OMG I just want to strap him down

[HelenLG]

DS is all over his cot.

You put him to bed and he rolls on his side...ten minutes later after loads of huffing and puffing he's turned himself round so his head is facing down the bed...

3 hours last he's rolled down to cot and is crying because he's pressed himself against the bars at the bottom. You put him back and he does the same thing.

We've never swaddled him as he wasn't a fan and was born in the summer and we were worried about overheating. He used to just have pyjamas and sheets, but kept wriggling out and getting cold, so we got a quilted pyjama suit thing. But that just seems to mean he can move easier so now he's in a sleeping bag, but can still move.

Why wont he just lay still!!!

P.s this is more in frustration than anything...I honestly don't expect him to just lay still!!

I feel your pain, DD has discovered the art of spinning around in her cot and has to be recused from the corner of the cot on a fairly regular basis!

I think it's pretty common. DS is still a bit of a mover (14 months) but nowhere near as much as doesn't wake up having got stuck now. It will pass!

We have moved DS (14 mths) to our mesh sided travel cot (but with a proper cot mattress), because he kept banging himself (accidentally) against the bars of the wooden cot and screaming. The travel cot arrangement also has the advantage of making him feel like home when on trips, as there will not be a change of bed.

We bought a breathable cot bumper because of head bumps and arms getting stuck. I only remember because I forgot to put it back on last night after washing it and wondered why the cot looked weird!

I took the bumper off the cot and have instead shoved a rolled up towel under the sheet as I worry about DS getting caught up in the bumper.

I have a breathable cot bumper too, they wrap around the bars rather than just tying onto them like cot bumpers do so there is no way they can get caught in them. Maybe worth a try? Here is mine: www.safedreams.co.uk

If you are worried about bumpers, why not sew the sleeping bag to a sheet (then, normally, you need to sew tapes onto the sheet to stop the sheet moving about too). Or you can get a commercial version of this - I can recommend babyok's Babesleeper (see www.kathyfray.co.nz) it really works ...

I went for breathable bumpers too. Mine are Airwrap ones.

Ds does like to cuddle in to the bars of his cot, this stops the indentations on his wee head!

It's frustrating isn't it? Their brains just want to practise moving.

I genuinely know somebody who put velcro on her child's sleepsuit and velcro on the mattress. I was absolutely horrified. She only did it because the whisky on his dummy had stopped working.

So whenever I had a bad night I reassured myself that at least I wasn't her.