Odd Sleep Behavior

[tankgirl136]

I am wondering if this is normal, during the day Ky sleeps normally on Dh or I, or will lay down, and while occassionally he makes noise or throws his arms, but obviously is still asleep. But at night he seems to be moving, stretching and even rooting, but when I try to latch him on he won't. Then last night I started to connect that he actually was asleep. Is it normal for babies to have this type of active sleep? And for them only to have it at certain times of day?

[Kismet_fw]

I can't speak for normal, but my DH and DS are both confirmed sleepwalkers. DH once answered an (actual) phone call in his sleep, solved a complicated problem at a location, waited to be sure solution was good, hung up and laid back down. 20+ minutes, maybe as much as 40. I asked him about it next day, he thinks I'm losing my mind. He checks the logs at the location and finds out I'm right.

He has also sleepwalked around the house in front of the kids and friends.

DS let himself out of the locked front door, and ran screaming out into a freezing cold night in a nightshirt and socks. I only woke up when the screaming started and the cold air came down the hall to my room. None of this 'don't wake the sleepwalker' business, I had a blanket around me and nothing else on, and the then 3yo boy was wrestling the gate open and sobbing "don't leave me!" I yelled from the door for him to come back in to me, we weren't going anywhere, but I would have gone to him if that hadn't worked.

Rooting around is pretty normal, just like some kids kick themselves all the way around toward the foot of the bed, move from one side of the bed to the other, babble, grunt, or even sing in their sleep. You're seeing it at night because naps are very short, they don't get as much deep-sleep out of nap time.

As this one gets bigger, keep your eyes open for sleepwalking. If it happens, it doesn't mean never having camp outs or away activities, just that someone needs to be between child and door of cabin/tent/etc, or that you might want to consider co-sleeping in a double sleeping bag when in unfamiliar places.

[texaspeach]

wy does the same thing. we try to keep him swaddled

[Mamabeakley]

I think DD does this partly b/c she is not too comfy sleeping flat but it's harder for me to nurse her if she's got her head elevated as I usually place it during the day. So her gas/spit up/whatever can sometimes produce flailing/grunting/etc. We compromise. If it gets to where it's bothering me I prop her up for a while or even sit up and hold her till she settles down again.

[wombatclay]

Normal... do you have a copy of the No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley, the Good Nights book by Dr Gordon, or the Dr Sears Sleep Book? (you can find excerpts online at the kellymom breastfeeding site) Those three books (especially the Sears and the NCSS) have nice sections on infant/child sleep and how it "works".

Pantley points out that waking a child with nursing during these active sleep periods can train a kiddo to wake more frequently. So she suggests that cosleeping moms wait a moment before latching their babe on, just to see if they really are waking instead of just dreaming. She is very pro bf/pro cosleeping btw. She just offers this "wait a min" technique as one of many in the book.

[texaspeach]

clay, I was trying to feed wy every time he threw his arms around/rooted/chewed his hand and made noise because I thought he was waking up/hungry and it just served to piss him off and he would NOT eat. Now that we're doing the wait and see thing to see if he's actually waking up/hungry he's nursing a lot better

[Abraisme]

It's normal.. Olivine also does this for a couple of hours in the morning. I was trying to nurse her too, but she wasn't hungry. The last couple of nights I have swaddled her tightly and it's helped a lot.

[tankgirl136]

nak

thank you for telling me this is normal!! Interesting thing is since I noticed he was sleeping I haven't tried to nurse till he was clearly awake and he does seem to wake up less. Though I still have a hard time sleeping through it. Thank heavens for DH!!!

[GhostRose]

Nessa will startle herself awake with her arms. Sometimes I think her little arms are creatures of all their own... We put her in her little baby straight jacket (halo sleep sack) and she sleeps much more soundly.

[Mamatoabunch]

Originally Posted by wombatclay

Normal... do you have a copy of the No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley, the Good Nights book by Dr Gordon, or the Dr Sears Sleep Book? (you can find excerpts online at the kellymom breastfeeding site) Those three books (especially the Sears and the NCSS) have nice sections on infant/child sleep and how it "works".

Pantley points out that waking a child with nursing during these active sleep periods can train a kiddo to wake more frequently. So she suggests that cosleeping moms wait a moment before latching their babe on, just to see if they really are waking instead of just dreaming. She is very pro bf/pro cosleeping btw. She just offers this "wait a min" technique as one of many in the book.

Totally dittoing. Didn't learn this until baby 6.