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I now think DD's sleep problems are down to her constant wriggling... If so WHAT DO I DO ABOUT IT??!?

9 replies

emeraldgirl1 · 09/11/2013 20:35

She is 8m and can't quite crawl yet but is astonishingly active once she is asleep!! Tbf in daytime she is also quite a wriggler, rolling everywhere, always wanting to try to stand etc... But at nighttime she becomes positively acrobatic: doing a kind of plank exercise, squirming up the cot until she is horizontal at the top of it or even upside down...

It wakes me because I hear all the shuffling... I know I should turn down the volume on monitor, or even ditch the monitor, but I haven't yet because at the moment it means I can hurry in as soon as I hear her and soothe her out of her half-wake or put her back Into a comfy position and she is asleep five seconds later. I fear that if I didn't hear her she would just shuffle until she properly wakes up and then I will have a wide awake baby on my hands.

But of course I am waking four or five times a night and am exhausted.

I am going to try turning down the volume but is there anything I can do re the shuffling?!

I give her as much 'exercise' in the day as time allows: but after feeding, naps, out to the shops etc, there is only about half an hour twice a day when we can play energetically.

I stopped putting her in sleep bag as she was getting all tangled; might it help to try a bag again?

Might she grow out of it when she can crawl or move more? Ie is she trying it out in her sleep?! It has really got much worse since she learned to roll and started sleeping on her front. I can't let her self settle when I first put her to bed anymore (and we were doing so well at self settling a couple of months ago) as the moment I put her down she is up on all fours trying to shuffle forwards, no matter how sleepy she has been beforehand. It is as if being on her tummy makes her think it is time to move... So these days I either have to put her down asleep or I have to stay there leaning over the cot trying to restrain her (gently of course!) until she finally wears herself out and falls asleep.

Has anyone else experienced this? Constant night waking due to wriggling ??

OP posts:
Angelik · 09/11/2013 21:12

I think you should try switching the monitor off. You think she is going to wake up but she might not or, as my 9m dd does, makes a little bit of noise but drifts off again. we often find our baby the opposite way round to where we laid her down (which is why i love sleeping bags).

if she self settled before then she'll learn to do it during the night. It's worth a try.

emeraldgirl1 · 09/11/2013 21:23

Angelik - you are by no means the first person to tell me to turn off the monitor!!! :)

I know, I know, I know Blush I just worry that I won't hear her if she needs me...

However I know I need to try it becuase you are quite right, AFAIK she may well sleep through every single shuffle and I may be imagining inaccurate scenarios about her waking...

She has an awful cold at the moment so I don't want to switch off the monitor until that is better as she is getting very snuffly and waking herself that way (a different, temporary issue) so as soon as she is better I will try having the monitor off... well, OK, I will turn it DOWN for a couple of nights first Blush before I go cold turkey...

But does it sound like the wriggling could be a skill-practising thing...?

Thank you btw!!!

OP posts:
MinesAPintOfTea · 09/11/2013 21:45

You could just turn the monitor down so you can't hear movement as much? Our even just lie there and count to 60 before going to resettle her for a few nights.

schmalex · 09/11/2013 21:53

Turn the monitor off! As long as you can hear her if she cries, she'll be fine. No one needs to hear a snuffling shuffling baby all night. My DS rolls all over the place in his sleep and is frequently upside down or sideways by morning!

Clarella · 10/11/2013 12:15

Emerald - it's definitely a skill practising thing! we had this pre crawling/standing and I assure you it will pass!

Clarella · 10/11/2013 12:19

we also ditched the sleeping bag for a while as it seemed to annoy him, but he is back in it now and possibly does help again, however he's now trying to sleep on his front with his bum in the air (as my hv predicted) and the sleeping bag is now getting in the way again.

teacher123 · 10/11/2013 13:42

DS (now 18mo) is a right wriggler, and always wedges himself the wrong way round in the cot when he's asleep. He went through phases when he was learning to walk/crawl of getting stuck and howling till I sorted him out. Eventually I just left him to it and he settled down again. I eventually stopped having the monitor at night from about 7mo, as it was doing my head in. We sleep with our bedroom door open and I can easily hear him if he cries, but I don't hear every snuffle. Sleeping bags are great I think, and stop them getting cold!

emeraldgirl1 · 11/11/2013 12:53

Thanks everyone!!
Clarella that is reassuring... I gave her a MASSIVE 'exercise' before bed last night, just put down a rug and let her roll and roll and roll... she wasnt wriggling anywhere near as much last night so maybe she got in enough practice before bed!!

teacher123, I am definietly going to turn the monitor down... I'm really tempted to turn it off actually BUT DH is the loudest snorer in the world and I honestly think I might not hear crying over his snores... might suggest he goes in the spare room for a few nights so I can experiment with how much of DD I can hear with the monitor off...

OP posts:
LittleBipper · 14/11/2013 22:01

My DS (7 months) is like this but he does actually cry or scream when he gets in a strange position or hits the end. He is very nearly crawling, he gets up on all fours and rocks and he loops like a caterpillar!

Last week I reckoned we had about 5 hours until he hit the end but this evening he's been crying every 45 minutes and I've been finding him wedged at the end of the cot. Am keeping monitor on because I don't hear shuffling and my hearing is crap and I wouldn't hear him cry otherwise. Also DH snoring! but he's away tonight.

I've just put DS in his summer sleeping bag, he was in blankets because his winter one is in the wash. He doesn't have conventional bumpers, just airmesh at the sides but I am tempted!

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