ARGH, HELP, why does he wake up so quickly after falling asleep?!

[Tinkjon]

DS is 10 weeks old and, whilst the nights aren't too bad, he will not nap anywhere except in the sling or being walked about in a pram. It's driving me absolutely round the bed, I can't stand it anymore - it's completely impossible to do anything at all during the day because I'm constantly having to walk him up and down in the sling and poor DD doesn't get a look in Anyway, I have tried really hard to settle him to sleep elsewhere but on the rare occasion that he does manage to fall asleep in his cot/bouncy chair/etc. he wakes up and screams after about 4 or 5 minutes. WHY?!?! He does that thing (Moro reflex, I think it's called?) where he flails his arms out and jerks himself awake and then he just screams until he's picked up. Do all babies wake up after this short time but then settle themselves back to sleep, or do they not wake at all? (I don't remember DD ever doing it). I have absolutely no idea how to handle this so any tips gratefully received!

my dd was exactly the same. i have 4dc and she was the only 1 like this. she was a very unhappy baby, seemed to cry most of the time, never slept thru day for more than 10 mins, always woke herself up with arm thing, hated pram, car seat, bouncy seat, everything - it was a nightmare. I had to leave her to cry a lot and i dont know to this day how i ever got thru it. i knew from 2 weeks old she was different and was gonna b hard work and she proved me right. shes very stubborn demanding awarkward headstrong and determined. she's now 8 and every day is still a battle with her
Can you try swaddling him in blanket to go to sleep? tbh nothing made a difference with my dd

Hmmm, not helping, Frazzled I have an almost-5 DD who is the same - she was a good sleeper but every single day is a nightmare of power struggles. When I was pregnant with DD, my mum said "don't worry, you always get one easy child and one difficult child" - well PAH to that

Bummpity-bump... anybody else have any thoughts?

Bummpity-bump... anybody else have any thoughts?

I think swaddling is the way to go. Or else staying with him til he is fast asleep and shushing him/patting him when he startles himself. Does he have a dummy? This also helps babies relax and not be so jerky.

Hi Tinkjon, at this age my DS would only nap on me or in the pram, too. I used to just go for lots of walks or settle myself on the sofa with the TV remote -- it did get better though, I think at around 3/4 months he started napping in the bouncy chair, then at 5 months he went into the cot without any problems.

What if you lay down next to him on your bed, would he drift or could you BF him to sleep, then very quietly sneak off and leave him? We used to do this when LO was tiny, with pillows at the edge of the bed in case he suddenly discovered how to roll...

Pula, he does sometimes use a dummy but it's not much help because he can't keep it in his mouth, he just spits it out all the time and then gets upset. He has just started looking for his thumb today so I'm hoping that will help. I didn't realise you could swaddle babies of this age, I will try that - thanks!

Meg, that's very reassuring to hear that your DS grew out of that habit! As for feeding him to sleep etc., it's not the getting him to sleep that's a problem, it's getting him to stay there. I just rocked him to sleep in the pram and he was fast asleep for about 8 minutes and then woke himself up again, argh!!

We still swaddle our DS at 5 months. Also I think the moro reflex is more likely to wake baby up if they were already over-tired. If they go to sleep when they are tired and have a good wind-down routine, then they are less likely to wake when they have this jolt- that's what I've found anyway.

As for the dummy staying in- yes, we have the same problem here, but it is still useful to use it even if we have to pop it back in time and time again!

I will definitely try swaddling then, if you're still doing it now. I was thinking about buying one of those pram rockers but feel that it's probably just another crutch and that he should really get used to sleeping without anything like that.