How To Keep Baby From Rolling Over In A Crib?
As parents, watching your child grow and learn new skills is exhilarating. For many, the first milestone your baby achieves is being able to roll over.
While watching your baby roll over all by themselves can make you squeal with excitement, it can also add a new fear onto your list of precautions as a parent.
With your next worry being ‘how to keep your baby from rolling over in the crib!’ Well, you’ve come to the right place if you’re looking to prevent this, we also have a helpful article on how to transition your baby to crib if you in that stage. I’ve found that the early signs to look out for that indicate your baby is learning to roll over are moving from side to side, rocking themself, and doing this as a game.
As young as three months old, some babies can successfully roll over in their crib. With many years of child-minding experience, we are now sharing our expertise with you to help provide peace of mind.
The overall best way to prevent your baby from rolling over is using a swaddling technique. With this in mind, we have created this comprehensive guide looking at the best methods to keep your baby from rolling over in the crib. After using these methods, we never had to worry about our children rolling over again!
Tips On Preventing Your Baby From Rolling Over In The Crib
Positional Asphyxia
In addition to worrying about your baby potentially climbing out of the crib, you’ll also want to keep in mind your child rolling over into positional asphyxia.
According to the CDC, this is a condition that can occur when your baby is placed in an unsafe sleeping position whereby its airways are blocked.
This can occur when your baby is sleeping on its stomach and its head shifts to the side, or when its chin is resting on its chest.
The best way to prevent this is by keeping them on their stomachs.
Sleep Your Baby On Their Back
It’s important to always sleep your baby on its back on a firm surface, especially when they begin to roll over to help prevent them from doing so.
There has been much research and campaigns by doctors, such as the ‘Back to Sleep’ campaign’, which promotes sleeping your newborns on their back to reduce the risk of SIDS.
Keep The Crib Clear
When babies start rolling over, they become increasingly mobile – this usually means they can get themselves into mischief.
As such, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that you remove all loose bedding and toys from the crib as your baby begins moving.
This is because when a baby is able to roll over they essentially become trapped between the side of the crib and the mattress, which can sometimes result in accidental suffocation, lowering the crib mattress can be helpful here as well.
To prevent this, it is important to remove any obstructing objects or toys that could suffocate your child or cause them to become trapped.
Get Rid Of Pillows
The best thing you can do to ensure your baby has a safe sleep is to remove any nursing pillows in the crib, if you have twins, read here if you are curious if your twins can sleep in the same crib.
When your baby begins to roll over, these pillows become a huge hazard for suffocation.
Therefore, remove any pillow to ensure your baby has a comfortable, peaceful sleep, and you do too.
Switch From A Bassinet To A Crib
If your baby is beginning to show signs of starting to roll over, then it is time to switch from a bassinet to a crib.
When looking for safety concerns, having a rolling baby in a bassinet is dangerous since it can turn and potentially tip the bassinet. Same goes for bassinet vs cradle.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, parents should remove the bassinet as the primary sleeping arrangement when the baby can roll over or push up on its hands and knees.
Swaddle Up!
As all parents know, when your baby wakes up in the night, it is often extremely difficult to get them back to sleep, especially with newborns who seem to be nocturnal!
However, one method I like to use to keep my baby sleeping all night long is to use a swaddle.
Essentially, swaddles help your baby feel comfortable and secure, ensuring a peaceful and calm sleep – it could even be reminiscent of them being in the protective womb!
This also prevents your baby from rolling over at night. It worked for us, it could work for you!
Healthy Diet
Tummy time is especially important for your little ones. It helps them to build the necessary muscles to roll onto their stomachs and eventually crawl.
To ensure your baby is strong enough, they need a healthy diet – helping them roll onto their backs rather than their stomachs.
Frequently Asked Questions
One reason some parents prefer to sleep their little ones on their stomachs is due to the chance of them vomiting on their back and suffocating, as a result.
However, this is a myth, and has, in fact, been busted by the American Academy of Pediatrics. These professionals recommend sleeping your baby on their back until, at least, the age of one.
This is simply due to the numerous reports of babies dying as a result of suffocation when placed on their stomachs.
SIDS, otherwise known as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, is commonly associated with babies sleeping on their stomachs during the first year of their lives.
Babies rolling onto their stomachs are prone to suffocation, and, hence, may wake up crying – due to a decrease in blood pressure and less oxygen reaching their brains.
Final Thoughts
Safety is the number one priority for most parents. One way of keeping your baby safe is by sleeping them on their backs. However, this becomes difficult once they learn how to roll over.
Following these methods will provide you with peace of mind when putting your baby to sleep. Hopefully, this guide has informed you on how to keep your baby from rolling over in the crib. If you are looking for other tips, check out our guide for baby safe crib paint..
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