Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'..... How to Cope with the Rolling Phase

fun fact: this video is almost 15 years old...WHAT?!?

fun fact: this video is most fifteen years one-time...WHAT?!?

Ahhh the dreaded rolling phase. I remember this and then well with my second infant....it sucked. When my ovaries starting time twinging and I think I want a third baby - I remember this phase and information technology snaps me back to reality. Every bit awful and frustrating and stressful as it is, it is very brusque-lived. In this mail, I will give you some helpful instructions about how to cope with the rolling phase equally best we can.

How to prevent the rolling stage

At that place are some ways we can seemingly forestall this phase (or at to the lowest degree, delay it as long equally possible and so that hopefully by the time the stage hits, babe is efficiently rolling both ways). A few tricks are:

  1. Swaddling baby. Proceed your babe swaddled for as long as possible. Until babe is able to roll in the swaddle, you tin continue to keep her wrapped up. This often prevents baby from rolling in the crib (ensure that the swaddle is nice and snug as this makes rolling fifty-fifty more difficult).

  2. Merlin's Magic Sleep Accommodate . I recommend these a lot every bit I really recall they are pure magic. The Sleep Suit is perfect for babies who are unable to exist swaddled (babies who are rolling in the swaddle or babies who are busting out of a swaddle even afterward using The Super Swaddle or a Double Swaddle (Super Swaddle + a velcro swaddle sack)). Too helpful for keeping babies positioned on their back (so not so helpful if your baby is a tummy sleeper who has but begun to flip onto his back). Nosotros are able to keep baby in one of these Suits until they are efficiently rolling both means, and then the transition to a sleepsack is (more often than not) seamless.

The rolling phase has striking....now what?

Y'all've done all you can to prevent this phase from coming (and it is a lot easier to prevent it if infant is a back sleeper, if infant is a tummy sleeper the rolling phase is a lot trickier) but it's now here. So what practise yous do when babe flips over, gets stuck, and cries? Well, there are a couple of things to try:

  1. The child has just started rolling and it is simply occasionally disrupting sleep. Put babe downwards in the usual position (so on back for a dorsum sleeper, tummy for a tummy sleeper) and go out. If baby rolls over and is upset, always make sure to look a minimum of 10-15 minutes before deciding if an intervention is required. If afterward the initial wait baby is very upset (more than just fussing), go to him, flip him, and walk out. This allows the kid the opportunity to learn to sleep in the new position and/or roll back himself. You may choose to continue this for every bit long as it takes or motility onto step 2 which is....

  2. The kid has been rolling for a while (may be able to curlicue dorsum), sleep disruption is regular and frequent, and may be doing this for the attention or because it's fun. Put infant to bed in the new position (so on stomach for a back sleeper, on dorsum for a breadbasket sleeper). If the child gets upset, use any method you are comfy with (see sleep coaching methods hither) for equally long as it takes until the child has fallen asleep in the new position. Same goes for whatever nightwakings until midnight. After midnight, if infant is still struggling to sleep, use plan 1 above. This takes the novelty out of rolling and teaches the kid to learn to sleep in the new position. After 3 days, it doesn't matter which mode the child sleeps, she is used to both.

  3. The 'Ane Free Flip' Rule. This is the near direct of the three approaches. For this technique, you put infant down in their usual position (back for a back sleeper, tummy for a tummy sleeper) and get out. If they coil over, you lot flip them back one time only. After that, it is up to them to either roll back or fall asleep in the new position. You would simply employ this method for a babe who you know can consistently roll both ways, they just seem to have magically forgotten as shortly every bit they are in their crib.

In addition to post-obit i of the plans above, it is also of pivotal importance to practice do practice during the day. Practicing rolling front to back and back to front. Information technology is especially important to practice right earlier sleep times, then incorporate a rolling session into your nap fourth dimension/bedtime routine so it is fresh in his mind when he goes into his crib.
Making certain infant'southward sleeping accommodation is pitch black is especially important during this rolling phase, as we want to limit distractions. As well, you may want to consider introducing a small-scale lovey (see my favorite product for immature babies to the right) at this stage (if you are comfortable with it) as it gives the child something to do with their hands (especially those that were in one case swaddled and at present have a new-found freedom of movement) while they are 'stuck' in their new position.

Outset this rolling programme at bedtime, as the bulldoze to sleep is much higher at night and they are less able to fight united states (equally sleep will eventually overcome them). Once bedtime is not an effect, naps won't exist an issue either. If you are consistent, the process should only take near iii days.

In one case babies are able to roll freely both ways in their cribs, they becomemuch meliorate sleepers. If we are constantly rolling them back to their preferred position all nighttime long, we are non giving them the opportunity to learn to beloved different sleeping positions (this is especially important for back sleepers, every bit the vast majority of back sleepers turn into tum sleepers, and one time they learn to dearest their stomach, they sleepmuchbetter).

Have you lot gone through the rolling phase? How did it pan out for y'all? Share your stories below and we can all commiserate together ;)

Pam Edwards is a Certified Infant & Child Sleep Consultant and founder of Wee Bee Dreaming Pediatric Sleep Consulting in Grande Prairie, Alberta. Healthy slumber is addicting and she has made it her life mission to aid families all across the world become the sleep they deserve - a good night'southward sleep doesn't take to be a dream!