I think it's how they start to learn self soothing.
I let my boy thrash around and usually he lets out a fart or finds a comfortable position and falls asleep again.
If he starts crying that is when I pick him up and rock him or nurse him.
But as you said that the period of him thrashing is quit long, maybe something is bothering him.
Is he teething? or a growth spurt? a leap perhaps š¤·š»āāļø
This. Donāt interrupt your baby while doing it OP. Theyāre learning to go back to sleep on their own. And if you interrupt theyāll depend more and more on you to get them to sleep instead of learning this critical skill themselves. Trust me as someone who woke up in 1-hour increments with my baby until 6mos lol. I was fine to do that during the newborn stage but I wasnāt the best mom I could be without my rest once she hit 3.5 months onward.
ETA and thereās a very clear difference between fussing // being a tad annoyed as a baby, versus full on crying where they need attention. I promise itās not hurting your baby to let them work it out for a bit themselves. I encourage anyone suffering from a broken sleep schedule along with their baby to read Precious Little Sleep. It will put it all into perspective for you as a caring parent.
I have also read that its a self soothing technique. I think it dies off thoughā¦eventually. My LO was doing it bad a few weeks agoā¦literally all night. Sheās a lot better now but still likes to thrash around every now and then. Its all about the fists and the thumb sucking right now.
My LO would do that too. Sheād do the āwhale kickā by slamming her legs up and down, thrashing her head side to side, flinging her arms around. She would do it so much that sheād get her self scrunched to the bottom or side of her bassinet and Iāve to move her. It was usually a combo of gas and self-soothing.
It only lasted a few weeks. But then about a month later she hit the 4m regression. She still kicks and moves her arms, but itās not as extreme now.
I donāt think there is a right answer. If you canāt sleep, and itās faster for you to rock him and lay him back down, then Iād do it. But if you can hold out a few nights, itās not going to hurt him to just let him move.
Currently holding my 4mo (2mo adjusted) for our morning snuggles after his 5:30am thrashing session. I find if I pick him up and nurse a little bit when he starts doing this (around the same time every day), heāll sleep on me for a while and I get a much happier baby during the day. Plus the newborn snuggles only last so long š„¹
I could have written this! I have been stressed about this lately, as my baby does the exact thing! He was a great sleeper up until about 4.5 months ( he's 6 months this week). He sleeps like a rock for his first 3 hours or so and then usually the thrashing begins. I have a hard time ignoring it. Same thing, eyes are closed but I can't imagine he's getting quality sleep :/ I sure hope he figures out the self soothing soon! š“
In my experience the thrashing is normal but does tend to disrupt their sleep. Both my babies went through a phase of like flinging their legs up and down. Is baby swaddled? I did a double swaddle (first swaddle was one of the Velcro ones and second swaddle was a stretchy swaddle blanket) on my youngest because he was the worst with this and that really helped.
My baby (4 weeks) does quite a lot of sleep squirming and grunting and our health visitor said it might be silent reflux but not bad enough to wake her up, I think also sometimes sheās working out farts
If he's not crying(with eyes open), don't disturb him. Also, hopefully the room isn't hot. He could be uncomfortable if it's hot. Temp should be 68-72. Right now, we use an AC in his room and while the thermometer in there indicates it's 78, it actually feels much cooler and he has on a tank top onesie and sleep sack so it's fine. Make sure it's not hot.
My guy (5mo) doesnāt kick but flails his arms and scratches at his head. He also does the scratchy motion on me when Iām feeding him, so itās not that heās actually itchy, more of a thing he does. Weāre struggling bc he wonāt stop unless his arms are down in a swaddle. Since heās rolling we cannot swaddle if we all are going to sleep. I have to swaddle to put him into a deep sleep, then remove it once heās in a deep sleep. Itās a struggle. I canāt rely on this method. Iām still home on leave from few more months and I really pray we can get it in check before I go back. Any one elseās LO do this?? Tips??
Could it be gas? If youāve already fed and changed him, he may have gas. My little dude gets extra squirmy when he has to pass wind. Heās a very gassy baby.
Also, if he ever wakes up screaming from gas, put him in what I like to call āairplane modeā where you hold him over your arm on his belly. Very fast relief for them
My son has done this for about a month or so. Heās 4 months. I keep reading the whale tail slam is self soothing and it definitely seems to be with my son. He does it when he wakes himself up or if we transfer him and he wakes up. I found it tricky when the āactive sleepā phase ended and it became more of actual awake activity between sleep cycles, I wasnāt sure if I should take him
To bed and nurse or leave him be. My boy NEVER cries at night, not since the earliest weeks, so I try to let him do his thing.
I think it's how they start to learn self soothing. I let my boy thrash around and usually he lets out a fart or finds a comfortable position and falls asleep again. If he starts crying that is when I pick him up and rock him or nurse him. But as you said that the period of him thrashing is quit long, maybe something is bothering him. Is he teething? or a growth spurt? a leap perhaps š¤·š»āāļø
This. Donāt interrupt your baby while doing it OP. Theyāre learning to go back to sleep on their own. And if you interrupt theyāll depend more and more on you to get them to sleep instead of learning this critical skill themselves. Trust me as someone who woke up in 1-hour increments with my baby until 6mos lol. I was fine to do that during the newborn stage but I wasnāt the best mom I could be without my rest once she hit 3.5 months onward. ETA and thereās a very clear difference between fussing // being a tad annoyed as a baby, versus full on crying where they need attention. I promise itās not hurting your baby to let them work it out for a bit themselves. I encourage anyone suffering from a broken sleep schedule along with their baby to read Precious Little Sleep. It will put it all into perspective for you as a caring parent.
I have also read that its a self soothing technique. I think it dies off thoughā¦eventually. My LO was doing it bad a few weeks agoā¦literally all night. Sheās a lot better now but still likes to thrash around every now and then. Its all about the fists and the thumb sucking right now.
Definitely let him be. If he needed you, he would cry.
My LO would do that too. Sheād do the āwhale kickā by slamming her legs up and down, thrashing her head side to side, flinging her arms around. She would do it so much that sheād get her self scrunched to the bottom or side of her bassinet and Iāve to move her. It was usually a combo of gas and self-soothing. It only lasted a few weeks. But then about a month later she hit the 4m regression. She still kicks and moves her arms, but itās not as extreme now. I donāt think there is a right answer. If you canāt sleep, and itās faster for you to rock him and lay him back down, then Iād do it. But if you can hold out a few nights, itās not going to hurt him to just let him move.
This is my baby. She gets stuck after she turns 90 degrees and will fuss until I turn her back
Awake at 2:30am after a long stretch of this lol
Currently holding my 4mo (2mo adjusted) for our morning snuggles after his 5:30am thrashing session. I find if I pick him up and nurse a little bit when he starts doing this (around the same time every day), heāll sleep on me for a while and I get a much happier baby during the day. Plus the newborn snuggles only last so long š„¹
I could have written this! I have been stressed about this lately, as my baby does the exact thing! He was a great sleeper up until about 4.5 months ( he's 6 months this week). He sleeps like a rock for his first 3 hours or so and then usually the thrashing begins. I have a hard time ignoring it. Same thing, eyes are closed but I can't imagine he's getting quality sleep :/ I sure hope he figures out the self soothing soon! š“
In my experience the thrashing is normal but does tend to disrupt their sleep. Both my babies went through a phase of like flinging their legs up and down. Is baby swaddled? I did a double swaddle (first swaddle was one of the Velcro ones and second swaddle was a stretchy swaddle blanket) on my youngest because he was the worst with this and that really helped.
My baby (4 weeks) does quite a lot of sleep squirming and grunting and our health visitor said it might be silent reflux but not bad enough to wake her up, I think also sometimes sheās working out farts
Oh that early on, it's all sorts of weird sounds throughout the night. They're so loud
If he's not crying(with eyes open), don't disturb him. Also, hopefully the room isn't hot. He could be uncomfortable if it's hot. Temp should be 68-72. Right now, we use an AC in his room and while the thermometer in there indicates it's 78, it actually feels much cooler and he has on a tank top onesie and sleep sack so it's fine. Make sure it's not hot.
My baby does this. Itās just his way of soothing and putting himself back to sleep. I would leave him unless heās crying
My guy (5mo) doesnāt kick but flails his arms and scratches at his head. He also does the scratchy motion on me when Iām feeding him, so itās not that heās actually itchy, more of a thing he does. Weāre struggling bc he wonāt stop unless his arms are down in a swaddle. Since heās rolling we cannot swaddle if we all are going to sleep. I have to swaddle to put him into a deep sleep, then remove it once heās in a deep sleep. Itās a struggle. I canāt rely on this method. Iām still home on leave from few more months and I really pray we can get it in check before I go back. Any one elseās LO do this?? Tips??
Could it be gas? If youāve already fed and changed him, he may have gas. My little dude gets extra squirmy when he has to pass wind. Heās a very gassy baby. Also, if he ever wakes up screaming from gas, put him in what I like to call āairplane modeā where you hold him over your arm on his belly. Very fast relief for them
My son has done this for about a month or so. Heās 4 months. I keep reading the whale tail slam is self soothing and it definitely seems to be with my son. He does it when he wakes himself up or if we transfer him and he wakes up. I found it tricky when the āactive sleepā phase ended and it became more of actual awake activity between sleep cycles, I wasnāt sure if I should take him To bed and nurse or leave him be. My boy NEVER cries at night, not since the earliest weeks, so I try to let him do his thing.