Fidgeting has always been my 22 month olds big sleep issue. I used to have to sleep holding his hand while he was in his Snuzpod next to me to stop him from rubbing his face and waking himself up! He can sleep through, and probably manages one night in his cot all the way through maybe once every three weeks, and maybe a couple more where he gets into our bed but goes straight back to sleep and doesn’t disturb us too much. Quite often though he won’t resettle in his cot so we bring him into our bed where he will literally fidget for hours. Tonight we’ve all been awake since midnight while he kicks his legs repeatedly, eyes open so not asleep but not being silly or chatting or anything. The fidgeting isn’t always leg kicking, but this is particularly annoying as it’s so constant! We attempted to put him back in his cot after two hours but he screamed and got so distressed he got back in with us, as usual.
No one is getting enough sleep and it doesn’t feel sustainable and I just wonder if there’s something causing him discomfort that we need to look into. Google throws up Restless Leg Syndrome but not many people with experience or practical advice. I know my GP would struggle to take this seriously. We’ve tried sleep courses and consultants but he doesn’t seem to fit a very standard mould, we used to sit next to his cot with a hand through the bars for hours to settle him in there, only for him to wake again minutes later hence he sleeps in our bed the majority of the time out of desperation! It doesn’t seem to matter what his daytime sleep/bedtime/tiredness levels are like - there’s no obvious pattern to when we experience nights like this. He is quite tricky to settle to sleep though and can quite often take about 45 minutes. Midday nap probably averages around an hour and a half - he falls asleep quite easily for that and sleeps soundly! Thanks if you’ve read this far - and if you have any advice at all!!