DD thrashing around in cot all night. She stays asleep, I am getting next to nothing! What is this all about?

[duellingfanjos]

DD is 18 weeks and was always a decent sleeper. However, since the start of this month she has started to bring her legs up in the air and slam them onto the cot matress really hard every time she is settling to sleep or starting to wake. She usually has two bf's each night, and will go up to 3 hours in between each one, but she spends so long bashing about in the cot that i am getting only about one and a half hours sleep at a time. (a typical feed lasts 45 mins so i have v long periods awake). This is really starting to take its toll as she will only nap in the day if i take her out in the pram or car so i have no opportunity to catch up on any sleep.
I have had many 'eureka' momemts over this time where i think i have found the reason for this night-time activity, but the thrashing about just goes on once i have dealt with the problem. in ths way i have eliminated wind, stomach ache, teething pains, dd wanting to sleep on myself or dh instead of in her cot, and so on an so on!
One other possible cause could be that dd wants to sleep on her front, as she has started rolling in the last week or two, so she could be raising her legs in order to roll but not able to do so completely because she is asleep?
Okay, before this turns into a novel - questions! Does anyone elses dc do this? Do they grow out of it (please say yes!!)
Is it safe to try her sleeping on her stomach, or do i have to wait until she can roll back again too?
My mums advice is to get her into her own room, but i am not prepared to do this til 6 months, and i would only be listening to her on the monitor anyway! Any other suggestions gratefully appreciated

Our DD2 (17 weeks) does exactly the same thing - mattress thumping!!! Isn't it noisy!

Her sister (now nearly 4) did exactly the same thing too. They have both slept in sleeping bags at this age, not sure if that is to do with it, e.g if one leg comes up the other one has to as well!

DD2 seems to do it when settling to sleep so once she's asleep it stops. I wonder whether they just like the noise! Can't remember when DD1 stopped doing it, but it's years ago if that's any help!

My DS did this too at about this age - we nicknamed him 'Thumper' :-) And yes, it does stop. I can't remember how long he did it for, but it certainly stopped once he could turn over proficiently because then he would sleep on his front, so it was a few weeks at the most. I think it probably is something to do with them learning to turn over.

I think it's advised that you don't put them down to sleep on their fronts this young - once they can turn themselves it's fine to let them stay on their fronts though. I used to sometimes put my DS down on his side (not sure whether this is advised or not), propped with a rolled up towel, which you could try? Or try tucking the end of his sleeping bag under the mattress so he can't lift up his legs?

drjane you are right - last night i put dd in her cot and she flipped right over onto her front. She had the best night's sleep she's had in ages, I on the other hand woke up approx every 10 minutes fretting about her! Every time i turned her onto her back, she just flipped right over again! Spoke to the HV this morning and she said that as long as she is turning on her own its okay to leave her. It's easier said than done to stop worrying, but i think i'm just going to have to get used to it