Another sleep question--3 month old

[AliKat11]

It's been a while since I posted, but was pretty active on the pregnancy threads until I had my son in March.

He's now three months old, and has just started to roll over, and he's figured out that if he arches his back and pushes off with his feet that he can scoot around while laying down.

For the past few nights I've found him all over the crib--on his side, on his stomach, scrunched up in the corner with his face buried in the crib bumper but breathing just fine and mad as all get out that I woke him up to move him out of that position.

How do you keep a little one on his back? Should I not worry about it so much now that he's figuring out how to move around? It just scares me to no end to find him on his tummy, or even butted up right against the crib bumper but I don't want him to hurt himself on the wooden bars.

Am I making too much of this?

[MomofMooch]

Hi Alikat, I remember you from the pregnancy threads, and our kids are about the same age. I can't believe your 3-month-old is mobile! Mine doesn't seem anywhere close, and I am just fine with that! :D

I think that most would say that once they are that mobile, they are likely able to get themselves out of harm's way if they are having trouble breathing, if that's any consolation. I'd be freaked out, too, if I found my baby on his tummy or buried in a corner. If I were in your shoes, I would take out the bumper, but I'm pretty neurotic, so other people might disagree. As for hurting himself on the wooden bars, well, a bruise and some wailing would be better than suffocating in the bumper! But again, once he can roll over, I really don't think he'll suffocate. You could also try switching to one of those breathable bumpers. My older son didn't roll over until close to 5 months, I think (hard to remember), and once he was rolling reliably, the bumper was gone and we weren't worried about him suffocating. I'll be curious to hear what other moms think.

[TLee4]

I think the common wisdom is that once he can flip, you can just let him be. Start him off on his back but don't worry how he ends up.

I know, easier said than done at the beginning! :)

Terri

[veschke]

Wow, flipping over already?! The "What to Expect" book says that once the kid can roll, there's no keeping them on their back, and not to worry about it. My daughter was a big-time tummy sleeper (still is), so once she could roll over at night, that was the only way she would sleep. (The littler one, of course, won't sleep in *any* position right now. :rolleyes:)

As for the bumper, I haven't used bumpers on the crib with either kid. I don't really see them actually being able to hurt themselves on the slats, and I would have worried myself sick about it, so off they went. :o

[ggs830]

As PPs have said, the prevailing wisdom is that baby will be fine once he/she can roll over on their own.

For bumpers, we have a breathable bumper on DS's crib-- it's white mesh, so it keeps his hands/feet inside the crib, but allows him to breathe if he rolls into it. I feel more comfortable with the mesh bumper than the pillowy one for all the reasons you mentioned. We found ours at Target.

HTH!

[ellery]

Another one piping in regarding breathable bumpers. Not only did they help my peace of mind regarding DS suffocating on them or getting stuck in the slats (happened a few times before I got them), but they were also mighty handy at keeping pacifiers in the crib. As DS rolls around during the night the bumpers would make sure that the pacifiers stayed in the crib, versus on the floor.

I found mine on the website that is like crack to me - One Step Ahead (http://www.onestepahead.com/home.jsp). ;)

Good luck!

:)

[AliKat11]

Thanks, all, for the responses. I guess I'm going to try not to sweat it too much tonight, and will go get a mesh bumper tomorrow for my own peace of mind.

Momofmooch--it's good to hear from you! I hope that you and the newest little one are doing well. :)

Ellery--I'll definitely check out that website this week.