Does your Toddler do this when drifting off to sleep?

DS is almost 2, we have always rocked, cuddled or comforted to sleep, which isn't a problem in itself as once he sleeps he sleeps well... BUT................

Of late he rolls around, pulls my hair, wriggles like mad, puts his legs up on the wall, flips, spins - you name it, as he settles down. While this will take 30 mins tops (usually a lot less) - it's PAINFUL, as I lay with him (he has a mattress at floor level) while he drifts off. He will roll around and even try to lay on top of me, or my head etc

Is this normal - he is totally tired and ready for bed, and once asleep is calm and comfortable, but why is he seemingly so restless as he drifts off?

We do a bath, quiet play, book, cuddle bedtime type of routine so it's not like he is hyper or revved up before bedtime. The only real problem I guess is that he twirls then pulls my hair (HARD) and it hurts, but if I pull away from him too quickly he takes longer to go to sleep, so the easiest thing to do seems to be just suck it up for the 10-30mins and then enjoy a peaceful evening LOL

Not sure about other people but DD does this all the time. Add in there some nose picking and trying to stand on her head and you have just described her bed time :). She is nearly 2 1/2 You are not alone

Hey Nay. DD sings / chats / wriggles herself to sleep solo now (after 19 months of rocking!) but I cuddled up with her to try and settle her at my parents house the other day and yup, she did exactly what you describe! Drove me NUTS, especially when I was hoping for a bit of a snooze myself! Only thing I can suggest is that maybe you start to put a bit of distance between you. Maybe tell him that Teddy (or other snuggly friend) 'wants to give you bedtime cuddles but Mummy will be sitting on the floor right here'.

Good luck, hope you get a more relaxing bed-time cuddle soon!

Mine too!!!! Add jerky (which is normally a sign of overtiredness) and you have my dd! Occasionally I leave her to sleep alone and I'll find her asleep sitting hunched over!!!

yep same here too, our DS isnt quite 2 and is still in his cot, but is currently in his room using it as a trampoline:rolleyes: ah well normally he just lays down and falls asleep.

Yep my DS3 too! Loves to do the head sitting thing, as well as rolling all over the place. He also has a mattress on the floor , and we dismantled our bed(as that's where he sleeps at night) and it's now just a mattress on the floor. All 3 of mine have been restless sleepers but more so DS1&3 when they're going off to sleep. DS3 can wake through the night and does it all over again, sometimes sliding himself off the mattress to sleep on the floor :dunno: I can tell you too, having your head sat on, with force, while you're asleep is quite a rude awakening!

Yep my DD is the same :) she talks away to her bunny (her snuggle comforter teddy thing) tries to read books to her bunny while i real to her, does weird things in her cot, and all of a sudden she will just lay down and go to sleep :)

DS has boob to sleep... But yeah he does it too. I often get a toe in my eye as he's flinging his limbs around.
I've actually started taking him to his room and making it pitch black which has stopped it quite a lot.

DD does the same things - she's 18 months. We don't snuggle her to sleep much, she's self settled (well goes down without an issue or a peep!) for several months now but when she wakes for a snuggle throughout the night, we get the same. Often she busts out a few new words 'Nose, mouth, ear, eye' all while pointing to the right places then usually ends with a big happy scream - 'DADDY!' followed by lots of giggles. After that performance, she snuggles in only to stick fingers up my nose (followed by a very clear comment - 'Nose!') then pulls my hair while wriggling in my arms. I say goodnight at that point and put her straight back to bed! 9 times out of ten she nods straight off :)

LOL Helle, toe in the eye sounds fun!!!

I think I am going to have a wriggler!! She squirms and then the next second she is fast asleep!!

yes :wall:....had enough now.

Hair pulling (mine and DH), kicking, wriggling, changing position, sitting up, flinging limbs around (and into my pregnant belly...but not on purpose of course)...esp when overtired. All while Co-sleeping. I move to the couch! Over it!

Loving this thread! Yes! Dd has likes to pick at things on my skin and often puts her feet on my throat (!) before launching herself backwards...she also talks to toys and plays with the pillows! Urgh! But I love kissing her little face once she's all still and peaceful.

Yes! DD is 16 months and has been doing this for 3-4 months already. We co-sleep and I want to dismantle our bed and put the mattress on the floor, but DH won't go for it. It doesn't help that there is nowhere to store our bed in the meantime. DD has a little stuffed dog that plays lullaby music, which she likes to wave around and hit me in the head with (not deliberately). I think I scared her the other night when she hit me on the ear while I was asleep. I burst out into tears before I could stop myself. It took her a while to settle after that.

DD outdid herself Friday night. There is a frieze that runs all the way around our bedroom halfway up the walls, so it runs just above our bedhead. DH and I had both drifted off before DD was asleep. I woke at 3am and she started handing me bits of paper. I looked up at the wall and she had torn off about a metre of the frieze! I'm not particularly attached to it, but our bedroom is the one room we had no plans to redo :wall:

My 11 month old does it too during the day. I BF to sleep lying dow and i have to hold her bottom leg (if she is on her side) to stop her twisting around and taking my nipple with her!

he used to do that but once he started we stopped rocking him and cuddling him to sleep...

He now happliy goes off to bed with his bottle and is fine...took alot of effort but he got the msg


hope ur bedtime gets better

yeah, similar here as well. he also seems to think he's hysterically funny & laughs away. once he calms down a bit he likes to point out his & then mine - nose, eyes, ears, teeth & names them in a whisper to himself

:rofl: Yes, DD is like that if I lie with her. But she goes to sleep by herself now. She takes 2 teddies to bed though and I can hear her in there for a while before she finally goes to sleep talking to them and throwing them around and banging into the wall.

:hug:

Yep, DD was the same. Not so much with hair pulling, but she'd kick and go rigid. We now just put her into bed, read her stories, tell her it's time for sleep and she'll do her flipping and jumping around, trying to get comfortable, then she settles. If we try to touch her, the entire process starts again. Sometimes she lets me just stroke her face, or her arm, but mostly, she just likes to know that we're in the room. She actually goes to sleep quicker if both DH and I are in there and having a conversation in whispers. It's hard, because that snuggle at night is really lovely, but I get mine back when she's asleep and I can give her a hug and kiss without her waking up.

sounds pretty common, i think it's the age. my son is nearly 6, and from very early on, he used to put himself to sleep by banging his head on his bed rythmically (not hard) and he still does it even now....it's cute how they get their little quirks! whatever works though.....Lol

Yep, Pixie practices her acrobatic routine prior to sleep. She'll wriggle, flip, roll around and chatter until realising that she can't be bothered fighting it anymore and dozing off. It varies between 10 minutes and sometimes up to 45 mins for her to actually sleep. I've found if I put her to bed even 5 minutes earlier than I used to she goes to sleep way faster. Once she gets to a certain time she seems to get a second adrenalin rush and it takes waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay longer.

HTH

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Yep, Pixie practices her acrobatic routine prior to sleep. She'll wriggle, flip, roll around and chatter until realising that she can't be bothered fighting it anymore and dozing off. It varies between 10 minutes and sometimes up to 45 mins for her to actually sleep. I've found if I put her to bed even 5 minutes earlier than I used to she goes to sleep way faster. Once she gets to a certain time she seems to get a second adrenalin rush and it takes waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay longer.

HTH

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oh my gosh, is your daughter called Pixie!? Mine too!!! I thought she was the only one! Awesome name!! ;) Lol.

Nah, she's actually Charlotte but she looks like a little Pixie so she got nicknamed it. OMG love the name Pixie! :D

oh okay haha, my daughter's name is Pixie, she's a little munchkin. totally suits the name too, couldn't have named her anything else Lol. ;)