OK, so the title is deliberately provocative to catch your attention (sorry ) but does have a genuine point to it.... We have an odd problem, or at least one I haven't heard of before. Any thoughts would be most appreciated.
Our DS (17 months) has an unusual way of settling himself to sleep. He rolls his head hard from side to side. He does this when he's going to sleep and then periodically through the night as he moves into lighter sleep patterns. Although it's a bit weird, no problem so far (our doctor thinks he's simply making himself dizzy, and assures me that he can't do himself any damage).
However, the rolling head motion propels him up his cot until he hits the cot bars or the headboard, waking himself up. And he can't resettle himself to sleep because every time he tries to roll his head he just hits it again. Inevitably he cries, and leaving him is no good because he simply rolls his head more and so hits it harder, cue more tears. When we go to him, all he wants is to be shuffled back into the middle of the cot so he can settle again. He actually cries more if we pick him up, offer him a drink, etc.
This happens every night, often as many as half a dozen times.
I think our problem would be solved if we could just keep him from travelling around in his cot in his sleep. In all seriousness, does anyone have any suggestions short of chaining him down? Tucking him in with a sheet above his sleeping bag improves things a bit, as does propping up the top end of his cot on books (although we can't go any higher or he ends up as a sad crumpled little heap at the bottom end).