How to stop nighttime wriggling!

[WaitingForWineOClock]

Our 4 1/2 month old ds has a habit of wriggling around in his sleep and ends up with his head up against the side of his Moses basket, then wakes himself up because of it and cries. So we have to get up, shuffle him back down, and he'll generally go back to sleep (unless it's getting near waking up time in which case he needs a bit of a feed to get him to go back down).

Last night we moved him out of his Moses basket and into a travel cot so he'd have more space, assuming this would solve the problem.

5am this morning I hear crying and he's wriggled himself sideways, so he's head's up against the side of the cot!!!!!!

We gave up on using sheets/blankets as bedding long ago because he'd wriggle out of them and wake up cold as well as at the top of his basket, so he's now in a sleep bag - so at least he's not getting cold from his nocturnal movements.

While this isn't the biggest problem in the world, and I'm incredibly grateful that aside from his nighttime headbanging he does sleep through, it is really annoying.

I'm currently considering supergluing his sleep bag to the mattress!!! Any alternative suggestions would be much appreciated.

Yeah, you've got yourself a baby there. A perfectly normal baby.

Isn't it lovely for those first 4 months when you have a stationary baby that doesn't move? Just wait until you have a baby raising up onto all-fours. Then a baby deciding to sit/stand up when you want them to lie (still) to go to sleep.

Banging against the sides of the cot is perfectly normal, it happens. Years ago it was the reason cot bumpers were created - to cushion against the head banging against the cot bars. Bumpers are dangerous though and not recommended. Babies are hardy and will manage.

This definitely marks the time when baby is ready for a full sized cot rather than a crib/basket. A travel cot has an uncomfortable mattress and also a low base, in my view not ideal. Why not find space in your bedroom for baby's proper cot?

I don't know but my 21 month old was a wriggler and still is and sleepcrawls it's very annoying

Thanks. I guess once he's a bit more mobile he might move more, but at least will be able to get himself out of the uncomfortable positions he gets himself in to, rather than waking us up to move him.

We've got a theory that he's always wriggling in the same direction (to top right), so we're going to experiment with putting him into bed at the bottom left of his cot so he has further to wriggle before his head is against the side!

We've bought a proper mattress for the travel cot so it's nice and comfy (and he's a little higher up) as I completely agree that the travel cot mattresses can't be comfortable, they're so thin and hard. We put him down for his daytime naps in his cot in his nursery, hence why using the travel cot in our bedroom (plus it's not long until he's 6 months and in his own room full time).

Thank you! x