# baby flailing at night?



## mckittre (Jan 15, 2009)

My 11 week old baby has actually been very kind to me at night, most of the time. Sleeps snuggled up to me, wakes up once or twice to nurse but I hardly even notice... No problem. Often, he starts wiggling and flailing near the very end of the night - it's my signal to wake up for the day.
But sometimes he does it in the middle of the night. Last night he started kicking and flailing in the middle of the night, and just wouldn't stop for more than 15 minutes at a time - for hours and hours. I know he wasn't ready to wake up - he never even opened his eyes, and he'd only napped 3-4 hours during the day, so he needed the sleep. Nursing, diaper change and adjusting the warmth of his clothing didn't help. I certainly couldn't sleep with him violently kicking me, and I can't imagine he was getting good sleep either. What could he need?


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## lovesea (Mar 6, 2007)

Have you tried swaddling? It may seem a bit late to start but when ds started waking every hour around 8 weeks we started swaddling and it worked a treat. Is he bringing his knees up towards his tummy? If so, it could be gas.


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## Jessnet (Apr 11, 2009)

My son is 11 weeks and he does this too! I was just thinking about posting for help. Our problem is not so much kicking, but he is now clawing at his head and face in his sleep. Eventually all the clawing - hard, intense clawing - will wake him up. I keep his nail trimmed, but he still manages to wake up every morning with new scratches. After a particually bad night two nights ago, last night we resorted to newborn gloves to prevent any further impressions of edward scissorhand.
My mother theorizes he might have an itchy head, but I don't know...it seems more connected to sleeping issues like the OP posted


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## erynw (Jun 13, 2007)

Same thing happened here. We started swaddling and things improved drastically. We still swaddle at 5 months.


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## mckittre (Jan 15, 2009)

I never would have thought about swaddling a baby this age for the first time, but after another flailing night, it seems worth a try. OK, so now I have a few stupid questions: how exactly do you swaddle a nearly 3 month old? What size blanket, how do you wrap it, etc...? We had a few of those little velcro blanket things that we tried when he was a newborn, but he kicked right out of them immediately, so we gave it up. And he's obviously bigger and stronger now. Also, is it safe to swaddle if you're co-sleeping? Obviously I don't let blankets get over his face, etc, but if something did happen, he'd have much less ability to get it away from him without his limbs.


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## lovesea (Mar 6, 2007)

Just use a regular blanket (or sheet if you think he'll be too hot), turn one corner over so you've got a triangle but don't bring the corner right over as it may make the blanket too small, then place him a little off centre and tuck one side under his right shoulder, then wrap the other side round him. There's no need to wrap him very tightly, he may be able to wriggle out of it when awake but it will stop the flailing which can be quite distressing for an infant. That's my method anyway


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## MLA (May 22, 2008)

I'd definitely give swaddling a try.


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## steelmagnolia9 (May 4, 2009)

My dd is 8 weeks old and I could have written your post! She just started the same thing this week. Guess we'll try swaddling tonight!


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## Cartesia (Mar 26, 2008)

My LO does this sometimes in the early morning but is 5 months old and hates the swaddle now. My new trick is to wrap his arms in MY blanket until he falls asleep again and the gently unwrap him. Sometimes works.


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## babybirkel (Apr 1, 2009)

my 16 week old does this, too. i don't remember when it started, but i have a theory about it. if babies can sometimes "sleep-crawl" and practice crawling and whatnot in their sleep when they reach that milestone, is it possible that the flailing around has something to do with them finding their hands? i think he discovered his hands around 10 weeks or so. so maybe it's a milestone thing??

i don't know, just a thought i had.


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## faeriemom (Nov 20, 2001)

My 9 week old son has been doing the exact same thing for the last few weeks! Both the flailing and the clawing at his face (with the gassiness). Usually starts around 5am and goes on (in bursts) for about 2 hours. The last few nights he's been doing it starting at around 3:30 or 4am. It's driving me nuts!!

We've tried swaddling, but he's never been a fan of being swaddled and now that he's a big boy (13 lbs and 24.5 inches long already!), he unswaddles himself pretty easily.

Usually around 6am I take him in my arms, and he sleeps another hour or two pressed against my body, with his head cradled in the bend of my elbow. Unfortunately, this isn't the most comfortable position for me, so I can't do it all night. And I'm not sure what else to try.

Can't wait to hear what other moms recommend! Thanks for posting this. I was starting to think something was really wrong with ds (especially since my first son never did this)...like a dairy allergy or something.


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## Altair (May 1, 2005)

I don't swaddle most nights because he sleeps so well anyway. When I do swaddle, he doesn't flail or scratch at all. But when I don't swaddle and he does these things it doesn't really bother me I just snuggle him in closer to my body. He loves to have his pacifier in his mouth with his face pushed into my breasts. I keep him on his side and hold his top arm or hold his hand if it's moving around and bothering him. By about 6:30 (last feed was midnight) I stick my nipple in his mouth and then he sleeps another 2 hours. Those 2 hours have a lot of flailing but I don't mind I'm just happy to be asleep.


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## faeriemom (Nov 20, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Altair* 
By about 6:30 (last feed was midnight) I stick my nipple in his mouth and then he sleeps another 2 hours.

That's wonderful that your ds is already going so long at night between feeds! My first son slept through the night starting at 7 weeks. But this one is still waking three or four times a night to eat. That, combined with the flailing around is making us both pretty sleepy and sometimes a little grumpy during the day. Hopefully I'll figure it all out soon.

To the OP -- if swaddling doesn't work, maybe try holding your little one close during the flailing times like Altair describes (and I mentioned) above. I wish I had better advice than that, or knew why it might be happening. I feel better though, reading the responses you've gotten so far, and am looking forward to reading more!


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## CozMama (Sep 29, 2007)

My son started doing this awhile ago. I just would start to nurse him again and/or gently but firmly hold his arm close to his body maybe even bridging the gap to mine. After a minute or two he relaxes. Sometimes I would tuck his blanket around his shoulders tighter. Often its the start of nursing that truly helps.

Sometimes rolling him up a touch more on his side helped as well.


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## mum23boyz (Feb 14, 2009)

definitely agree wth the recommendation to swaddle. my boys slept so much better swaddled. another idea is a Peke Moe sleep sack.These keep the hands/arms inside the sleep sack. We ended up getting one of these to transition our baby from swaddling and it worked perfectly. all the best!


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## dachshund mom (Dec 28, 2007)

Mine is doing this too from 6-9am. She's swaddled and it looks like she's trying to escape but is still asleep. She gets loose and starts clawing, waking herself up. She is farting a lot then too and it started around the time she started pooping once a day. Nursing will quiet her down for a half hour or so, but she kicks at me and really isn't hungry. I hate to ignore it because she seems so distressed. I should give up sleep and get up to get some chores done.


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## prothyraia (Feb 12, 2007)

My son would flail himself awake if he wasn't swaddled until he was...gosh, close to walking age.


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