Do you let him cry it out at night? 5 months old

My DS is now 5 months old.
1) A few weeks ago, he started flipping on his tummy during tummy time. Just a week ago, he has started flipping on his tummy while he is sleeping in his crib. When this happens he wakes up and cries hysterically! In the beginning I kept flipping him back over (he may flip over 10 times or more during the night). He hates being on his tummy... Stroking his back would calm him down and he would fall asleep. (I WANT HIM TO GET USE TO SLEEPING ON HIS TUMMY IF HE KEEPS DOING THIS) Now stroking his back calms him down but he starts up again. So that no longer works....
2) His pacifier has started falling out of his mouth while he sleeps at night now too. And again...he starts crying hysterically!! So I use to just put it back in his mouth because I just wanted to sleep. Now it has started falling out even more because he has started moving around in his sleep so much.
3) About 2 nights ago, he has started crying hysterically after I have placed him down in his crib for the night after our bedtime routine. I would walk back in and he would stop. So I will talk to him for a while, stroke his tummy/back and then walk back out again. If he hasn't fallen asleep when I walk back out, he starts crying again.

What do I do? I want him to get use to sleeping on his tummy if he is going to keep flipping over like this! His favorite position to sleep is on his side which he could easily roll over from....
Should I take his pacifier away completely? Up until now it has always helped him fall asleep.
Do I ignore him and let him cry it out while I monitor him on the video camera?

I tried to let him cry it out 4 nights ago but it was so painful!! It took him 40 minutes to fall asleep (I sat on the glider in his room and would talk to him).

What do I do???

Sorry so long! Any advice would be helpful...thank you!

Re: Do you let him cry it out at night? 5 months old

I would try and start teaching him to turn over completely during the day when you do tummytime..

I would be scared of him rolling over and he is crying because he is panicking that he can't get back onto his back :(

Re: Do you let him cry it out at night? 5 months old

Re: Do you let him cry it out at night? 5 months old

My twins just went through the flipping to the belly stage. They too could flip belly to back all day long. I think the combo of being half asleep and on a softer surface makes it hard for them. When they went through this I just went in quickly flipped them, turned the sound machine on and left. If they fussed I wouldn't go back in I would let them fall asleep on their own. The phase lasted about a week and they are no longer waking in the middle of the night.

I can't comment on the pacifier problem. DS never took one and DD will take one but doesn't need it to sleep.

As far as CIO you have to do what you are comfortable with. Have you already done it with him? I did it with DS around 4.5-5 months so now if he cries when he goes to bed I feel comfortable letting him cry unless he is teething or sick. He has been teething and has needed to rub his belly a few times to help him relax before going to sleep.

Good luck!

Re: Do you let him cry it out at night? 5 months old

Wow, I could have written this same exact post, and almost did yesterday. DS was a side sleeper and the past 3 nights he has been rolling on his belly and waking up and crying. Now I know he is fully capable of rolling from tummy to back since he does it during tummy time alot. So last night me and DH decided that if he is that miserable on his stomach he has the ability to roll over to relieve himself. We had a rough time putting him to sleep initially at about 8:30 pm. Then at 10pm he rolled on his belly from his side and started crying. We watched him on the monitor to make sure he was ok. He cried and flapped around his arms and legs for about a minute and a half then turned his head to the side and went to sleep. He slept until 4:40am, drank a bottle and went back to sleep (rolled right onto his tummy, no crying) until 9AM!!!

So in my opinion. If he can roll back over let him cry for a short period of time and see what he does.

Re: Do you let him cry it out at night? 5 months old

are you sure he's crying because he's on his back? could it be teeth or separation anxiety?
DS used to do that to DH all the time. He would cry, DH would wlak in the room and he'd hold him or stroke his back and he would calm down. The second DH was gone he'd cry again and DH would go back in. He had daddy trained well! Mysteriously, that never happened when I went in. (in fact, when he saw it was me, his whole face had that "darn, it's the wrong parent" look ) He could just be testing you to see if you'll react how he wants

Re: Do you let him cry it out at night? 5 months old

This was my DS exactly one month ago. Once he figured out how to roll from his belly to back he was fine. I think it freaked him out that he couldn't get off his belly if he wanted to.
If it's any consolation at exactly 6 months old he figured out how to roll from his belly to back. Give him a lot of tummy time during the day & eventually he'll figure it out.
My DS now only sleeps on his belly with his toosh in the air. It's so cute.
I would let him cry for a few minutes and when he didn't settle down I'd flip him and give him his binky. I never had the stregnth to let him cry more than 15 minutes. Good Luck!

Re: Do you let him cry it out at night? 5 months old

Ahhh I misunderstood the first post about rolling over completely....
He has flipped back on his back from tummy position only three times so he still has not mastered that skill yet. I guess I will work on that during tummy time more. Thanks.