Once they can roll over consistently from back to tummy, then there is not much you can do but it means they are strong enough to get their head to the side to breathe. Usually babies can roll from tummy to back long before they roll from back to tummy, so they should be able to roll back to their back. I do believe though once the baby can roll from back to tummy and you are swaddling them, that you need to stop swaddling them since they need to be able to have use of their arms to get themselves into a better position if they rolled over awkwardly. This includes any swaddle sacks you use. We are using the Woombie (one brand of swaddle sack) and I know as soon as she shows she can roll from back to front, that we will have to transition to the arms out woombie and/or sleep sacks with arms out and free. 

You still want to keep the crib clear of toys, blankets and bumpers - suffocation risks are still present if they roll and trap themselves (especially with bumpers) and can not free themselves when their air is cut off. This is why even those mesh things to keep the babies from climbing out makes me cringe - they have the same risks. 

Note - in that same vein - if you did not see that major recall of the peapod travel bed for infants, please be sure to follow up on that if you own one. We got one but never used it for some reason, and after that recall, we plan to junk it since it makes us way too nervous even with their repair kit to trust it won't be a safety hazard. 

 

In response to cwagner13's comment:

She's been unswaddled since around 12 weeks, so we're good with that. We use the A+A sleeping "bags". I know she's super strong but that doesn't lessen my worries, ya know?

I've never seen that travel bed before- why is it being recalled?

 

PS- there's an edit button now? Have I been blind and not seen it til just now?!

The peapod travel bed is recalled after a 5 month old twin died when he was put in one for a nap. It appears the baby got his head wedged between the air mattress and tent side.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/16/pea-pod-travel-crib-recall_n_2143489.html

I don't know it ever gets easier with worrying - DS is two and we sometimes check on him to be sure we can feel or hear him breathing especially at nap time if he is sleeping longer than usual. DD is a noiser baby so we can hear her during the night so it is easier to listen for her when i wake up at night and worry about her. 

Congrats, Luv!  How exciting. You will love having all that extra space (well, except when it comes to vacuuming. I had to send both kids to babysitters yesterday in order to vacuum the whole house).

 

DS is 4 months today and still waking every 2 hours all night long to eat.  I'm wondering if he'd wake less if he didn't sleep a foot away from me. Has anyone ever experienced a baby waking less if moved to his/her own room?  I'm hesitant to actually commit to doing it because I really don't want to have to get out of bed and go into another room to feed him 4x per night, when right now I can just roll over. But if I had some glimmer of hope that it might help, I would try it...

Hi Poppy, I totally sympathize, re the 4 month old waking at night. Mine is about a week older than yours and I am starting to get very frustrated (and 4 months of sleep deprivation is catching up to me) because it seems like she should be sleeping longer by now! I actually had the same dilemna as you and ended up moving her into her room/crib a few weeks ago.  I think she does sleep better now - both because her crib is more supportive/comfortable than the pack n play and because I felt like she was at an age where our normal noises were possibly waking her. As I said above, she is still waking up in the middle of the night - typically around 12:45a.m. and 3:30 a.m and up for the day around 6 - but she had been waking/eating/restless a lot more than that when she was in our room.  So I say - move him out and get some privacy back for you and your husband! 

My friend with triplets was getting up like that at 4 months, and their babies were in another room from the beginning.  They were preemies, though, so maybe that makes a difference re feeding needs.

Plus, poppy, if the baby is a foot away from you, then YOU wake up when he wakes vs him making his noisy infant noises and possibly settling himself back to sleep without waking you up because you are a room away.  So that might be another reason to move him to his own room.  You could also move him and if in one week if it doesn't matter and he's waking up every 2 hours still, you could move him back, he won't care, he's too young to care! 

And is there any way your husband could get up with him once so you could get a longer period of sleep time?  I liked the way Misslilly did it - I think she posted her hours in the twins post.  Something like, Mom does the 8pm feed and then goes to bed and sleeps.  Then Dad is on duty until midnight (which means he'd do a 10pm and 12midnight feed) then he goes to sleep and Mom does the 2 and 4pm feedings, but at least you've been asleep from 8:30/9pm to 2, which is 5 hours of sleep, uninterrupted. And Dad sleeps from 12:30/1am to 6 or 7 am.....

For that to work, though, I think you'd have to have DS in another room or your husband would end up waking you up getting and feeding the baby.

I don't know you all cope, but I'm sure you just keep repeating "he WILL sleep longer stretches soon, he WILL sleep longer stretches soon, this doesn't last forever"  - perhaps you should post this on your mirror in your bedroom, to remind you when it doesn't seem like it will ever happen!?

And can your husband be the "husband who wakes up early on Sunday with kids and lets wife sleep until she wakes up naturally" kind of husband?  And perhaps you do that on Saturday for him, because I bet you are both sleep deprived...

In response to CT-DC's comment:

This is what DH and I have been doing for a long time. I sleep in Saturdays and he sleeps in Sundays.

My DD is almost 6 months and still not sleeping through the night most nights. We dropped night feedings several weeks ago, but every now and then (last night especially) she'll still wake and nothing works except a bottle. I think she may be heading into a growth spurt or is really teething- ate twice last night, and hasn't slept well in a couple nights. Like others have said...as soon as you fall into a rythm, something happens to throw it off.

I second the suggestions to move your LO out. If you are BF, babies can smell the milk and are probably more likely to wake up if they're near you for that reason.

Poppy-I see from the bed discussion you're thinking of moving DS to his own room. I think that will help some of the issue. Though I remember 4 months being growth spurt/milestone time so my kids started waking up then... when DD was that age, the weekends DH and I had a good thing going, each of us had one day we could sleep "in," typically until around 8 when the kids really wanted breakfast. then the one who didn't get to sleep in got to take a nap when the baby took her morning nap. Typically the next day we switched early AM parent. So each day we both got a decent amount of sleep.

Well the KAM household seems to be struck by the stomach bug going around. DD definitely had a harder time than DS (so far). 4 days and she's still not eating much. Hence another sleep disruption in our house.

Besides that getting ready for DS' 4th Birthday-where has the time gone? Feels like he was just born!

Happy Birthday to KAM's DS!!  

Luv - Congrats on the new house!!

Poppy - Is the room your planning to move DS to really far away from your room?  I would say do it - move him.  I thought it would be a huge PITA to move them if they weren't STTN, but it really wasn't that bad to walk across the hall and I do feel everyone slept better.  With DS I used to wake up (supposedly) right before he fussed, but who knows - maybe I was waking him up.  

AFM, I guess I'm moving on from these boards!  Not too much new to report - things don't change as quickly with toddlers.  DS is 16 months and talking non-stop and a lot what he says is understandable (at least by me and DH) which is great!  We were really worried that he might be delayed due to his older sister being such a little chatterbox, but they really couldn't be more alike.  They are sounding so much alike now that we really have to stop and listen to the monitors to hear if its one or the other talking in bed.  They are best friends and I'm really so happy that they are so close in age - they play so well together.  DD is 2.7 and can really and truely hold a conversation.  She's into puzzles and pretend play and I can't wait to give her the kitchen set we got her (and DS) for Christmas!  

Happy Holidays everyone!!

Wow 4th birthday KAM??  I still remember you from the wedding boards.  I'm excited to plan DD's 2nd bday, but forcing myself to think about it after the holidays.  Last year we did family only at our apartment, which was still around 25 ppl.  This year I think we're going to rent an inexpensive hall like KofC or Masonic, so we can invite friends.

DD has been STTN again since last Thursday, thank goodness!!  I kept her up an hour later for 3 days and then eased back to a half hour later for 2 nights and now she is back to 7:30.  She didn't STTN the first night I kept her up an hour later, but the next night she did.

Fra, unless you know a member at the Masonic lodge it may not be inexpensive to rent, We chatted on private message before so I think I know where you are. I have personal experience with the Lodge near you. 

Poppy - I moved DS from our room to his own room just after 4 months.  I think we've all slept better since the move.  I also think that it has helped me be a little more patient with going to get him if he fusses during the night.  Usually he can get himself back to sleep within a minute or two so we are all getting more sleep around here. 

We also switch off who wakes up early on the weekends and then we try to cover each other for a nap on one of the weekend days so we can each get a little more shut eye.  DS has gone back to STTN recently and it's been wonderful.  Hoping it continues but I'll take whatever I can get!

Just had to share today's parenting fail: sent my 3 month old to daycare with his three bottles.  Great!  Two were b-milk, so fine, no problem.  Third I filled with water for the formula, but forgot to actually pack the formula powder.  Ugh! 

Fortunately the daycare has some back-up which they called to ask my permission to use so my child won't starve!

On a more positive note...in almost 2 years at this daycare, this was the first call of this kind, so I guess I'm doing okay. 

Luv - In that case, you're doing great!  LOL.  On DD's second day at daycare, I forgot breastmilk and the provider had to use the frozen stash and a bottle she cleaned from the prior day.  I never forgot again though!

Thanks Winter - I do have affiliations, but I still think I might not be able to rent out the hall.  We'll see!

OK that's great Fra. The Masonic Hall is cheaper for a member. I rented for a party two years ago and the member rate was $150.

Thanks for the sleeping/not sleeping feedback. I'm going to try to clean out "DS's room" (currently known as "family storage room") by the end of the month, and move him in there.

 

I just recently started asking DH to do the 10pm feeding, since DH is almost always still awake at this time, whereas I'd go to bed if I thought I could actually get some sleep (presently, I don't bother going to bed before 11pm because I know I'll have to get up sometime between 10-11). And DH does let me "sleep in" (which usually involves sleeping from 7-8am, after the 6:30ish feeding) on days I don't work, which does help a bit. He gets up with DD *every* day (she awakes anywhere between 6:30-7) which must wear on him at times. Last night I had 2 scares: twice I woke up realizing DS was fully swaddled and somehow on his belly! Honestly, I don't know if I put him in his basinette that way, or if he rolled! I think I'm going to have to start sitting up to feed him at night (have been doing the lying-down nursing) to wake myself up enough to make sure he's face-up after the feeding. I still feel sick this morning thinking of it. I think to be safe I'll probably leave one or both of his arms out of the swaddle tonight, which is upsetting because he wakes himself up constantly when not fully swaddled.

 

Fram - glad your DD is back to her regular routine. Finally!

Luv - I'm sure that happens all the time to them, any good daycare provider would have formula on-hand just in case!  Glad they did. If it makes you feel any better, I realized after leaving home one day last week that there weren't any more liners for DS's bottles so my MIL had to get some to feed him that day. Not being one to ever give him a bottle, I didn't realize we were out.

Horrified and sick today.

yeah...horrible, so horrible.

If I even start to think about it I cry.  I can't even imagine what it's like to be the parents of those little ones.  

Unspeakable, and unthinkable.

I am a teacher, and a new mother, and as a family member of mine said today, it's impossible to know how to react in both of those roles. I feel sorrow for the parents who lost their children and whose future holiday seasons will be marred with sadness and anger. I feel compassion and fear for the teachers who when they return to their jobs, it will never be the same, but they know they did their best to protect their students (many of whom are probably parents as well).

We ask why, but there are no answers.

 

Teachers are heroes every day, but these teachers had to be heroes in a way that should never have to happen.

In response to medfordcc's comment:

very true

I can't even bear to read the coverage.  It's too terrible.

Hope you're all doing okay dealing with the news from Friday. I'm usually home with DS that day but switched my schedule around due to my office holiday party. I had seen something online about a school shooting and just one injury before I left for the party, and I was in denial for a bit when a coworker told me what had actually happened. Once I heard more, I could not get to daycare to pick DS up fast enough, and I must have snuck into his room half a dozen times that night.

One sweet moment that came out of all this: early Sunday morning, DS (10 mos) was in his bouncer and I was listening to NPR, when an interview with the father of one of the little girls who was killed came on. I'd been struggling to process the whole thing but that just set me off crying uncontrollably. DS, who had been energetically bouncing and spinning all around, not really paying attention to me, stopped jumping, got very quiet, and just looked at me with this incredible expression of concern until I managed to smile and tell him it was okay. We spend so much time just trying to get babies to laugh or calm their fussing, it's easy to forget how tuned in they are to other people's emotions. So sweet.

Anyway, thinking of all you mamas today!