I'm trying to better understand the quirky ways and sleep of DS (12 weeks) who struggles to get to sleep. I've posted some unhelpful things here in the past so thought I'd ask for other people's experiences in a more sensible way.
He seems to really enjoy being on his back, and will always be more awake and alert when lying down than when he's held upright. His arms and legs go like pistons, and he will be looking at everything and smiling and laughing, even if he is really tired. When you pick him up & hold him upright, his arms & legs almost always calm down.
If he is crying, lying him on his back will result in a reduction in the volume / level of distress, for a while at least. For example, a howl will become a grizzle, although after a while it will suddenly escalate again.
If he is drowsy or nearly asleep, putting him on his back is the sure-fire way to have his eyes ping open and him be fascinated by everything around him.
If he is tired, he won't ever yawn and will rarely grizzle whilst on his back. He'll start yawning etc as soon as you hold him upright, but if you lie him back down again, it will immediately stop.
All this unfortunately means that putting him down when drowsy to help him learn to drop off on his own is always a complete failure, as it just wakes him up again (even in a completely dark bedroom in the middle of the night, when he is tired and drowsy).
I don't think he's uncomfortable or e.g. has reflux, since he seems so happy being on his back when awake. At night he sleeps quite happily in his carry cot, although I usually have to put him down asleep. The few times he has managed to drop off while on his back were co-sleeping with me and/or being fed to sleep, but these have only rarely worked.
Does anyone else's DC do this? How do you work with it?