4 week old waking himself up. Help!

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My baby is only 4 weeks old so I don't expect him to be sleeping for long stretches but over the past few nights his flinching and flailing have meant that every time i think he is asleep and put him in his Moses basket after a night feed, he starts flinching and thrashing his arms and legs. He grunts and moans and basically wakes himself up. He's breastfed and has been feeding for very short periods through the night. We have always swaddled him under his arms as he usually sleeps with them above his head. Last night i tried a full swaddle and he screamed blue murder. he tends to sleep well in the day but night time is turning into a nightmare. We are new to this and I'm wondering if there is something wrong. Please help! Any advice is appreciated.

My suggestion would be a full swaddle - it stops the startle reflex of arms flailing. It's not unusual that if you put baby into a swaddle screaming they will carry on or get worse - that is more over tired than the swaddle being the problem. But when finally asleep it will dull down the startle reflex.

Having said all that, swaddling is like marmite - some babies love it and some hate it. Preserver with the swaddle for about a week to give it a good chance but if baby still hates it then he is just one of those babies who don't like it.

A dummy is also good for calming down the baby when drifting off to sleep.

Thank you for your advice. Will keep trying!

I second the swaddle. My eldest did exactly what you are describing. We bought one of these swaddles and it turned him into a good sleeper.

Definitely swaddle. I just use a cotton sheet folded into a triangle & then tied around. I've swaddled since birth so DD was more accepting of it. But I think it 'grows' on the child even later on...

I used to do the night breast feeds in full swaddle and then just pop back in the cot when drowsy, maybe that would help?

Are you sure it's not wind? What is he doing with his legs? If he is pulling them up, it may be a sign of it being wind.

mine did this, my mum suggested placing child on tummy to sleep, which meant watching shifts to assist in turning their head.

some babies take time to realize night and day. your child will eventually sleep at night.

I really does get better.

Thanks everybody for your advice. I'm going to swaddle tonight and persevere. He's good at burping but i am going to watch for extra wind and try and get it all out.