Head banging

[Sillymummies123]

Hi all,

My one year old was born 3 months premature. He’s a legend. Has done so well, despite difficult health issues. The single benefit of his prematurity I think was that he was very settled in sleep very early. We’ve been very fortunate and he’s been sleeping through for a long time

He’s one now, and isa lovely social chippy. However - he’s started twisting, flipping and crawling in his sleep and I wake two to three nights to really loud thumps and cries because he’s banging his head on the cot. Had a massive bruise over about 10% of his head the other day due to it. Obviously cot bumpers are dangerous, so what do we do???? Do they tend to grow out of this?

It’s a depressing thing to be woken as your son pushes headfirst in to a wooden panel.

Do you mean deliberately and consciously banging his head repeatedly, in a compulsive kind of way?

Or do you mean rolling in the night so his head presses against the cot bars?

Hi!

It’s while asleep. I don’t think he’d wake up all night if he didn’t. I think he stirs, shifts and crawls, and then wallops his head. It shakes the wall. He’s in a grow bag so that should surely help a little toward restraining him.

It sounds like just normal behaviour in that case. I really would not worry. Some people (and babies) like to sleep with their head presses against a surface. You might find when older he will sleep facing a wall. Or maybe he'll grow put of it. In any case there really is nothing to worry about.

It will ultimately be a self-limiting activity. He needs better awareness of the space in his cot, which will come in time and you can't do anything to speed it along. Then he'll simply learn that if I do this, it hurts so I will do it less vigorously. You don't need to worry about it.

At aged 1 you can start using a pillow in the cot, if this may help? But being significantly premature it might be better for you to wait, just in case.