Community› The Bump Month Clubs› September 2015 Moms
September 2015 Moms
New Discussion

Squirming at Bedtime

CEW225CEW225 member
in September 2015 Moms
We have made, or should I say started making, the transition to the crib from LOs RNP. We have had off and on nights. One really great night where she slept from 830 to 4 solid and then one where we were up and down constantly because that's when she got her shots.

We have tried to put her down drowsy, but awake so she can soothe herself to sleep, but that doesn't seem to be working well. There have been a couple of times where she rolled on her side, started sucking on her hand, and fell asleep, but those have been few and far between. Every time we put her down, passed out or drowsy, her legs immediately go to kicking. She will rock back and forth, roll to her side, roll back, kick more, etc. We haven't been swaddling her with her arms in because she has tried to roll, not successfully, but our luck she will do it in her sleep. She kicks so hard she wakes herself up and then gets fussy.

Is there anything we can do to help this? It's become an hour (or more) ordeal to get her asleep and I'm afraid that's not good for her. She is currently in a sleep sack to see if that helps, but it doesn't seem to be. Suggestions?
Report Reply to Post

Re: Squirming at Bedtime

  • bumptinkbumptink member
    I would love suggestions as well! Our LO is doing the same exact thing. We are on night 4 of being in the crib, and we are trasitioning from the RnP/our bed.

    I hate to just watch him squirm, but unless he lets out a true cry, I try not to intervene.
    Report Reply
  • Loading the player...
  • PickledPlumsPickledPlums member
    I think that could be part of self soothing. My nephew rocked his head back and forth before falling asleep for at least 7 years. Researching that I found there are adults that do it, too, and that's what it is.
    Report Reply
  • yellowbean15yellowbean15 member
    edited January 2016
    I don't really have any suggestions but my LO was doing this really badly, all night long one week. Exact things you described. Woke himself up constantly. At the end of the week he just started rolling back to front consistently. All day long. I think he was kind of practicing in his sleep or dreaming about it or something. Maybe that's it?

    It could also just be getting used to the freedom of being unswaddled or having more space? We went through some of that when we stopped swaddling too.

    We just waited it out both times so I have no solutions, sorry. It does seem to have gotten better though. But I feel ya on the squirmy sleeper. It's frustrating .

    Edit: meant back to front rolling...fixed it.
    Report Reply
  • ElleMF728ElleMF728 member
    edited January 2016
    All babies are different (disclaimer) but our sneaky trick has worked for both of my boys who are very different sleepers.  

    When baby is sleepy or drowsy I lay him down awake, we use white noise and a sleep suit or sleep sack.  Then I bounce the crib mattress by putting a hand somewhat near his head and the other near his hips.  Gently push down on the mattress in a rhythmic motion, it jiggles LO and gives a similar soothing sensation to being rocked or bounced while teaching them how to fall asleep in their crib rather than your arms.  I start pretty firm if he is wiggling around and then slowly taper off as he falls asleep, sometimes I will shush him as well.  We also have had a lot of luck with the FisherPrice Seahorse soother but I'm moving away from that at bedtime and just using it for naps. 

    One thing I want to note is that if DS2 is crying it won't work.  I pick him up for a minute or two until he is calm, lay him back down and then bounce.  If he is just fussing or grunting and I catch him quick enough just the bouncing does the trick. 

    ETA: I do it pretty quickly, about the same rhythm as I would have bouncing him in my arms. 
    Report Reply
  • xJKxORxJKxOR member
    We transitioned our LO into his crib full time as he neared the end of the 4-month terror. During that leap he also mastered rolling back to tummy (he had been doing tummy to back for a while). With the additional room of the crib and his new skill he was ALL over the place. He moved all over in his crib and would constantly wake himself up by rolling into the side of the crib or getting an arm caught under him while rolling and not being able to fix it himself. He was constantly restless!

    So I created "rolling bumpers" by placing two pillows in his crib on either side of him (from about the armpits down; I didn't want anything near his face). This prevents him from rolling around at night and he's slept 8-hour stretches since then.

    I realize that this isn't something that is recommended as nothing should be in the crib so it is up to you if you would be comfortable with it. The pillows are laying flat (can't fall on him or move), are heavy (he can't pull them onto himself), and are at armpit level or below (nowhere near his face), and we have a video monitor where I can keep an eye on him.

    This definitely worked for us in regards to keeping him calm and curbing the movements that kept waking him up.
    Report Reply
  • Mom2b100915Mom2b100915 member
    This was us last month and so I purchased the baby merlin's magic sleep suit off amazon.
    It worked wonders for us
    Report Reply
  • CEW225CEW225 member
    Thank you all for your suggestions.  It's so glad to know she isn't the only one going crazy when she lays down at night.  I think we have figured out that her eye rubbing might be a soothing technique, if she could just figure out how to not punch herself in the face when she goes to rub her eyes..haha!  

    Her sleeping in her crib might be getting better, as we only had to really pick her up to soothe her one time, and that's when she normally woke up to eat anyway.  The other times, we used paci and "shh" to help her calm back down. @ElleMF728  I tried to bounce her mattress a little too, which seemed to make a small difference, but her mattress was hard to bounce!  I didn't realize it was quite that firm, which I guess is a good thing.  We also figured out she likes to sleep on her side, so I don't mind her rolling much anymore, it's just her legs!  She can't leave them still!  

    Hopefully we can wait it out and it gets better.  @Mom2b100915 I have thought about one of those merlin suits.  I have heard good things about it.
    Report Reply
  • jen83mnjen83mn member
    We've been successful in putting baby back down in the middle of the night drowsy but awake a few times, and each time we've used his soother elephant that projects stars onto the ceiling, switches colors, and plays the "Lullaby" song. He's mesmerized by it, so it distracts him from wiggling so much and helps to calm him down. Worth a shot for you anyways!

    https://m.target.com/p/summer-infant-slumber-buddies-gray-green-elephant/-/A-18819169?ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=18819169&ref=tgt_adv_XS000000&AFID=google_pla_df&CPNG=PLA_Baby+Shopping&adgroup=SC_Baby&LID=700000001170770pgs&network=g&device=m&location=1019973&gclid=CPHW9qzPu8oCFYVFaQodCpwHag&gclsrc=aw.ds
    Report Reply
Sign In or Register to comment.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards
"
"