Babies who hate to be put down

[Monstermoomin]

Second daughter, nearly 5 months is not about being put down (ever).

I survived her elder sister being similar, but she would let me put her down in her chair, mats etc without kicking off immediately and there was times of a night time I could pop her in the cot before I returned to work when she was 9 months old.

I'm currently resorting to co sleeping (not going great as she doesn't actually want to be next to me, but on me).

We need to look at putting her in her own room from around 6/7 months because of space and long term planning.

I know she just wants comfort and she's only small, but I can be holding her, walking around with her, changing her position (even going to the toilet holding her which involves a lot of jiggling and moving around) and she doesn't wake, but I go to put her down and she is instantly awake and screaming. The problem seems to be that when you go to lie her down, she curls herself up into a little ball/sit-up position rather than being relaxed and she won't bloody untense which wakes her up.

Anyone had similar and got any advice? Her sister would stay relaxed in her body position so you could transfer her to her cot without waking her after she fell asleep on you (with a fair bit of patting and comforting before walking away).

My almost 6 month old has been like this. The main difference being he's bloody huge. Stretching 9-12 month clothes atm so really straining my back and knees.
However I can say that the last few days I have a bit more luck getting him to sleep in his bed, possibly because he's nearly 6 months. But also I caved and starting lying him on his (left) side, not recommending it, that's up to you, but in my case he seems more comfortable lying down now.
Things will probably naturally progress by 7/8 months, and doubt you'll still need to carry her around ALL the time by then.

DD was like this. Things that worked for helped us:

• Putting her down on her side, as above. We got an under mattress sensor, which I found reassuring.
• a warmer room/warmer pajamas. She seemed to struggle more with the transition when it was colder. Curling up into that position could indicate cold. (People respond differently to temperature at any age.)
• A hip seat during the day. Less of a faff than a sling but it lets you free up an arm when carrying them.

I wish you luck

Thanks for the suggestions. She actually rolls onto her side when we co sleep which adds to the stress as she's then trying to roll onto front (but doesn't know how to roll back) when she's rooting around.

Her sister slept on her side from around 3-4 months and I just had to go with it because she would wake otherwise and then she started sleeping on her front around 8-9 months.

Hopefully with age it gets a bit easier and maybe some perseverance from me trying to pop her down.

I've got a mat sensor so will be using that when she's in her room.

I'll definitely look into the PJ's/temp (I just get all paranoid about SIDS) but she was in a long sleeved vest and pj bottoms with feet last night and 1 tog sleeping bag and managed to settle herself after flapping her arms around in the bed which she doesn't usually do so that was good!

She's in the sling a lot during the day, which most of the time is fine as I can still get jobs done, but can get a bit straining on the old back (she's been in 6-9 month clothes for about a month now ha)

A 1 tog bag is the summer weight one I believe, so maybe too cold. My dd is in 2.5 tog with long sleeve vest and onesie.

@MooMa83 yeah our bedroom gets quite hot, can be anywhere from 18-21° due to the door being shut (and the heater isn't on in here cos it makes it even hotter)

My DD is the same, she’s 7 months and wants to be on me, next to me isn’t always good enough so suggestions of co sleeping doesn’t help.
Not much advice but I feel your frustration.

@Lilyyy it's frustrating isn't it! I know everyone tells me I'll miss it when they're big, but I also need sleep to function as a human and not be a grumpy mummy.