Head banging baby

[assumetheposition]

DS2 is 12 months old.

He is a terrible sleeper and I have been trying controlled crying with mixed results.

Actually it's me that's not very good at it. I have now reached a point where I go in and give him a cuddle, then if he lies down calmly I'll keep my had on his back but if he won't lie down I'll leave him for a few minutes and try again.

The main problem is that he thrashes about so much when he wakes up that he is giving himself bruises on his forehead. He headbuts the edge of the cot.

I can't use a cot bumper as he is too old (just pulls it off).

I have tried everything to get him to go to sleep without leaving him to cry but, short of never sleeping myself, I'm not sure what else to do.

Am at wit's end.

why dont you get double side book and it opens out and goes on rail of cot the other thing is to get two towels and roll they place against rails so he can t roll into rails. you need to be strict and for him to just go down when you put him down as moment he has you right where he want you to be . where are you based ? i am i nw london and a trained nneb and child psychologist and completed a programme with last nanny child to get them to sleep safe and calmly but same time you retaining the control not the child if you want any help .

Thanks tigger. I'm in West Midlands so a bit far.

towels won't work as he can stand up - so he would just throw them out of the way. He is going through a ripping and throwing stage at the moment so it would take superglue to keep something on the cot.

I know I need to be strict but it's not that easy when he's covered in bruises every morning

you need something like padded in soft play that fixed and goes under the materess so he can t move it .i know you can buy some thing that stops top of rails being hard so he would not hurt head as g has one when he went through the stage.

You don't need to be 'strict'!! This is a non self-aware baby. He's not manipulating you, he doesn't know he's a person. Child psychology is not baby psychology!

It sounds like you have two problems - the not sleeping and the thrashing around. Or does he only thrash around when he's getting upset? If you're really concerned about him bumping his head then you will have to attach something to his cot.