Wriggliest Baby in the World....

[BustleInYourHedgerow]

DS (17 weeks) is a VERY wriggly baby. He moves constantly. He doesn't appear to be in any discomfort, he has reflux but that's been sorted out, I always make sure he gets his wind up, but he wriggles about when asleep also, which wakes him.

All the time.

I still swaddle him, very tightly, which he wriggles out of in no time at all. He seems to sleep best in his gro-bag, but I have to leave his arms inside the bag, to prevent him from hitting himself on the head and waking up.

The strangest thing he does is kicking his legs up in the air, he soes this when he is sleeping lightly, never in a deep sleep. He can do it 10 times in a row and it invariably wakes him up.

I don't think it's discomfort which is causing it, but I would like to find a soloution explaination for why he kicks his legs up...the only way I can get him to sleep for more than 20 minutes at the moment is to hold him until he's in a deep sleep, which I really don't want to get in the habit of doing...

Does anybody have any experience/suggestions?

Thanks

Why don't you want to hold him? I would say holding him till he's asleep is a good trade for an hour of peace and quiet

I do hope you aren't taking those dreadful parenting books seriously my dear

Wriggly babies - yep, have had two of those. They do that. They grow out of it. Sometimes it's wind. DS used to love farting and generally when they kick their legs up it's to let a little parp slip out. He probably likes it.

And they don't generally sleep more than 20 minutes anyway, the sleep cycles of young babies go awake, lightly sleeping, deeply sleeping, awake continually (and they only last 20-25 minutes anyway). That's just how sleep works for very young babies.

This will pass. Stop worrying and enjoy him.

yep. what she said

although i found with ds3 that actually, he really liked sleeping on his tummy.

this is however, as i am sure you know, contrary to current guidelines due to increased risk of SIDS.

thisisyesterday - your DS3 probably didn't have enough muscle strength to lift himself off his tummy and just lay there like a grounded turtle until the conked out

whomovedmychocolaste: Thanks, I think I am listening to my mother too much....She insists that babies should sleep at least two hours at a timeAbout holding him, I am quite happy to do this but I'm worried that he will never learn to sleep by himself. Do most babies eventually learn by themselves?

thisisyesterday: he hates being on his tummy anyway!

My DS (now 6) used to be the same, esp the leg-kicking. The down-kick used to bang so loud woke us up too! It did eventually stop ... can't remember when though. I do recall trauling the baby-books to find out why both legs would be kicked in the air and slammed down, but found no answers.

Perhaps the general wriggleness is due to teething discomfort? Does your DS have the other tell-tale signs by day - chewing, dribbling, yucky nappies?

Afraid I can't offer any advice, just reassurance that most phases in babies pass, just in time for the next wierd and wonderful phase in their development!

DD was fed/rocked/cuddled to sleep till 11 months and by 10 months she slept through spontaneously.

DS has been a little shit challenging and has only started sleeping reliably and falling asleep alone recently (he's 16 months today). However with him he has some dental issues which make teething particularly bad.

A confident, secure baby will learn to relax and sleep. A neurotic abandoned detached child will learn to give up trying to cry and go to sleep. Your call

Thanks paranoid...you've described it exactly!

He is teething a little but he's been doing this for ages now, long before he started teething.

Thanks for the reassurance, as long as he's not in any discomfort I'm happy

and DO NOT LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER - on matters other than baking and how to get stains out.

sadly he has muscle strength by the bucket load, he is trying to crawl already and he's only 5 months dammit! nope, he just loves being on his tum

agree about the rocking/cuddling/feeding to sleep though.
ds2 was my nightmare sleeper and he was fed to sleep until he was around 10/11 months old. he's fine now

Thanks for the reassurance everyone

Think I will continue doing whatever makes him happy