Bath towel "bolsters" help baby sleep without rolling over

Melanie would love your weigh-in on her hack:

My son is 7 months old and he is constantly waking himself up at night and rolling onto his belly, then crying till I come in and roll him onto his back again. After a third sleepless night in a row, I had an idea how I could help him. I am submitting this both because it works, and also because I'm interested in feedback as to what other parents think the pros/cons of this kind of solution would be.

What I did was take 2 bath towels, rolled them up to make 2 sausage shapes, and put those under his crib sheet (over the mattress but under the sheet so he can't actually touch it or get tangled in it at all). I spaced them just wide enough that he can lay comfortably between them on his back, but he can't roll "uphill" to either side, as it were, to end up on his belly. He slept from 5:30 am till 8:30 am with this, plus two naps for about 2 hrs each (usually he wakes up around 7 and has hour-long naps).

Seems fine to me, but then I'm way past the baby stage and am already forgetting the finer points of infant sleep (or lack thereof, as the case may be). Your thoughts?

Comments

[Rachel]

Your arrangement sounds similar to the wedge "positioners" that some people use to keep the baby on their backs or sides in the crib. The AAP and the American SIDS institute say that you shouldn't put anything in the crib with the baby, including positioners, because babies can put their face up to them and rebreathe their air, which increases the SIDS risk. Different families have different comfort levels (and SIDS risk factors)... maybe discuss it with your pediatrician.

[hedra]

The nurses in the children's hospital we were at (at 5 weeks, for surgery for an unknown abdominal growth, GAH!) did something very similar. They made a 'recliner' shape out of tightly folded flannel blankies - one on each side, and one under the knees. Not under the sheets, but on top of them. They supported the arms and legs, so he could lie on his back comfortably. They said that the extension reflex (or something) tended to cause them to startle if their arms or legs went 'down' too far toward the bed. And that woke them, over and over. So, bolster the legs and arms up, and no wakies.

We still had wakies, but that was because the dang pulse-ox was going off every 20 minutes, and the other kid in the room kept waking up screaming bloody murder (back surgery recovery) and her parents kept having loud-sorta-whispered arguments over various topics. At 2 AM. B, he slept fine except for the other interruptions.

So, similar and from a pediatric hospital. I don't know if it makes a difference that the bolsters were over the sheet rather than under it, safety-wise.

[Becca]

We have to elevate my son's crib for AR and he kept sliding down. One of the moms on PAGER, an AR support website, recommended putting a "speed bump" under the sheet - a bath towel in a U-shape under his feet. He still slides, but he only goes down to his bum now and he can sleep better.

[June]

I did the same when my son was an infant. He's now 2yo and no worse for the wear.

[Gretchen]

I don't know if I would worry about this as a SIDS risk, but I would worry about it a little from the developmental side of things.

It seems to me that if everyone's kid goes through the same "learns to roll over and keeps waking themselves up doing it" stage, maybe there's a reason for that stage, like maybe kids need to practice rolling over?

I'm a little touchy on the subject because my daughter, for no reason we could ever figure out, didn't figure out how to roll over on her own until she was over a year old. I was bad about rarely giving her tummy time, and she didn't develop much upper-arm strength, and now that she's two-and-a-half (and developmentally normal in every area, as far as we can tell) she's still pretty weak in her arms.

So the idea of preventing the child from rolling over makes me cringe.

Plus, most kids I know sleep better once they learn to roll over onto their stomachs, you just have to wait for a week or two for them to make it through the "waking themselves up" stage.

All that said, hey, if it works for you and helps keep you sane, it's probably not too bad for the kid. And a little extra sleep is always good for parents and kids!

[hedra]

Gretchen, I don't know if you knew this, but there is some discussion in professional circles about changing developmental expectations due to the lower rate/amount of tummy time. Just like they're changing the 'normal head shape' expectations to a rounder face/flatter back of head (rather than the elongated shape that tummy sleeping tends to produce) - there is some thought that it is not necessary to consider the NORMAL development of skills based on a different sleep position (which naturally leads to a different trajectory of upper-body-strength development) as somehow 'worse' or 'slower' or otherwise 'negative' compared to the normal pattern of development for tummy sleepers. I thought that was an interesting approach, and valid, too. It normalizes the increasing percentage of kids who develop naturally from the back-sleeping position. More 'change the expectations, because logically the development pattern WILL be different' than 'assess those children as delayed somehow'. Especially as health organizations aim for 90% back-sleepers.

(though I also agree that once they get to the rolling-over stage, letting them do so is as effective as preventing them, once they master it. Period of disruption while they master it, but after that, I don't fret much.)

[Lemon]

We went through this with my oldest at 6mo, he was up crying about 5x's a night - I would go in and flip him like a cheeseburger every time he woke up. Then we decided to let him cry through it and learn to go back to sleep on his own. Granted, it was no fun for any of us, but our goal was for him to learn how to sleep because we had a second baby on the way. It only took him 20 minutes, and we didn't hear from him for the rest of the night. Same with night #2, and then it clicked for him and was no longer a problem.

That being said, I know there are many varying philosophies about sleep, and some parents aren't comfortable with the whole CIO thing. From my perspective, I view sleep as a skill - the earlier taught the better IMHO.

I'm lucky to say he's a super sleeper now, rarely ever wakes us during the night, and can even wake up during a nap and go back to sleep. He's still taking 3 hour naps at 3yo, and sleeps through the night. (Knocks on wooden head)

[Melanie]

Rachel - I feared similar rebreathing problems for him in his tummy position where he was face down on the mattress (after his arms got too tired to hold him up, in an attempt to let him CIO) - I figure at this stage he is safer sleeping on his back as recommended against SIDS than he would be faceplanting in the mattress. But as you said, everyone has different comfort levels - I'm just saying what works for us.

In reply to Gretchen - that is the same concern I had - ie, am I somehow stunting him developmentally by preventing the nighttime rollovers? I am telling myself no, because he gets lots of tummy time/free play time during the day where he rolls over and over and over (he can't crawl yet so this is his way of getting places...). I figure maybe in a couple weeks I'll take the bumps out and see how things go - eventually he will surely grow up, and we will have to work to get him OUT of bed instead of to sleep in it :-)

Lemon - LOL at the 'flip like a cheeseburger' comment! That's exactly what it felt like, except then I had to rub the cheeseburger's belly to calm him down so he'd go back to sleep... Other than this nighttime flipping problem, he is very good at putting himself to sleep, we have left him awake in his crib since he was 3 months old and he always goes to sleep (if he's tired) within minutes. I'm confident as he works on his tummy/arm skills during the day, he will eventually be able to handle the situation at night too. He just doesn't seem ready yet and I like to think that by helping him get a good night's rest, I am giving him the extra energy to learn during the day.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and comments!

[Sarah]

This post has perfect timing for me. I'm going through the same thing. My daughter is 6mo today and for the last four nights she's been waking up more and more frequently as she has flipped to her tummy. I've been considering the pro and cons of CIO vs something like you are doing with the bolsters. She shares as room with her 3.5yo sister so crying it out would likely necessitate moving one of them for a few nights. I hav the same concerns you do about the bolsters, both developmentally and as a SIDS risk. She loves being on her tummy during the day though so she gets lots of tummy time.

[Gretchen]

The lactation consultant suggested we do the same thing when our baby was one week old and not sleeping well. She suggested rolling two receiving blankets up (separately) and tucking them in around him so he'd feel snuggled. We used that method for a few months and it helped him as well.

[Stephanie]

Our now-6-month old, started doing this at 4 months. But for those of you debating the whole CIO or not, we just went in and flipped him over at night and made sure he practiced the same skills during the day. Then after about 4 weeks (which may be 4 weeks too long for some), he started flipping over to his tummy without freaking out. Anyways, just wanted to let you all know that there's a light at the end of the tunnel, and it does not have to involve CIO if you don't want to.

FWIW, my 5-month old hates tummy-time when he's awake, but flips himself over and sleeps on his belly most nights these days. My daughter did that, too.

Mostly, I wanted to thank Hedra for the comment about changing developmental milestones. My little guy rolls from back-to-front easily but can't yet go front-to-back (see: hates tummy times, screams in frustration rather than just rolling over). I worry about it a bit, but figure he'll get it eventually. His sister did.

[Lemon]

It's funny for me to read about other babies who also just couldn't easily get the whole belly to back roll down - just like my son. It left me scratching my head - it would seem to me that belly to back would be so much easier than back to belly, because they could use their arms to push. Who knew!

[Emily]

I have to agree with those who said you should just kind of let him cry it out. I think every baby goes through this, but some are just worse than others. Because back sleeping has been burned in our minds as parents as the "safest," our natural inclination is to turn the baby over. However, I truly feel that once babies are able to turn themselves onto their stomachs, they are able to turn their heads to breathe. Not all, but most babies I know sleep better on their tummies once they are old enough to do so safely. For newborns, I feel differently.

[lindsey]

My son is 10 weeks old. He has already started to roll over. The problem is, he can't roll back in his crib. He is currently sleeping in a basinet in our bedroom that is built in a play pen, it sort of hangs. My biggest fear is that tonight i woke up cause i was chilly and i could hear him fussing and it sounded like he couldn't breath. I'm really scared that he'll suffocate and i won't even hear him. What should i do? Please comment on my myspace!!