Sleep issues - advice please!

When Kaleb got to around 4 months old he started not sleeping - basically he was unable to settle. On the advice of a CHN we started wrapping him again, and it worked beautifully. Now he is 6 months old and he will not stay wrapped, no matter how big the wrap or how tightly I wrap him, he gets his arms out. You would think this is his way of saying 'don't wrap me anymore' but he can't get to sleep without it. He immediately rolls on his tummy, gets stuck and starts crying. I go and turn him over and settle him - before I can get to the door he does it again. It is driving us both insane - he wants to sleep but he can't. What can I do to get past this phase and help him learn to sleep without wrapping? Has anyone else had this problem?

Beth I also wrapped Alana and was really concerned when she started getting out that she was not going to be able to sleep. I put her in a sleeping bag and had no problems. Alana will not sleep unless she is in the sleeping bag. If its warm I can't have her just lie on the mattress without coverage, she just won't sleep.

I guess you can try a gradual change. Maybe wrap him with one arm out for a few days and then with both out and loosen that wrap slowly until he doesn't need it. You could put him in a sleeping bag and still wrap him, so he also gets use to the sleeping bag.

good Luck!

I was going to suggest a sleeping bag as well.....they have been great for Jacob who went through a very similar phase to what Kaleb is going through now.

I think it was largely a developmental phase with Jacob, where he would roll over and then get stuck in a strange spot and get upset. Unfortunately, there's no easy cure for that problem.....in time he got over it....he learnt to manouvre himself around better and not wake himself up as much. During those months though it was tough on everyone involved!! I also found that at the same time we introduced a sleeptime routine which he began to associate with sleep, really worked wonders....it meant that he associated those things with going to sleep, so when he was put in the cot, there was very little wriggling/fidgeting from him, which of course meant no rolling around. Basically we do exactly the same thing before sleep every time....he is now asleep within minutes of being put in the cot. So I attribute him getting over this phase with us switching to a sleeping bag, introducing a set sleeping routine and also him working out how to problem-solve himself a bit.

I know it's REALLY frustrating Beth! Believe me, I really DO know!!

another one hear just to about to suggest a sleeping bag lol

i posted last week re lani rolling over and crying etc - she was sick with high temps so i didn't put her sleeping bag on and now it is back on she doesn't roll - i also use her wrap from when she was little over the top of the sleeping bag it goes over one arm and she sucks it. in the daytime naps i don't use her sleeping bag and quite often after a couple of hours i go to check on her and she is crawling around her cot like a lion in a cage lol

Beth I can relate to the problem. My dd is almost 1 and I still have to wrap her and sometimes if she roles over or comes unwrapped she will wake up crying. It is so frusterating.

I actually have to rock dd to sleep other wise I would have no hope of getting her to sleep. I even attended sleep scholl, which did not help. She is now growing out of the whole rocking and wrapping thing though. I leave her to cry for a bit because sometimes she will settele herself don't know if that is really advisable for a 4 month old though.

The sleeping bags are good but if he insists on being wrapped something we tried was this thing that goes in the cot and it has velcro on it so you put baby in and do the velcro over there waist and they can't roll ober that way he will not be waking himself up by rolling over. They are safe to use as well unlike some of those wedges you can buy to stick in the cot to help them sleep on there side. Abig no from SIDS.

I guess you just need to do what works for you and ds. Just think he will not be a 12 year old wanting to be wrapped and habving trouble sleeping. It will be the opposite you want be able to wake him up :D

Maybe he needs to know that you are there for him at this stage. They go through so many stages, but they don't all last long.

Perhaps it is a case of patting his bottom and/or humming to him when he starts crying. Then when he is asleep and you head for the door, and if he starts to wake again, just try again. Soon enough he will learn that if he needs you, you are there for him, and then he won't feel such a need anymore.

That is what I found worked for my daughter. I know they say not to let them sleep on their fronts when they are little, so you can turn him back over at this age. But, my daughter never wanted to be wrapped, now she rolls on her tummy with her bum in the air. But, when she cried, I would go straight in, she was soon re-assured and she is a much better sleeper now. It was tiring for a short while, but it worked so much quicker than my friends who let their babies cry alone, and lasted much longer also.

Linda.