Startle Reflex-Your thoughts

VPGIRL06

when did anyone notice the startle reflex start to fade? LO is almost 13 weeks and definitely still has an intense "jerky" reaction.

This is kind of a break off from my original swaddle transition post. I tried sleep sack yesterday, and gave her a "love" since I want her to start associating sleep with a stuffed animal of some sort. After some back patting and sushing, she eventually closed her eyes while grabbing onto the stuffed animal and putting it in her mouth-definitely helped with soothing.

However, I stayed in there to watch her and she jerks/moves around so much she can't fall asleep! Like every minute her arms would jerk up, or her legs would kick out....and after 25-30 minutes she did a big twitch and her eyes fluttered open and she began to do her "wake up" stretch.

I'm not sure if this is just how she sleeps on her back (my husband has been known to jerk around) or if it's her reflex...I wiped her today with a cold wipe and her hands spread open really quick and her eyes got big so I know she still somewhat has it...but idk. For those of you who have a non swaddled sleeper, Is the limb twitching and moving normal? Do you think she just needs to get used to her limbs moving and sleeping through it? Like, maybe it'll lessen when she's able to sleep on her tummy?

If that's the case, we're starting naps this weekend with sleep sack and a love. My MIL is visiting and offered to watch LO while I go to the gym at a later time (instead of 5 AM) and can watch her while I nap, so I have some assistance this week.  But, if it's her startle reflex that hasn't faded, do you think I'm better of swaddling until it fades? I really don't think she needs to feel cocooned to sleep...she was doing fine but it just wasn't letting her fall into that deep sleep..but at this point the swaddle has become a sleep association and she's having trouble falling/staying asleep in other locations.

Sooo to sum it up

• Non swaddled babies-do your babies startle over and over again and your babies sleep through It? or is it just a couple twitches? She literally startled/twitched/moved about 15 times in that 25-30 min span
• Startle Reflex-do you think it's her startle reflex, and if so, when did your LO's reflex start to fade?
• Genetics-do you think it could just be how she sleeps? again, my husband twitches a lot when he's on his back and snores, so I'm wondering if she'll just be twitchy until she can flip over.
• Kicking the swaddle-she kicks the swaddle ALOT. I'm wondering if I might have some success with arms only swaddling? I think she just is used to being cocooned but might do better with arms only?

thanks for the feedback! I really want to break the swaddle association before it's too intense, especially because she's begun to break out of the swaddle at night (we do some heavy duty swaddling.  Miracle blanket does not work) and she kicks the crap out of it. But she gets confused when she's tired and isn't swaddled, and starts crying because she wants to sleep but can't. Poor kiddo.

ClandestineX

Just want to say I am seeing my little one having a bigger startle reflex now, more than when he was a newborn. He cannot stop moving unless I hold him or he is swaddled. He usually wakes himself up when he sleeps without one in less than 20 minutes. He is even having a startle when on his sides, and even while on his stomach... I didn't know it could get that bad.

=Lee=B

At almost 13 weeks mine has started to startle more now than in the early months.  We only swaddled the first 2 weeks (but always with arms out).  Early on she was never bothered by her startles and didn't do it that much.  Around the same time she suddenly 'woke' up to the world (9-10weeks) she started mega startles.  That said they haven't been keeping her up more than a few extra minutes...when they do wake her early in her sleep she goes right back to sleep on her own.

Not sure why the increase in startles but she is currently lying on the floor working incredibly hard to keep her arms and legs straight up in the air and has been at it for over 10minutes and spent much of yesterday trying as well...think she's just coming to realize she can control her limbs, so maybe it's somehow connected to that?

Kyleedawn08

i would continue to swaddle until your baby is no longer startling or until your baby can roll from back to tummy. for us, both of these happened last week at 20 weeks and we just unswaddled and it went pretty easily, we had one rough night but now he sleeps even better. if you are having issues with the swaddle i recommend either the miracle blanket or youtube escape proof swaddle, the escape proof worked well for us until he was ready to be unswaddled

Edit: we had the same issues with LO being swaddled around the same time and unswaddling made it worse. sorry didn't read that you already tried the miracle blanket. maybe escape proof swaddle method will work for you?

VPGIRL06

Kyleedawn08:

i would continue to swaddle until your baby is no longer startling or until your baby can roll from back to tummy. for us, both of these happened last week at 20 weeks and we just unswaddled and it went pretty easily, we had one rough night but now he sleeps even better. if you are having issues with the swaddle i recommend either the miracle blanket or youtube escape proof swaddle, the escape proof worked well for us until he was ready to be unswaddled

Edit: we had the same issues with LO being swaddled around the same time and unswaddling made it worse. sorry didn't read that you already tried the miracle blanket. maybe escape proof swaddle method will work for you?

We kind of have our own method...what we've been doing is SwaddleMe, followed by a very tightly wrapped receiving blanket that's tied around the shoulders so she can't kick out the bottom. But even that is no match her for leg strength.  Today I put her in the Swaddle Me, then in a sleep sack so we'll see how that goes. She kicks the Velcro out from the SwaddleMe, which loosens her arms.

 We're going to try next week to see if maybe she can sleep through the startle reflex, and if her naps are continually crap for 5 days then I know it's just something we need to wait out...

tashadee75

LO is 3 months and he sleeps through his startle. But when he does the "both arms in the air stretch" he's likely going to wake up. We stop swaddling him very early because of torticollis and a flat spot. He's been practically a side sleeper since 5 weeks. Because he side sleeps his arms are in a position to reduce startling himself. So honestly side sleeping has helped big time.

Eventually he does return to his back after he has been sleeping for a while and because he is in such a deep sleep by that time, the startling doesn't wake him. He never rolls to the front because we have a rolled up receiving blanket that we have positioned under his crib bedding to prevent the roll onto the tummy. This receiving blanket also helps with the startle reflex because when he's on his back and his hands fall from his chest to the bed, it doesn't have far to fall because the rolled up blanket creates a lump in the bedding. So his falling arms hit the lump. So now he kind of depends on that as a rest spot for his arms when he's on his back. (I hope this is making some type of sense. It's hard to actually write out the situation.) We now have a towel under his bedding behind him for when he rolls back onto his back, his other hand has a lump to fall on as well. So technically he sleeps between two lumps that his arms end up resting on while he's on his back.

Ok anyway my point was we never start him off on his back for sleeping or he would never get sleep. We've tried swaddling but he fights the swaddle so much that it keeps him awake so he cries until he is freed. 

I know the method of keeping two homemade lumps under his bedding may not be expert recommended but it really works for our LO.