Please help me settle my DD into her cot to sleep at night without the use of duck tape!!!

[RNW]

Last night we decided to put our 15 week old DD in her cot for the first time, up until now she has slept in her pram.
I have had the most horrendous night sleep- due to being woken up every hour by her wriggling around. I could cope with the wriggling, it was the rhythmical lifting of her legs (in her gro-bag) and then the banging down onto the mattress, so hard the springs were echoing that I couldn't cope with! This continued all night from midnight. She then kept waking herself up with this action. Short of duck taping her down to the cot, suggestions please about what I can do! Has anyone else had the same problem? I can't stand the thought of another night like this! She is shattered this morning, and as she is an awful day sleeper-normally 1-2 hours in the whole day, I think it will be a punishing day for us both.
The difficulty is that our bedroom is very hot-it gets to about 26 degrees at night, so tucking her in with blankets is not an ideal option.
Any suggestions gratefully received.
Thank you!

Hi, you have my sympathies! I managed to transition my LO from the Amby to the cot with no problems but from 4am, he starts the threshing about like you described! Often, I have to take him into bed with me and literally hold his legs and arms down until he goes into deep sleep so I can sleep! I know I can't do this forever so am hoping he will grow out of it. Maybe it's an age thing? My LO just turned 4 months and literally went into the cot the same time as your LO... I will be watching this thread with interest... If you are putting your LO's feet to the base of the cot (as recommended), can you not tuck the end of her grobag into the mattress? I used to do this but am now visiting my parents in a really hot country so he's not in a grobag at all...

That's a good idea, I might try tucking the edge of it under the mattress. It's good to know that I am not alone, the middle of the night is a lonely place!!!

No, you are definitely not alone! The other thing I do is basically I rock DS to sleep and then put him down while he is semi-asleep in the cot and literally hold his legs and arms (lightly!) down till he falls soundly asleep. Also, have you thought about introducing a soother? I was completely against it till I came on holiday (to my parents overseas) and he was completely unfamiliar with everything! Also, he has never taken to a dummy. I finally found one that he liked and literally hold the dummy in and after a few attempts, he now sucks on it vigorously and it gets him off to sleep really quickly. I remove it straightaway though (it normally comes off anyway) as I don't want him to have the habit of sucking it through the night. I know it doesn't help the immediate thumping problem but I just find that it calms him down a lot quicker especially in the middle of the night so I can work on stopping the squirming/threshing about. If you hold him face against your chest (so his dummy is 'held' in by your chest), then use both your hands to hold his arms and legs firmly and get him off to sleep that way, when it comes to putting him down, my LO stays pretty calm that way... GL!

Thank you! She is in her cot with just a muslin over her sleepsuit as it is 27 degrees in the bedroom! I'm mentally gearing myself up for the night ahead. You have given me some food for thought though, so thank you!

I had the same problem. My ds USED to sleep great but from about 4 months he did the lifting th legs and letting them thud down.

I lasted til 5 months but then put him in his own room. We have a video monitor so we still watch him.

I think he grew out of it around 6 months. The leg thrashing ever woke him, just me and dh! Hving said that, he's a crap sleeper at the minute but hoping that's just a phase too!

Hi RNW,

How was your night?

Another thing to try (which works really well but can lead to another problem...) is letting your LO sleep on her side. It stops the leg lifting straightaway and they are quite comfy on their side but you have to take precautions so they don't turn on their tummy. But the problem it leads to is that my LO pees a lot at night and he leaks through especially on his side (which he doens't do when on his back). Sigh I do let him sleep on his side during his naps as the leaking problem doesn't happen unless it's for long periods.

Ax

She fussed around, but finally went to sleep, she then woke leg banging, wriggling and crying from midnight every hour until 2am, when I finally caved in and put her in her pram, after that she slept like a log! She is obviously going to be the only 12 year old who sleeps in a pram.
She used to love sleeping on her side-it was the only way to get her to sleep, but now she prefers it on her back.
I think it is the large amounts of space in the cot that freaks her out, she's obviously got used to being nice and contained. I think tonight I will start her off in her cot again, even if she moves back into her pram in the night, I suppose at least she'll start to get used to the cot.
Why don't these babies come with manuals?!

Hi RNW,

My LO used to sleep in his Amby and he loved being nestled in it. However, he started doing this squirming and aching back thing which looks as he is going to turn over and I HAD to put him in his cot. Go with the flow, it will get better. They can't sleep in the pram/cosleep forever right?!!!!! LOL!

Ax

I think you are right RNW, try the cot every night but if it gets too much revert to the pram. Hopefully she will get used to the cot soon. You could also wait a few weeks and try again. They change so much at this age and do things that a couple of weeks before, you thought they would never do!