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6 month old waking herself up!!

4 replies

bearhugs22 · 01/06/2022 07:03

I have a very frustrating problem with my 6 month old’s sleep! She wakes anywhere between 1 and 6 times a night, and 30 minute into every nap. But when I watch her on the monitor the same thing happens every time she wakes. She starts moving her head side to side a few times, then her hands start flailing round, she whacks herself in the face and rubs her eyes then wakes up crying! At night she can be really quick to resettle but needs us to hold her hands still on her tummy until she drifts off, if we let go too soon she immediately flings her arms around or rubs her eyes and starts crying again. Is this something she’ll grow out of? Would sleep training fix it? She can roll now so swaddling isn’t an option. Would love to hear from anyone who has experienced similar!

OP posts:
CloudWhisperer2 · 06/06/2025 21:02

Hi OP,
I realize this was a while back now but did she grow out of this eventually? My son is exaaaactly the same at 6months! His hands are constantly stopping him going to sleep and I'm also holding his arms down in his cot!

bearhugs22 · 07/06/2025 07:26

Hi @CloudWhisperer2!
I don’t think I did anything but she did stop doing it and it was quite a short lived phase! I remember 8 months being a big turning point where I stopped night feeds and she started sleeping through the night and settled into a 2 nap routine (30 mins in the morning and between 1.5-2.5 hours in the afternoon), so it wasn’t a problem by then.
Actually as I’m writing I remember that what seemed to fix it was she started rolling over in her cot and sleeping on her tummy! Does your little boy always sleep on his back?

OP posts:
CloudWhisperer2 · 07/06/2025 07:37

Ah thank you so much for replying. He's just started rolling around in the cot and does seem to settle better on his side so maybe that'll help him outgrow the flailing hands!
Even when I put him down super drowsy he's wide awake and rolling around as soon as his body hits the mattress, then the hands start rubbing and scratching his face. Hoping he'll start outgrowing it soon because I need a night's sleep! I guess it's just such a big development time with all the new motor skills.

bearhugs22 · 07/06/2025 07:59

It feels like a lifetime when you are sleep deprived but I’m sure he will outgrow it soon so hang in there! 😊

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