave up practicing and he stopped doing it.
So the good comes with the bad I guess, Kim, and it’s something you are going to have to go through again down the road. You don’t want to become inconsistent or start doing things radically different. You just have to keep your consistency strong and any regression will blow over pretty quickly.
Thanks for your question, Kim! Good luck and sleep well.
To learn more about The Sleep Sense Program, click here — or you can click here to order now!
To ask a question about your child’s sleep, just leave it in the ‘Comments’ section below! I’ll choose one and create a new video answer each week!
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22 responses so far ↓
1 NATALIE // Nov 18, 2008 at 2:41 pm
My son is almost 22mo old and still wakes up at night. I have tried alot of stategies for months with no luck. He is not a good sleeper and never has. We have a nightly routine. We read a story or two and then brush his teeth all the while i am informing him in advance of what is going to happen, then we put on pj’s. After the pj’s he still gets a 5oz bottle, however he doesn’t fall asleep with the bottle. After he has finished the bottle he sits on my lap for a few minutes then i tell it’s time for bed. I lay him in his crib and he doesn’t cry and within a few minutes he is asleep, and it usually is just after 8:30. My problem is the middle of the night. He still wakes up and cries and calls for me so I usually bring him in to my bed where he sleeps the rest of the night, this can be anytime anywhere from 11pm to 4am he wakes. I have tried cio and i can’t take it, i also have tried checking on him and telling him he is fine and to go back to bed all with no luck. I need help.
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2 Melissa Grant // Nov 18, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Hi
In NZ we have a baby device called a Safe-T-Sleep that would help with this problem. It wraps around the bed and then two pieces go around the baby at night to stop them rolling on their stomach, sitting, or standing - they are brilliant and would really recommend them!
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3 Mary // Nov 18, 2008 at 4:04 pm
My 7 month old has been sleeping through the night from 5 months - sleeping from 7:30 to 7 a.m.. He goes down awake and falls asleep on his own and can self soothe. Recently he’s been waking between 11 and 2 screaming - not a cry but a scream. He’s not wanting to eat, he’s not wet - the only thing that will stop the screaming is to pick him up. Once he’s settled and I put him back down he screams again. I’ve let him cry it out and he’ll scream for any hour; I’d hope the next night would be better, but it keeps happening night after night for 2 weeks now. Any suggestions?
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4 Alexandra // Nov 18, 2008 at 10:50 pm
I had the same problem with my daughter right before she turned 6 months. After a week of getting up to go turn her over 5-6 times a night, our pediatrician told us to stop going in and give her 15 to 20 min to figure it out on her own. It really worked! The first night she cried for about 5 minutes and ended up sleeping on her tummy. A week later, she sleeps through the night! And sometimes also naps on her tummy. She just needed to figure out that it is possible and comfortable to sleep that way. Good luck!
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5 Elinor // Nov 19, 2008 at 5:13 am
At what age can I cut out the night feeds? My son is 5 months and growing well. He is breastfed and has started solids too. I would love to stop feeding him at night but don’t feel confident that he really doesn’t need it. At the moment I get up once or twice a night.
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6 lina // Nov 19, 2008 at 6:04 am
Hi Dana, My baby is 12months and still not sleeping all night. He was sleeping in the study because we have no room but my other kids need to use the study so ive put him in my room in his cot. He gets up twice a night crying and because im so tired i put him in my bed. He tosses and turns till he falls asleep and he does this all night. Im so tired. He goes to bed at 7 and gets up at 5.30 Ive tired to put him to bed later but his overtired and distressed. Can you help me wth your advice i don’t know what else to do. Thanks lina
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7 Johna // Nov 19, 2008 at 2:13 pm
My two month old crys at bed time and he want go to sleep before 11 pm. What could it be? What can i do to help get him to sleep in his bed.
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8 Missy // Nov 19, 2008 at 11:35 pm
My six month old daughter was my champion sleeper! I started her sleeping drowsy but awake from about a month on. At about 4 months she was sleeping from 7pm, eating at 10pm, then sleeping until I woke her at 8am. About two weeks ago, I got sick and wasn’t producing hardly any breastmilk. She refused to eat from a bottle and was so hungry, she started waking 5 or 6 times a night to eat. I fed her whatever little I had because I knew she was starving. It’s two weeks later though and I’m making plenty of milk. She’s still waking up 3 or 4 times a night to eat and isn’t eating well during the day because she’s getting so much at night. I’ve let her cry but she shares a room with my 2 1/2 yr old son and it wakes him. Then they both scream and yell. What advice can you give to moving her feeding back to the day and getting her sleeping through the night again?
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9 Liezl // Nov 20, 2008 at 9:41 am
Hi Dana, I have a 3 year old boy. I am going through a divorce and my son had no problem sleeping in the night and napping in the afternoon. When he go to visit his dad he usually let our son stay with his mother and father. They do not believe in a sleep routine and listens to my son doing as he tells them. I have learned that he sleeps with his daddy and lately he demands me to sleep with him other wise he begins to cry. his afternoon naps is very hard to stay in routine because he starts crying when It is nap time. and his grandparents went as far to tell me he has a will of his own and should not be laid down to sleep if he does not want to . Help me!!!! How can I let them see the importance of routine and nap time.
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10 christena // Nov 20, 2008 at 12:59 pm
My 4 month old was doing well the past few weeks and going to sleep at 8pm and sleeping till 7am,but now he is waking upat least every two hours crying i put his soother in and it calms him for abit and he falls into a restless sleep then he just wakes up again i give him a soother when he goes to bed at 8pm coz he just crys without it i dont no how to not give him soother b-coz he just crys.What can i do,why he is so unsettled?Thanks christena
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11 Julie-Ann // Nov 20, 2008 at 11:20 pm
My son is 2 months old, he’s been sleeping in his playpen in the living room during the day and in his cot in our room at night.
He needs help settling to sleep in the day but he soon figures it out and goes to sleep. Night time is a different story.
We have a bedtime routine and when he’s calm and dozy we put him in his cot. The second his body isn’t connecting with mine (or my husband’s) he screams. We have tried then settling him in his cot (through the screams), sometimes he will eventually go to sleep only to wake again 10 minutes later (we make sure we don’t touch him just before he doses off, so he is putting himself to sleep). Other times he will just cry and cry. We will persist for 15 mins of crying, pick him up, soothe him, then try again when he is calm. This process can go on for 3 hours or more, by which time he’s due for another feed. By this point I usually take him to bed with me to feed him and once he is really floppy I’ll put him in his cot when he is just awake (this can be a couple of hours later). I’ll then have to get up to him another 2 or 3 times in the night and do the same thing.
He slept in bed with me until one month, when we started putting him in his own cot between feeds.
My husband and I are both getting very tired and don’t know what else to do, we feel we’ve tried all the techniques, please help!
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12 Kororia // Nov 21, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Hi i have the same trouble as Alexandra and mary above, my boy is 6 months and has started waking during the night, he goes down in his cot around 8 - 830pm every night while he is awake and quite nicely falls to sleep, but then wakes around 4am and woke co back to sleep until he is picked up and nursed or rolled onto tummy, i have read and some specialists say let him cry it out and some dont recommend this at all, so am a little confused.
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13 Robyn // Nov 21, 2008 at 10:55 pm
Hi my 20month old daughter has an arvo sleep around 1pm(if not earlier) for 1,1/2-2 hours she happily goes to sleep after a small bottle and a story (but doesnt fall asleep having bottle) come bed time at night we do the same thing bottle and book in the evenings she refuses to go to sleep she gets in and out of bed she does this till around 10.30 everynight by this stage we give in by lying next to her in her bed by this stage she is so overtired that she cant do it on her own. we have tried everything eg not talking to her or giving any attention when we put her back to bed she just keeps persisting what she really wants is to sleep in our bed but we dont want this as I am 6 months pregnant with our second child. if she does on the odd occasion go to sleep she will wake in the middle of the night wanting to come in to our bed. Help please. Robyn
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14 Allyson Mann // Nov 22, 2008 at 12:20 pm
I have a 22 month old who sleeps through the night pretty much. My issue is he gets up at 5 am we try to soothe him back to sleep until 6 or 7 but usually it does not work. We now have a new addition so now when he wakes he comes into the living room to be with mom at 5am this is making the days long for everyone any advice on how to make him sleep lomger? He goes to be around 730 -8 pm every night routinley.
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15 danielle // Nov 22, 2008 at 2:57 pm
my little boy is nearly 13mths old, he has never been a brilliant sleeper, with weeks where he does and week when he doesnt sleep. in the last mth though he wakes 4-5 times a night, most of the time he doesnt wake properly but is so unsettled, on awakening, he will sometimes scream when i take him out of his cot, he will throw himself around, almost like he is indistrest about something. i put him in bed with me, but again he is rolling around, sitting up, moaning or crying, and just generally distrest. whilst doing this his eyes are usually closed. do you think my child could be suffering from night terrors. please help very worried.
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16 Nardina // Nov 23, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Hi Dana. I purchased your book when my son was 91/2 months old. At that time he was still waking up 3 to 4 times a night. I decided I needed to do something and fast given I was 3 months pregrant and working full time. I purchased your book and in one week he was sleeping through the night. He is now 16 months old and I have another son that is 5 weeks old. I am so grateful for your book. My 16 month old takes regular naps and sleeps through the night. My question is this: Vincent is on a very good schedule. He is in bed every night by 8pm and does not wake unitl 730 in the morning. What would happen if one night he did not go to bed at the scheduled time or if he went without his regular scheduled nap? Would this throw off his whole schedule for several days. the reason I ask is that the holidays are approaching us and my husband and I have very different opinions on how to work around nap time and bedtime. He wants Vincent to take a nap on the way to family house and to stay up past his bedtime for the holiday. Please let me know if by doing this one day would all my hard work be broken. I am so concerned but I do not want to fight with my husband everytime we are over a friends house and it is time to leave or if we have a party on the weekend that is in the middle of Vincents nap time. I want to enjoy the holidays and parties as well, I just get so nervous that I can not enjoy them being so worried that I will have to start all over again. I do appreciate your help! Nardina-
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17 Richard // Nov 24, 2008 at 10:20 pm
My 9 month old son has never been a good sleeper, but he has gotten worse over the past month.
He has had a bad cold and still has no teeth. That could be the reason for his increased amount of night wakings, but it has gotten so bad that every hour he screams for my wife. She has ended up on the couch with him so she can manage some sleep. He only takes two 20 minute naps a day too. I don’t think he is getting enough sleep, not to mention us! Please help us. Thanks!
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18 Mel // Nov 24, 2008 at 10:41 pm
My almost 12 months daughter was previously sleeping through the night. But at around 10 months she started waking up anywhere from 2-5 times a night sitting or standing up in her cot screaming, until one of us came in to lay her back down. This has been happening on and off for over 2 months now. She goes to sleep on her own at bedtime at 7pm, she does not have any night feedings and would always previously self settle if she woke during the night. We usually wait 5 minutes before we go in to re-settle her, but she gets really distressed and is screaming. She will usually be sitting up in the corner of the cot and will not go back to sleep on her own. There is no sign of any illness or teething. We lay her back down and ssh her for a few minutes, then she will mostly re-settle back to sleep on her own. How can we get her back settling herself to sleep, as we are really tired getting up sometimes up to 5 times a night? Is she doing this due to separation anxiety and is wanting comfort? Cheers, Mel
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19 Manto // Dec 9, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Hi,
my boy is 9 months old and don’t want to sleep in the crib b/c last couple months I end up bringing him with me and now he is so used too, earlier he would go to sleep with bottle and at least sleep four hrs in a row and now he just don’t like his crib and start crying when he knows it’s time to sleep and then we end up rocking him or give him bottle. it is getting hard on me at night and get up and go to work, i am really STRESSED AND EXAUSTED AND NEED HELP!!!!! PLEASE LET ME KNOW HOW TO ADJUST HIM TO SLEEP ON HIS OWN AS HE NEVER DID AND ALSO I DON’T LIKE TO SEE HIM CRYING AND IS THERE ANY WAY WITH OUT MAKING HIM CRY.
THANK YOU.
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20 Gina // Dec 13, 2008 at 7:06 pm
I have a 12.5 mos old who loves to practice her ‘milestones’ in her crib at night - first it was babbling, then kicking, then rolling. The rolling was a big issue because she could not roll herself back, and we would go in there half a dozen times a night to roll her back.
FINALLY she learned to roll both ways.
Now we are at it again. She either gets stuck on all fours or is sitting straight up in her crib.
This is affecting night sleep AND her naps!
HELP!
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21 Renata // Dec 16, 2008 at 6:00 am
Hi,
I have almost 18-moths old daughter who has refused sleeping in her crib since she was four months old. I stopped nursing her just two months ago. It was very hard for me to do that because she would wake up and cry every night since then. Two months ago we bought her a quin size bed. We thought that it will be easier for her to move from a big bed to a big bed since most of the nights she ended up sleeping with us anyway. Now, she wakes up every night screaming bloody murder. I usually lay down with her to comfort her. But even I’m next to her, she screams, kicks, and tries to roll on me. I give her hugs, rock her, keep her close to me, and tell her that mommy is here. She still screams, kicks, and roll on me.
Last night I got so stressed out that I put her in her crib and closed the door. she was screaming for so long that finally I gave up. and put her in our bed.
Is there anyway to stop that?
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22 Latonya Sterling // Mar 4, 2009 at 1:51 pm
My son is 8 months and still wakes up 3 to 4 times to eat at night. He was a preemie. When I brought him home, the doctor told me to wake him up every 3 hours to feed. However, they neglected to tell me that this wasn’t necessary once he got to a certain weight. So, I continued thinking it was okay. Then, he started awakening on his own like clockwork. Now, 8 months later, he’s still awakening like clockwork. I believe that now it is just habit, but I don’t know how to wean him because I live in an apartment with paper walls so I can’t let him CIO in the middle of the night. Also, I have 3 other school age children that he would awaken with his crying. Thank for any suggestion.
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