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Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

Behaviour/development

6mo trying to crawl in sleep. Cause of waking?

13 replies

weeblueberry · 21/10/2015 12:43

I've put this in sleep but might get a better response here.

For all my 6mos wakes (normally 1030pm, 3am sometimes other random times) she cries out and writhes around but never fully wakes. She's normally found up on all fours, rocking back and forth and often has bumped her head off the cot.

I've been nursing her back to sleep, which generally works, but I'm wondering if it's happened to anyone else and they know what the cause is? I assumed it was just that her brain is going through the crawling developmental phase and is waking her but she's virtually crawling in the day now so I'd have hoped she'd have stopped 'thinking about it all night' as it were. She's not waking up due to hunger/habit so I can't offer her water. And just picking her up to soothe doesn't work either because she's not properly awake so doesn't seem able to be calmed. Do I just have to ride this out until she's crawling and hope her wee overactive brain won't wake her up then?

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Mundelfall · 21/10/2015 13:34

Mine both did that and with hindsight I think it is incredibly cute. Wait until she tries to practice sleep-walking . But you are right, this should settle once she's mastered crawling. Have you got her in a sleeping bag to stop her making actual progress in her sleep? For dd2 I also briefly had a cot bumper around her cot (all sides) to stop her hurting her head while she sleep-crawled.

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weeblueberry · 21/10/2015 14:02

She's in a sleeping bag but still manages to make progress!! It's hard because she's not quite awake so you can't soothe her easily. The only thing that works is putting her on the boob.

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SheWhoMustBe · 21/10/2015 14:18

My little one (18mo) still does this quite frequently as part of her 'routine' for getting herself to sleep. She shuffles about on her hands and knees, then she goes head down/bum in the air, then lastly lies down and nods off - all accompanied by grunty-grumbly noises Could she just be shuffling about to get herself back to sleep, and if you left her a few minutes she'd nod off again?

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weeblueberry · 21/10/2015 19:08

Not really because she tends to bang her head. and we've also got a 2 year old and if I let her winge I'm worried it will wake her up.

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CityDweller · 21/10/2015 21:55

It's really normal for them to practice new skills in their sleep. Once she's mastered crawling she'll stop doing it!

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Hypotenuse · 21/10/2015 22:02

It's totally normal, my dd has been pulling herself up in her sleep as that's her new trick! Scary to find her like that at 2am.

Have you heard of the wonder weeks app? It will tell you when these times of night unrest are more likely and what skills are emerging. They also have a website and a Facebook page.

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weeblueberry · 21/10/2015 22:15

Thank you both. I have the app and the book. She's coming up for the 29 'sometimes mummy goes away' period but this has been going on in her sleep for a good fortnight now.

I suppose I just want someone to say when she's crawling she'll stop!!

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SnozzberryPie · 21/10/2015 22:25

I remember dd doing this for a whilewhile. It was very cute. She used to sleep in our bed, and she usually went back to sleep on her own, except for a couple of times when she crawled up to the headboard and banged her head!

No real advice except to say it is normal and it does pass. Oh and next time she does it make a video

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weeblueberry · 22/10/2015 03:49

I think this must be different to what some of you have experienced because it's happening 2/3 times a night, every night and she's pretty distressed. It's not really cute I'm afraid. She's getting very upset when she hits off the side of the cot and having her in a sleeping bag doesn't seem to have reduced her mobility at all...

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Hypotenuse · 22/10/2015 18:41

Ah that does sound upsetting.

Could you take one side off the cot, put it up against your bed, and then when she sleep crawls she'll likely crawl into you and wake you up? That's a good way to easily feed her back to sleep too, without having to get up.

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LittleGreyCatwithapinkcollar · 22/10/2015 21:22

My 6mo was doing this, but is now a proficient crawler and has stopped. The head banging on the cot thing is heartbreaking when it's followed by a terrible scream though!

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Cirsium · 22/10/2015 21:31

Just a word of warning about side-carred cots. My 9-month-old DD is a wriggly sleeper. We had an idea cot attached to the bed until she began rolling out of it at around 5 months. I went in to check her one evening and found her on my bed with her neck level with the bottom end of the cot. If she had rolled forward she would have fallen off the bed with her head trapped in the cot/neck against the edge. We now have a double mattress on the floor with foam bumpers under the sheet to stop her rolling off.

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weeblueberry · 23/10/2015 09:35

Thanks all. No we can't take the side of the cot and we're not able to cosleep because of partners sleep apnea. I think I'd feel a little uncomfortable with it and she's a real wriggler (as am I lol) so we would probably wake each other up even more.

Thank you LittleGrey - I hope my daughter is like yours when she learns to crawl properly!! I've started to leave her if she's just mithering and she does sometimes go back to sleep. I think I've been too quick to rouse her in case it wakes up my toddler but I suppose she'll likely sleep through it!!