Unusual baby behavior before sleep

jasmineluke

So my 8 month has been getting on all fours and rocking back and forth quite vigorously after being put in her crib right before falling sleep. She has been good about falling asleep independently but has been doing this Rocking back and forth thing over and over and plops down and passes out. At times if she is doing this at the edge of the crib she hits her head over and over while rocking. One this caused an abrasion on her head! This sparked my worry. She doesn't always bang her head to fall asleep but she does rock back forth on all fours and has been doing so for about 1-2 months now.  She does it so hard that she literally ends up on the edge of crib banging her head while doing it. 
Any other LO doing the same thing and any suggestions to make this safer as I'm really worried about her head! Going to the pediatrician at the end of next week if this doesn't get better but kinda worried about this behavior in the meantime. 

OliveOyl2014

Does she crawl yet? Some babies practice things around sleep time. My daughter used to stand up and walk in our bed when she was learning to walk. Our pedi said it's pretty similar to sleep walking and not something to worry about unless it continues. How long does she rock before she falls asleep?

J1D

That sounds totally normal to me. My little guy does it all the time. It's a crawling practice thing. He bumps his head sometimes too.
She sounds like she's a bit more hardcore about it than my guy though. Can you just pick her up and move her back to the middle of the crib?

jasmineluke

So she's not crawling yet but rolls to wherever she wants to get to. She has been doing it since 6 months. I tried to move her away from the edge but it usually wakes her up and agitates her more or she basically ends back up at the edge. I got padded crib bumper which I know could be a SIDS issue but with the force she hits her head sometimes I worry about head injury more and she's pretty good about turning her head and rolling all over the place. 
Thanks for the advice it's good to know its not such an "unusual behavior"!

J1D

jasmineluke said:

So she's not crawling yet but rolls to wherever she wants to get to. She has been doing it since 6 months. I tried to move her away from the edge but it usually wakes her up and agitates her more or she basically ends back up at the edge. I got padded crib bumper which I know could be a SIDS issue but with the force she hits her head sometimes I worry about head injury more and she's pretty good about turning her head and rolling all over the place. 
Thanks for the advice it's good to know its not such an "unusual behavior"!

*Quote Box Fail*

They make padded crib bumpers that go on each rail individually. Supposedly they are less of a risk because the don't inhibit air flow into the crib.
This is at least what I've read. I've not meet them in real life but maybe with Googling?

jasmineluke

I will have to look into that! That's not a bad idea 

christina4436

Yep totally normal and getting ready to crawl. My LO did the rocking for a month prob and started crawling a few weeks ago, but still does that a lot when going down to sleep. They are prob old enough to put the padded bumper at least on the ends to be safe from hitting it. The Sids rates drop dramatically after 6 months since they are able to roll and react to situations. Obviously u have to know your child and make the best call though. I've been giving one of those stuffed animal with little square of blanket attached some nights because she wants to play with something with her hands as she falls asleep. But of course I'm watching the monitor like a crazy person now and debating to go try to pull it since she's asleep ;-p