Nearly 10 month old banging head constantly in cot

[Sutherlandgirl]

Hi there

DD will be 10 months old in a few days......about a week ago she started banging her head repeatedly in her cot, she wriggles up to the top, wedges herself in the corner and bangs her head against the headboard. She does it when she wakes in the night and from naps.

She doesn't cry when she does it, but it's making her VERY wakeful, sometimes awake for up to 2 hours at night doing it. Previously she slept really well and didn't wake at night.

She doesn't appear to be teething or ill.

Everything I've read says not to worry about it, but it is really worrying me as its making her sleep so badly, it now affecting her in the day time (she is very grumpy and not napping well at all).

Has anybody experienced this at all? Does it pass on its own or can I do anything to help her calm down and sleep more fitfully? She is already in a grobag so that hasn't stopped her moving around, she has had the same routine for months at bedtime, no dummy, has a comforter......

Sorry to sound frantic but I'm getting very anxious about her!

Hi, My DS was/is a very scrawmy sleeper and did just the same against the hard wooden corners of his cot. I rolled up a cellular blanket (the ones with lots of holes in) and positioned it in the corner. It seemed to be quite comfortable then (before his cot he slept mostly nestled under my arm so was probably used to having something against the top of his head - armpit, hmm, lovely). I used cellular because his cot bumpers said from 1 year but with hindsight cot bumpers would probably have been fine too, though less cushioned than the blanket.

Thanks sO much will give it a go!

9 1/2 mo DS has suddenly got REALLY active during the day and it's definitely affecting him going down for naps and in the night. He's flipping over as soon as you put him down and then crawling in his grobag, getting stuck and howling... Half an hour ago he started screaming after bumbling around trying to settle for his nap, he was sitting bolt upright and obviously couldn't work out how to get back down! Silly baby... I am hoping he grows out of it soon!

Sometimes they do it for comfort - it's a rhythm that they get into to replace being rocked - so your DD is probably doing it to try and get back to sleep. If you want her to stop then you could try rocking her yourself.

Interesting that this has happened to other people! I put some cellular blankets under the sheets in strategic positions last night and it seems to have helped although she's still spending a lot of time tootling round in the cot.....oh well at least she doesn't cry when she does it! (yet 😊).