Why is he doing this?

For the last week or so, DS (11 weeks) has been wriggling in his bassinet, so his feet are in one corner and his face is pressed up against the opposite side. When he does this, he also wriggles deeper under the covers, so they cover part of his face. The first time he did this was during the night and I only realised after he started crying for a feed - I was so upset and worried that he had done that! He doesn't do it for every sleep, but many times he does. Weirdly, he sleeps much better and longer in this position, but it just doesn't feel safe to me.

He sleeps in a Woombie, and I place him with his feet at the bottom of the bassinet, with the covers pulled up to his shoulders and tucked in tightly. So, I'm thinking either he needs more room and is ready to move into his cot (though I'm not ready for that! He sleeps in our room and I hate the idea of him sleeping in another room, but his cot would never fit in with us - the bassinet we have is a King Parrot one and quite large, I thought we'd get another month or two out of it!), or he is snuggling down deeper because he is cold? Though I have added blankets and run the heater in case this is it, and it doesn't seem to help.

Anybody got any ideas what this is all about? Did your bubs do anything similar? If it's time to transition him to his cot, any tips on how to make this easy for him (and me!)?

TIA.

He is on the move like most babies that age.

To me it sounds like you might have to move him into a cot.

Oh dear, could it be that straightforward? :redface: Trust me to complicate something so simple. Thanks emc2 for your post.

I would say cot to :(
Dd went in her cot quite early and to help her we put her basinette basket in the cot for a few sleeps - she looked way to little in the big cot without it but yeah she moved around so much that she was much happier in the cot. Maybe also time for a sleeping bag rather than swaddle? Dunno but might help if he can move a bit easier??
Good luck! it harder for us than them!

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He is on the move like most babies that age.

To me it sounds like you might have to move him into a cot.

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Yep, I agree!

[QUOTE=lee09;2939809
If it's time to transition him to his cot, any tips on how to make this easy for him (and me!)?

TIA.[/QUOTE]

To be blunt- just do it. He would be much safer in the cot- and you will adjust to him being in a different room :) I know it will be hard, but it sounds like he may be more comfortable in a cot :)

How is moving him to a cot going to stop him moving under the blankets? Wouldn't there be more room for him to go under them?

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How is moving him to a cot going to stop him moving under the blankets? Wouldn't there be more room for him to go under them?

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I thought seen he is

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wriggling in his bassinet, so his feet are in one corner and his face is pressed up against the opposite side. When he does this, he also wriggles deeper under the covers, so they cover part of his face.
He sleeps in a Woombie, and I place him with his feet at the bottom of the bassinet, with the covers pulled up to his shoulders and tucked in tightly. So, I'm thinking either he needs more room and is ready to move into his cot

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it would be safer in the cot. Sorry if I mistook the question- I thought she was worried about the positioning of her DS... :redface: I dont think there would be any difference in him being able to go under the blankets if he stays in the wombie...

DD was similar around this age but the weathe was warm so she was getting out of the wraps then wriggling under them so we decided it was time for sleeping bags and her cot. No sheets, blankets or wraps, just a sleeping bag. She slept right through the first night and we never had an issue :D Some little ones can surprise us! I cried moving her into her room but I quickly adjusted. We had the Angel Care Sound and Movement monitor in her cot so we could hear her no problems and the alarm would go off if she stopped breathing - it never went off thankfully :)

Good luck with whatever you choose to do.

Thanks everyone. DS still startles and flails around in his sleep, waking himself up, so we need to keep swaddling for a little while longer yet - or will a sleeping bag prevent this from happening too? I don't think it's warm enough to not have covers on him at the moment, though that would solve that problem... Argh! We have just found a really good rhythm around his sleeping and settling - I think I'll have to give his cot a go and see if that helps any, but I hate to disrupt his routine now that he is sleeping better.

I wrapped DD up to 13 months old. She would do the same thing. Startelling etc.
Hope it works for you and u get some blissful sleep :)

DS moved into his cot around this time too. I was sooooo worried about the transition and started by putting the basinette in his room during day sleeps. But he slept like a little log in his cot, better than he had been. It was only us who noticed he was somewhere different! I'd personally still keep him swaddled for a little longer. The sleeping bag won't keep him 'contained' iykwim. No sheets or blankets on the cot (apart from the fitted one!), just the swaddling, that way there's nothing for him to slip under. GL and as delphmoon said 'just do it'! ;)

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Sorry if I mistook the question- I thought she was worried about the positioning of her DS... :redface: I dont think there would be any difference in him being able to go under the blankets if he stays in the wombie...

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Nah, i think i was the one confused!

A bit different but we have just moved my DD from a sidecar cot/co-sleeping to her own bed in her own room and the change has gone a lot smoother than i thought it would, so maybe moving your LO to a cot will be easy for you too. :crossfingers:

How about using a baby sleeping bag, then a wrap over the top? Gets rid of the blanket issue :).

Maruschke - that's a great idea! I've just been Googling Grobags and I see how they'd be great instead of blankets, but I'm stuck on the swaddling. Is doing both safe, do you think? Would you wrap, then put in the sleep bag, or put in the sleep bag, then wrap? JLeigh - I would love to not have blankets, but I think he would be too cold to sleep well?

My DD was in a sleeping bag, then wrapped with a blanket. You can see some youtube videos on how to wrap using blankets. She never got cold. HTH.

I was also worried about the safety aspect of sleeping bag plus swaddle but then figured I'd just use a lighter tog sleeping bag and then swaddle over the top. I also just started using a woombie on ds and it's awesome! Easy and foolproof, exactly what I need right now.

Both my DD's did that too. I watched them do it and they had their mouth open looking for boob and instead found the side of the bassinet lol.

I agree, just don't have blankets and moving to a cot will help. I may have missed it but will the cot fit in your room? We moved the cot in before we were ready to move them out.

Oh I couldn't stand the thought of my baby sleeping in another room and he's 10 months old LOL! i highly recommend the Love Me Baby Wrap. I think it should solve your issues without needing your tiny little baby to move to a room alone (i think still a little too young for that!) you can buy it in many baby shops (I bought mine from baby kingdom but they are also on eBay) and it is a wrap with a zip, therefore no headache of wrapping or risking bub sinking in and moving around getting covered! My boy slept sooo much better in this wrap as he always managed to get his little hands out when I swaddled him in a blanket.

I hope this helps!


Sent from my iPhone more than likely while I should be doing something else

I just want to point out that it is classed as a SIDS risk to wrap babies or use blankets or sheets while they're in a sleeping bag. Sleeping bags are designed to replace the need for sheets or blankets and shouldn't be used in conjunction with them.

A good brand sleeping bag will cone with a clothing and nursery temperature guide so you have a good idea how to dress them under their sleeping bag.

I had no idea! Our sleeping bags look just like onesies but with a drawstring at the baby's feet. Why is that a sids risk?

Hi all,

Well, last night was a rough one! DS wriggled and squirmed for most of it, and I couldn't sleep - I watched him for half the night, to see what he was doing, why he was doing it and whether he was going to end up with his face covered! :( This morning, I've put him into his big cot for his first day sleep, so we'll see how that goes!

Thanks Taurean for the tip about the SIDS risk... Can anyone help me then with the safe alternatives to a sleep bag? Once DS is less jerky and stops startling himself awake, I will definitely move him into a sleep bag. But in the meantime, I need to swaddle him and cover him to keep him warm! Can I use a cotton sheet and a couple of cotton blankets tucked in tightly? I've tried looking on the SIDS site and I'm not really sure what they recommend.

Our place is really cold, and we used to put bub in 2 lots of pjs (plus singlet and bodysuit some nights). And then a wrap. can you add extra layers of clothes?

I would try sleeping bags. My DD was a real wriggle worm. I found the kiddopotomous (sp?) Swaddle wraps were good, but if you think he doesn't want to be wrapped tightly anymore I would def recommend the sleeping bags. Goodluck! Our babies grow too quick!

Extra layers are fine under their bags but not on top :) I guess the theory is they can get stuck under the extra covers as their feet aren't free to help them wriggle out, ITMS, but more than anything, they're also at more risk of overheating. The clothing guides have been thoroughly tested in conjunction with the TOG ratings.

I'll see if I can find some info but on the back of the GroBag guide (room thermometer and clothing guide) it states they're designed to replace any other bedding and you can use more or less layers of clothing underneath the bag to suit your child's needs :)

As we've been using them on DD for so long, we've worked out what really works for her. For example, at the moment we are in an old house and her room is freezing in winter. We have her heater set to 18-19 degrees and she wears a long sleeved onesie or a spencer plus pjs and a 2.5 TOG bag. The recommendations for those temps are a long sleeved body suit and pj top but we found DD needs her legs covered too.

It was a bit of trial and error but only for the extreme temps - really cold (well, cold for Perth!) and really hot temps. Anything in between and the dressing guide seems to be spot on.

HTH

ETA: Here is some great info on GroBags. There are cheaper brands of bags that meet Australian standards and have TOG ratings though so you don't have to buy GroBag to get an excellent bag but this info is applicable to all good bags. It doesn't go into the whole SIDS risks in detail, it just mentions that bags replace blankets and top sheets but you get the idea :)

http://www.bambinipronto.com.au/grobag_qa.aspx

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Thanks Taurean for the tip about the SIDS risk... Can anyone help me then with the safe alternatives to a sleep bag? Once DS is less jerky and stops startling himself awake, I will definitely move him into a sleep bag. But in the meantime, I need to swaddle him and cover him to keep him warm! Can I use a cotton sheet and a couple of cotton blankets tucked in tightly? I've tried looking on the SIDS site and I'm not really sure what they recommend.

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Try the Love To Swaddle Up bag. I think that's what they're called. Their arms are zipped in but free to move around. My friends with LOs now swear by them. They weren't around when DD was that little.

DD did still startle herself at that age, when we put her in bags, but it didn't wake her or bother her. I was worried about that but it wasn't an issue surprisingly.

I hope you have a better night tonight. I remember spending a few nights gawking over DD in her bassinet while she wriggled and squirmed in her bassinet escaping her swaddle and ending up with it over her face. It freaked me out no end! Sleeping bags have been an awesome addition to our house :D

PS anything that comes with a TOG rating, use the clothing guide that GroBag recommend and you won't need extra blankets. It really is amazing how accurate it is. The guide is in that link in my previous post. An oil heater works well in the nursery in winter too. We have a GroEgg nursery thermometer which is awesome plus our monitor displays the temp so that's helpful as well.

Hi Taurean, thank you so so much for all that info. Great stuff on the GroBags on that site. I'm thinking maybe I just give it a go? Worst case, he wakes himself up and we go back to swaddling for a little while longer. Best case - he sleeps better (yay!). I suppose it could be that he's squirming so much because he's ready to sleep without the wrap... Coming into the warmer weather, I suppose the 1.0 TOG one would be best. Where else can you buy them? Are there different brands?

I've just realised a friend of mine bought me a GroBag before bubs was born! I put it in a drawer and didn't look at it again, because it's for 6-18 months. It's 0.5 TOG and it's HUGE. Is that right?

I just got a lot of cheap and different sleeping bags and suits from eBay, but I also got a grobag from the op shop.

The main thing is with them is as long as their arms are fitted, it doesn't matter if the bag part is large.

I am a bit naughty as I am settling Jim on his tummy, but I find he does roll onto his tummy anyway. He also has this awful habit of pulling things near his face, so I just keep a close eye on him. He will be sleeping in my bedroom for a few years anyway, I live in a small unit.

LOL, yes the bags are huge at first! It's so they have room to grow as the sizing often covers a 12 or 18 months time frame. You'll be surprised how quickly the go up a size. DD is in the 18-36 mths bags and they looked ridiculous when we first got them but now they are a good fit - my little girl certainly has grown!

They come with a weight guide too so use that in conjunction with the age. As long as their head can't slip through then they will be ok.

I use Living Textiles bags, Dream Bags and GroBags. The GroBags I've bought on sale or from friends. The others I've bought brand new for about half the price of GroBags! Just Google them and you'll see :D EBay is great for sleeping bags too, new and used.

I have two of each size - 0.5, 1.0 and 2.5 TOG. The 1.0 TOG is the most versatile though so that would be a good starting point. DD will be in her 1.0 TOGs very soon as the weather as we are starting to get much warmer nights here in Perth. Her room is cold though so it takes a few days to warm up so last night, despite being a lot warmer after a warm day, we still had her in her 2.5 bag but dressed her in a lot less (long sleeved pj set but that's all, no singlet) and we didn't need her heater. :)

2.5 TOG is the highest you can get, and from the Grobag website it says this:

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2.5 TOG All year round use, except high summer - For standard nursery temperatures of 16-20 degrees celcius.

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My house gets to less than 5*C in Winter at the back of the house. Surely, i am not the only one who doesn't keep their house at 16*C overnight?

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2.5 TOG is the highest you can get, and from the Grobag website it says this:

My house gets to less than 5*C in Winter at the back of the house. Surely, i am not the only one who doesn't keep their house at 16*C overnight?

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Our house gets cold too but we do heat DDs room. We used an oil heater last winter, when we bought this house, but quickly realised in summer that she needed an aircon too - it was awful in her room! So we installed a reverse cycle in her room and use that for the really cold and really warm months. So her room is within the guidelines during winter which helps a lot. I'm more relaxed in the warmer weather and just dress her more lightly, so 22 degrees would be fine in 'my book' in her room but I just dress her accordingly, both bag and clothing. I've had almost 2 years of practice with bags though so I've fine tuned it to DDs needs.

I bought DS' sleeping bags from Myer - not Gro Bags, but with a TOG rating and heaps cheaper! His latest ones are 0.2 TOG, designed for nursery temps of 24-27 degrees (which it will be in summer!), though we're not quite hot enough for that here yet. They are huge at first, but it's amazing how quickly they grow into (and out of) them - DS has had 6 or 7 over the past 12 months, lol!

Having said all that, I'd still swaddle for a bit longer if I was you...