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Author Topic: So unsettled at nights  (Read 1286 times)

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Offline mum2isabella

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So unsettled at nights
« on: August 19, 2005, 10:31:37 am »
Isabella is 4 months old and was sleeping quite well at nights. For the last couple of weeks she has started waking at her 11pm dream feed. Then she slams her legs down on the cot mattress - this can go on for up to two hours - she seems to be dozing, but very unsettled. She normally has a cry at around 4am when I pop her dummy in. Then she wakes ar around 6am for a feed and then sleeps until around 8am (sometimes later if she's had a particularly bad night).

My question is: is it normal for a spirited baby to move so much at nights - throwing her legs in the air and slamming them on the mattress, also shaking her head from side to side (she breaks out of a swaddle, and kicks sheets and blankets off straight away). I was putting her in a sleeping bag, but it's just too hot for that at the moment. What kind of bed clothes should I use for her when its 27 degrees in the bedroom?

How can I get her to sleep better at nights? she normally naps for around 3 hours per day.
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Isabella Grace born 17th April 2005 - spirited
Samuel Oliver born 22nd July 2006 - textbook/touchy

Offline Erin (redstarfalling)

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So unsettled at nights
« Reply #1 on: August 20, 2005, 00:18:04 am »
I'll answer what I know about.  YES, spirited babies DEFINITELY do what you're describing! :roll: Drives me crazy because I can't sleep through it, but my dd also does that leg slamming thing and thrashes her head from side to side (less now that she's rolling - finally!).  I think it's her way of expressing her frustration at being awake when she's tired. :?

When it's that hot in the bedroom, I'd be inclined to put her to sleep in just a t-shirt or a very very light sleeper.  Is she sweaty?  If she gets too hot overnight, she'll wake from discomfort and if she's sweating a lot she'll get thirsty. When my lo started really thrashing and breaking out of the swaddle, I decided to get rid of it.  We had a week of disrupted sleep, then things settled down a bit (they were never great, so I didn't have high expectations!).  You might want to either wrap her tighter if you think she still needs/wants the swaddle, or you might want to leave off all covers, especially if she's proficient at rolling - she might want to move over onto her tummy at night for example. :)

It also sounds like she might be starting to have habitual wakings (4 am, 6 am...) so I don't know if you've considered trying pu/pd?
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Erin
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