Head Thrashing

[yelli24]

Hi All. I've never posted on here before so just dipping my toe in the water! :)

I just have a quick question I was hoping someone may be able to help me with. My son is 5 months old and I have recently noticed he thrashes his head from side to side, quite violently, when he's in bed. He does this when asleep but occasionally it wakes him up. He did this a lot when he was about 8 weeks-ish and had worn a bald patch into the back of his head (which is still there! :)) but he hasn't done it for months until this week.

Any idea what might be causing this? It looks as though there is something 'irritating' his head or neck, but I can't see any physical sign. Was wondering whether he may be too hot or too cold. Was wondering whether it may be an ear infection or teething issue, although he never does it during the day.

It's really confusing me and it looks like it really bothers him, although he doesn't cry out or anything. The only reason I know is that his cot is still next to our bed and it wakes me up through the night. Not sure whether this is a common issue or not. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance! :) x

Apparently I'm big with the emoticon - apologies!

Hi, Im not sure what it means or indicates but am watching with interest for the more experienced to come along with some ideas, as we have had an awfully restless night with exactly that.

We found swaddling helped, in just a vest and either swaddle pod or muslin, our son always seems to be on the hot side and seemed to do this when he was uncomfortable, so nice cool airy room might also help, maybe worth a try?

My 4 month old daughter does the same thing and has been since she was about 10 weeks. She never really wakes in the night, but as this woke me up I presumed it was her way of telling me that she was hungry. She's exclusively breastfed, so I would nurse her and she would be more settled for another 2-3 hours until she starts up again. I spoke to my health visitor this week about it, as I was concerned that because she thrashes her head so frantically, she surely can't be sleeping properly. She told me to ignore this head rubbing as my daughter would become reliant on feeding through the night and would never sleep through. Gave this a go - the first night was ok and she didn't wake for feeding for 7 hours which is pretty good for a breastfed baby, but I was still kept awake by the noise of her head rubbing and last night was just dreadful! I ignored, as the health visitor suggested, but as I was anticipating her waking up for a feed and hearing her being so restless, I didn't sleep well at all either! She did wake after 6 hours, really upset and crying badly, which she rarely does in the daytime and never does at night! As a result of ignoring the head rubbing, instead of feeding, as I would normally have done, I've spent today trying to comfort a really grumpy and very tired baby! As a breastfeeding mom, I've always been told to watch for feeding cues and as far as I'm concerned this is my daughter's way of telling me she's hungry. I would much rather get up and feed her once or twice during the night than spend the next 24 hours with an irritable baby. Whether I'm making a rod for my own back with regards to sleeping through - we'll have to see!

My DD used to do similar as if to get herself to sleep.
Like she couldn't sleep until she'd thrashed her head from side to side. And she'd do it again to try and get back into sleep if she woke.