Help!
My baby appears to have a very strong Moro / startle reflex and it’s really interfering with his sleep at night. Initially swaddling him helped - he hated it and was constantly trying to wriggle out of the swaddle but he would settle quickly and it would keep him asleep for at least a couple of hours til he got his hands free. However he’s almost 12 weeks old now and starting to roll so for safety we’ve had to transition to a sleeping bag. The problem is now his arms are free, he keeps startling himself awake. We put him in his crib asleep very slowly, holding him close to us, head down last and keep our hands on his arms until eventually lifting them, and this seems to work with stopping him startle when we put him down, so he stays asleep initially but then after 10-20 minutes of sleeping peacefully he’ll suddenly stir in his sleep and it’ll cause him to startle, the arms go up and start flailing about and he wakes himself up. We’ve tried leaving him to see if he’ll settle himself but he never seems able to, he usually ends up being sick from the agitation. I’ve also tried reaching across and holding his arms which sometimes settles him but he’ll then startle again within 10 mins. It’s clearly involuntary and disturbing him when he’d rather be sleeping too! The only way he sleeps without startling is in our arms or co-sleeping in bed beside me (which we often end up doing after hours of trying to get him to properly sleep) but I’d really rather we could get him to sleep in his crib!
Does anyone have any advice on how to keep him asleep without constantly startling? Has anyone had a similar experience - will he eventually lose the Moro reflex? He had a low birthweight and although doing well he’s still only 8 and a half pounds now - will sleep get better when he’s a bit heavier? Any advice appreciated - TIA! x