Baby startle reflex. Won't sleep on back.

[Draina]

Did anyone else find that their baby's startle reflex was so strong that they couldn't sleep on their back without startling and waking up? DS is 3 months and still has a really sensitive startle reflex. Sometimes it wakes him up all night every time I settle him. It never used to be a problem.

I feel like in the beginning things were easy. I mean it when I say 'easy' - son slept nearly all day and night, lots of visitors to help out, midwives and HV visiting regularly etc. Now he's 3 months old, he's sleeping far less, visitors died off, no medical support or visits unless you contact them and it never feels justified, lack of sleep caught up with you etc.

This past couple of days I've reached a whole new level of exhaustion....

Please sleeep

Don't remember this waking my baby up but he only slept on me in the early days. I think what you describe is why people swaddle though, so might be worth a shot.

Our baby was the same. We swaddled until she was 4 months old. Do you have a travel cot suitable for all night sleeping? Or you can get Grosnugs which are like the sleeping bags but the arms zip up until the reflex goes. Our baby hated them but they might be worth a go.

We had this problem with DS. We had to swaddle him in the end and it made a lot of difference. There are various you tube/google instructions if you're not sure how.

DD only ever slept on her side. I do remember the few times she was on her back and the startle reflex woke her.
She'd always roll onto her side during the night.
I also noticed she never startled when i coslept and breastfed her while laying down...She'd be on her side then too

Hi! My baby is 10 weeks old and also has had this problem since birth. For the first few weeks I had to prop him up on his side to sleep using my arm (yes I know how awful this is but the HV advised as no one was getting any sleep!)

I read up on swaddling as an effective way to reduce the startle reflex waking them up but I wasn't very good at swaddling my baby. In the end I found these weird looking swaddle suits and he now sleeps in it every night. They've worked so well for my son- he's even started to sleep for 6 hours in a row at night! Maybe give them a go? :)

www.amazon.co.uk/stores/page/1C50FC7F-8E51-41BF-8C7D-AF62A6F7A7C2?ingress=2&visitId=78086713-0604-42f3-8fd3-ff835d5714d5&ref_=bl_dp_s_mw_4032830031&tag=mumsnetforum-21

Mine just wouldn't sleep properly on their back. It always woke them. Every time. I don't know what you are supposed to do if they never sleep on their back at all except prop on their side. Just never sleep yourself?

I second the lovetodream swaddles a previous poster mentioned. They’re very popular here in Australia. They also allow baby to suck their fist, which can help baby self-soothe a bit during the night.

I tried swaddling a few weeks ago and he hated it. I tried two different techniques but he just screams. I didn't realise this was a problem for a lot of people though so good to know it is normal. I read somewhere the startle reflex should be gone by 2 months. He's 3 months old and it's strong as ever...

@EmiliaAirheart that's good. He's started to self soothe and I would hate to deprive him of his fingers!

I would do a kind of swaddle, as in, dont swaddle tightly, but enough so you can put him down without him startling, then gentle allow him to naturally wriggle free from the blanket.

I had to do it with both of mine (it also held prevent the COLD BED COLD BED reflex

I third Love to Dream. They are great.

We used both the love to dream swaddle suit and the Australian style of arms up swaddle like this bobbleroos.blogspot.com/2011/02/swaddling-technique-using-bobbleroos.html?m=1 for various children, it kept them from startling themselves too much.

Both also meant they could suck on their hands.

My DD was premature and had the startle reflex for months. At first I swaddled her but as she got a bit bigger I snuggled her by tucking her blankets tightly under the Moses basket mattress which also worked.

My little guy had a really strong startle reflex for months, I can't actually remember when it went but it's definitely gone now (he's 10 months). I tried swaddling etc but nothing except cosleeping worked for us. So we did that.
He's another side sleeper too (although currently snorting away on his front).

It's called the Moro Reflex and everything online says it goes by about 4 months but my 5 month old has a bit of it still.

When you put him down try keeping a hand firmly on his chest til he settled then slowly releasing pressure and withdrawing it. It's tricky but also try holding his arms and supporting them as they relax to his sides so they don't flop down and startle him.

The Zaky Hand night also help if your baby likes to feel the pressure your hand on them.

Sorry, here’s the link hubpages.com/family/zaky