Co-sleeping baby fidgeting

[dobeessneeze]

My 12-week old has started to get really fidgety at night, from about 3am onwards, arms and legs flailing about and making little squeaky noises. Her nose gets pretty stuffy too, and she'll occasionally wake up crying as she cant breathe.

We have been co-sleeping since she was born - she starts the night (very peacefully) in her cot and then comes in with me when she wakes for her first night feed, usually about 1am. She has only started this fidgeting the last 3 weeks or so, but it's getting progressively worse, and I am now feeling more tired than at any point since she was born - we can't go on like this, but I don't think I'm ready to give up co-sleeping just yet either.

I am thinking of trying the following things over the next few nights, but would appreciate any thoughts on these or other suggestions as well:

1. Take off some clothes. She wears a vest, sleepsuit and a 2.5 tog growbag, which I think might be fine for her cot but too much for co-sleeping?
   
2. Put her back in her cot, try to go back to sleep and hope for the best. I have resisted putting her back in her cot so far as she seems so agitated that I think she'd probably wake up fully if I wasn't curled around her, so have kept her in bed so as to keep her asleep, even if only just.
   
3. Let her wake up fully in the hope that I can then settle her back into a more peaceful sleep rather than keeping her suspended in a state of agitation for several hours. Seems a bit counter-intuitive that letting her wake up properly might help, but maybe worth a try?
   
4. An oil burner with a few drops of eucalyptus oil in the room to clear her nose. I figured a very small amount in the air would be ok for a baby?
   

I also wondered if perhaps it's a developmental thing? I've heard of older babies 'practising' their new skills at night when they learn to stand or crawl. The discovery of her hands and feet the last few weeks did seem to blow her mind a little, and might have something to do with the flailing about?

We're staying with family at the moment and she's had a lot of new faces and places to take in during the days as well, and it's definitely having an impact on her - she's exhausted! Would it be better to hold off monkeying with her nighttime as well until we get home? As I said already, the fidgeting has been going on for a few weeks now, so I don't think it's caused by being away from home, but I don't think that's helping either.

Please help - I love sleeping with her and would be really sad if the only solution was to put an unsettled, fidgety baby in her own cot/room so that I could get a few hours decent sleep, but right now, I really need that sleep!

Thanks.

[JeewizzJen]

I'm afraid I don't have any advice, but I offer my sympathies as I'm in a similar position! I've decided however, to take the opportunity to try and move DS into his cot next to my bed, as I never intended to cosleep for long. Actually I never intended to cosleep at all, but ended up quite liking it... until he hit around 12 weeks (he's 13 weeks now) and has, like yours, started wriggling so much it keeps me awake for much of the night. I'm still sharing my bed for a much of the night though as he's not a great fan of his cot... yet...

[Josieannathe2nd]

Mine does this-and wakes me up and then in turn I wake him up (not on purpose I just seem to!) He's a bit better on his front (now he can roll over) and when he fidgets on his front he hits the bed rather than me!

[dobeessneeze]

Hmm, I might try putting her on her front once she's able to roll over.

I've started to give her a bit more space in the bed and not lie right up close to her. I'm not sure whether it makes much of a difference to the wriggling but at least I'm not getting kicked in the stomach quite so much.

I wonder what people in the rest of the world do though - if co-sleeping is supposed to be the norm worldwide, how do people with really fidgety babies who don't have a cot to put them into do it?