8 month old waking up.....

[SparkyMalarky]

Every night when she crawls up to the top of her cot in her sleep and gets stuck in the corner....she sobs and sobs and then when I go to move her back to the middle of the cot, she flaps her arms, sobs some more and becomes quite hysterical when I try to leave!

She goes to sleep perfectly well after her last feed - I put her down awake and she settles herself, but as soon as she's made her way to the top of the cot she starts crying - and then I end up giving her a dummy or feeding her (I know....she doesn't need it) to get her back to sleep. Of course if she crawls back up to the top it all starts again!

Last night, this performance lasted 2 hours and I am shattered (she's been doing this for a month or so now) and I think if we could stop her banging her head on the cot's bars, she might not wake up....Any suggestions? Would a cot bumper help? But given that she's trying to pull herself up would it be more dangerous than not?

Any advice very very gratefully received!

My Nut(kin)was is driving me batty with escapades like this too (9m dd) From what I gather from other people it really is a phase they go through as they get more mobile.
I would say you could give the bumper a try if you thing it's the being smashed up against the rails which is causing the problems. Imo if they can move themselves around their cot they can get themselves out of most of the trouble they can get themselves into while in their cot. If you're worried about suffocation and the bumper introduce it after you've played 'peek aboo' with your lo and they are moving the fabric or blanket away/over their own face (this proves that they know they can 'get out' from under things and won't panic if they find themselves under the bumper somehow).
Other options? Well, offer a rock and a squeeze or a cuddle laying down on your own bed and the try to reinsert your dd in the cot. And are you using a sleeping bag? I found that this helped (for a couple of months) in hindering her movements and making for a more relaxed sleep for us all.
Good luck! And hang in there!

Thanks The sleeping bag helped a bit last night, but the the idea of playing peekaboo with the bumper is a great idea! I think that's the way I'll go...hope you get some sleep too ;)

oh it is so so hard and tiring i have a little boy that sleeps and wakes up at about midnight beleive it or not and am so tired. He also wakes up about twice in the night and have to saty with him to get him to sleep which is hard.
I dont what to think to be honest but good luck and hope she soon sleeps better.

My 9 mo DD is going through exactly the same thing, although rolling as she's not quite crawling yet. The only thing which seems to settle her is if me or my OH sit in with her until she falls asleep, or if I'm shattered then she just comes and sleeps with me. I'm wondering if its separation anxiety??

I'm afraid I can't offer any advise but I will be watching this thread with interest.

Good luck!

My older sister (4dc's) told me that about this age separation anxiety does set in a bit. Plus with teething it can be a terrible hassle headache trauma for everyone involved.
She told me to hang in there and it'll ease in another couple of... weeks!!
I've also introduced a super soft toy (a jellycat rabbit) and for the last 2 nights things seem a little easier. And I'm finding that even naps are a little easier.
Though she's still migrating around her bed. at 10 last night she was at the very top, by 11.30 she was at the very bottom. in the morning she was 90'...you'd think she'd sleep better with all the moving she does (it should be tiring her out more no?)

Sparky - if you're worried about a conventional bumper, you might want to try airwrap? It's made of mesh (so breathable if they put their faces right up against it) and pings down if babies start trying to climb/pull up on it. We got some when our DD started bumping her head/getting her legs stuck when shuffling around her cot and I think it's really helped.