DS 20 Weeks Wide Awake in the Middle of the Night

[Aussiegirl777]

I'd like to know if this behaviour is just standard 5month old behaviour.

DP and I have been very spoilt. DS has been a good sleeper since birth and therefore DP and I have had plenty of sleep as well....but in the last few days our DS is going to bed at his normal time (6pm) falling sound asleep as usual and then around midnight (give or take an hour) he is wide awake. He's not upset by any means, he is actually rolling around and making noises and waving his arms and legs all over the place. This can go on for 3 hours. Is it normal behaviour and do you think we are only now just getting a taste of sleeplessness?

DS sleeps in a bassinet at the end of our bed. He is too big for it as of the last week or so but I can't bear to move him into his own room yet. (I have separation anxiety!!) Last night I took him into his room and set up on the floor beside him but it was too cold in there and he was still happy and wide awake too so I ended up moving him back into our room and into our bed which I do not want to get in the habit of doing.

So I guess my question ontop of 'is this normal' would be 'does anyone have any suggestions or am I doing something wrong?'.

A few things that may help also:

He sleeps in a grow bag for the last 3 weeks as he doesn't like to be wrapped anymore.
He has just in the last few days learnt to roll over both ways now.
He has had some rice cereal over the last week too.

[Babyluv]

Maybe he is too big for his bassinet and hitting the sides in his sleep, waking himself up?
Maybe a wonder week?
Maybe he's just being a typical unpredictable bub hehe, my DD was a great sleeper and the last week is now waking through the night.
I've heard that learning new things can unsettle their sleep. My dd is just becoming mobile and her sleep is out of whack.
I doubt it very much that you're doing anything wrong. It's probably just a phase and hopefully he will be sleeping through again soon.

[Aussiegirl777]

Thanks Babyluv - I'm wondering if it's all the new things that he has been learning. Maybe he is using the midnight hours to practice. As soon as I got him up this morning and put him on his playmat he was rolling all over the place and all his arms and legs going everywhere when he was not rolling all over the place. I just hope all this movement is normal.

When exactly do they have Wonder weeks?

[TaRhLi.]

Sounds like he has learnt this new skill and is wanting to try it out. When DD had learnt to roll from back to front she would do it in her sleep which would then wake her up which them became playtime...

I found that once she started rolling I made her sleep in a "safe sleeper" - you know the thing you put newborn babies in to keep them in position. Because it has raised sides to keep her in place it made rolling over in her sleep difficult. Also by the sounds of it he might have now grown out of his bassinet and as he is rolling hitting the sides of it would wake him up and this might be a trigger for him to think it is time to wake up for a play.

Hopefully your night sleeping boy will be back very soon.

[Aussiegirl777]

Kelly - That's a great idea about the 'safe-sleeper'. I bought one of those before DS was born and never used it. I will have to find it again. Only thing is that DS sleeps in a Gro-Bag and it's cold down here so I'm not sure if DS in the Gro-bag will fit into the safe-sleeper, I do know it's adjustable so I'll give it a try. Thanks so much!!

Also I know it's more than time to put him into the cot and I only have myself to blame there. Today I will get his cot sorted out and put the oil heater and moniter in there and it should be snuggly for him tonight. Mummy will still probably have a bad nights sleep without him at the foot of her bed though. LOL.

[TaRhLi.]

AussieGirl: They have a wonder week around 19 weeks - which can last a couple of days or weeks. There is a website and also a book as well, I got mine through BB and found it was a real help with DD and understanding why things were happening, especially when it is your first baby.

Good luck tonight with the big move. We moved DD into her cot in a seperate room at 6 weeks but we have the twins in our room still (DH has to insulate our 3rd bedroom) and have just moved them into individual cots from them sharing 1 cot.

[Babyluv]

They have quite a few wonder weeks hun, there is a book about it. Google wonder weeks and the webpage will come up. It made alot of sense to me at times when dd was unsettled.