For any parent who has experienced a miraculously long stretch of sleep after flipping their baby head over heels, it was a fluke! There is no evidence to support this motion helping to regulate baby’s circadian rhytmn and sleep cycles, though we’ve all been there when trying to meticulously re-create whatever we did at bedtime that led to a long stretch of glorious sleep

While the idea of flipping your baby might sound intriguing, it’s crucial to put safety first. Flipping a young infant could be risky, especially for babies under 12 months old.
Our babies head and neck are very delicate in the early stages of development, and they have a space between their brain and their skull for the first (roughly) 13 months of life, so any sudden or forceful movements, including flipping babies head over heels, should be avoided to prevent potential harm. We definitely want to avoid anything that could potentially lead to shaken baby syndrome (SBS), which is as scary as it sounds.

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  • • Ellen replied
    • 21 Sep 2024 , 7:13 am

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  Once they’re old enough to rough house and tumble safely (so toddlers and older children), supervised flipping activities can be a fantastic way to support sensory output and help children relax ready for sleep; just remember to keep it safe and controlled to avoid any accidents. But for younger children please seek other ways.

I’m passing this on to my Grand Daughter-in-Law. Wish I’d known about it when my boys were babies. My youngest would only sleep for 4 hours at a time (and that was on good nights).

I would definitely have tried this with my son when he was little. Question though – does it work for adults too??!! 🙂

I don’t sleep well – will try a somersault tonight and let you know!

Honestly, it’s hard to believe this actually works but I know that if I had heard it when I was severely sleep deprived i would have tried pretty much anything lol..

I’d love to see more evidence before I tried this myself.

I dont think I’m convinced. Surely the babys organs being flipped around inside would not be beneficial.

Very interesting. Wish I’d known this to try when my son was a baby

It would be interesting to see the science behind why this may work, or perhaps it has become part of baby’s sleep routine.

It is hard to fathom how one flip changes a baby and child’s internal system for sleeping ????????????

Interesting… not sure if I buy it. Especially from someone who calls their kid Kaption…

Maybe I should do a flip too before I go to sleep !

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  • • Mum2archer replied
    • 27 Feb 2024 , 10:12 am

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  haha worth a try! I wish I could flip like that – I think all I would achieve would be getting dizzy and doing my back in

It makes you wonder. I can understand repositioning the baby but not flipping them. If I was desperate enough I’d give it a try though. I imagine it’s done gently.

Always used other evidence based techniques for sleeping.

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  • • mom93821 replied
    • 28 Feb 2024 , 6:27 am

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  Always a good idea to look at sleep hygiene for a good night of sleep.

Honestly what ever works for you to get your baby/kids to sleep

What in interesting and random thing to do. So great people are seeing results. I wonder how in the world the first person to try it came up with the idea.

So tonight we very carefully and very gently flipped our eight week old………………………….He woke up 40 minutes later. Lol

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  • • Ellen replied
    • 27 Feb 2024 , 8:27 am

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  Oh no ! Nice try though 😉

My anxiety levels would hit the roof. Just not convinced to do it sorry.

Gosh the anxiety thinking about people accidentally slipping or dropping the baby.