LO sits up asleep in crib, falls over, bangs head on crib :(

[expat-mama]

My son (11 months today!) has been sleeping better lately. For some of his night-wakings, instead of waking completely and needing to be nursed or bounced back down he now only half-wakes and sits up in his crib makes some babbling noises then FALLS back over. He will fall right forward or backward or sideways and he's sleeping so he's not cushioning his fall at all. Sometimes he lands in the middle of the mattress but a lot of the time he bashes his head against the sides of his crib! 

He's not getting bruises or anything but it sounds awful and when he does this he often wakes himself up and takes some soothing to put back down. It's soooo heartbreaking!

We used to co-sleep most of the night but DS rolls and moves way too much and sleeps much better in his crib, otherwise I'd just take him into bed with us full time again. His crib is right beside the bed so sometimes when he wakes and starts babbling I can reach over and catch him as he falls but not all the time.

I'm going out to look for some big tall crib bumpers that will cover the entire sides or something to improvise with.

Has anyone else's little one done this? Will he grow out of it?

[CookAMH]

Aww poor baby. I haven't had it, but like most things babies do, I think it'll pass before too long.  The image of the sequence of events in my head is sort of amusing but I know it's not fun to have our babes bump their heads.

[somegirl99]

Poor K!

M sleeps in the crib for naps and used to start out the night in the crib, and while he never did what K is doing, he used to roll himself pretty hard into the side of the crib, bang his head, and wake himself up.  After a few times he stopped doing it, so I guess he learned to be a little more careful even in his sleep.

Glad to hear the sleep is going better otherwise!

[newmamalizzy]

Oh goodness, this is EXACTLY why I've been afraid to put my co-sleeping 14 month old in a crib.  She does that sitting up and flopping over thing all the time and often ends up on the far side of the bed upside down and sideways.  We tried sidecarring the toddler bed recently but she kept flip-flopping her legs up over the railing and getting her feet stuck in the slats...I don't know how any babies manage to sleep in a crib without killing themselves :)

[Alisse]

Along with a bumper, perhaps you could hang blankets over the railings so that there's some cushioning all the way up?

[livinlovinlaughin]

If the child can pull up I would not suggest hanging blankets because they can easily slip off and cause an even bigger fall.

[Alisse]

^But if he pulled on them he wouldn't be able to get up as the blanket would give.  

Of course, that would mean using baby blankets rather than big comforters as you wouldn't want him covered in a giant pile of blankets.  

[expat-mama]

Thanks... he seems to have been doing this a bit less the past couple of nights, thank goodness. I went to a few stores and couldn't believe what they were charging for big cushy bumpers! I guess I'll have to stick with my cheapo ikea ones. :(

Maybe blankets would work...I'd worry about him standing up, pulling them in all over himself and falling though.

[Tattooed Hand]

My DD does this and I have a twin bed side carred to our queen. Her twin is in a corner and I have pillows propped up at the head and side. She almost never hits her head this way even though she has done the sitting up and then flopping over since she was 9 or 10 months old.