Does anyone else's LO do this?

[cristeen]

He'll be asleep - what appears to be soundly asleep - and then he'll start flailing his arms and hitting himself in the face repeatedly. Sometimes he just does it a couple times and then stops. Sometimes he keeps doing it until he wakes himself up.

I've tried swaddling him, but he screams hysterically if I pin his arms in any way.

So is this as weird as I feel like it is, or is this fairly normal?

[JordanKX]

Yeah, definitely :-) The flailing arms are the major culprit of Not being able to nap. My LO doesn't like to be swaddled so much either... we keep trying to establish a routine of swaddle, feeding, pass out... and then I'll unswaddle him. The key is getting him totally asleep and then his arms won't wave about like a mad man. But we're not 100% there yet. He'll only even let me attempt the swaddling when he's super sleepy.

I feel for you! Hopefully someone else will have some great advice!

[Lula's Mom]

Cormac is a big flailer if he falls asleep on his back. I think it's just that normal startle reflex- maybe it's stronger in some babies than others? Anyway, it's why we put him down on his stomach for all sleeping. He never startles that way.

[coldandsleepy]

Yup, Grey does it. Lots of times he just flails _around_ his head and everything is fine, but sometimes he does bonk himself and then he wakes up and he is just NOT happy.

No advice-- we've also found that swaddling his arms is totally futile these days-- just sympathy!

[Julia24]

Charlotte does it. But we swaddle her to stop it. I still have to move her hands away from her face/eyes even when she's awake she's doing it sometimes!

[Auroara Bobcat]

Yes, Gensena does it and hasn't taken a nap longer than 20mins because of it
no advice, sorry.

[Lula's Mom]

Cormac likes swaddling for his lower half but loves having his hands out to suck on, so it doesn't help for flailing... I know the back-to-sleep campaign has scared people about tummy sleeping, but really it's the only way all 3 of mine have been able to sleep well. Once I'm sure they can turn and lift their heads, I don't worry at all. They just don't feel secure if they're on their backs, it seems. Maybe if you haven't tried it, you will give it a shot for one nap and see if it helps.

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by Lula's Mom

Cormac likes swaddling for his lower half but loves having his hands out to suck on, so it doesn't help for flailing... I know the back-to-sleep campaign has scared people about tummy sleeping, but really it's the only way all 3 of mine have been able to sleep well.

Mine's the same way about the swaddle.

Unfortunately he hates being on his tummy, too. He doesn't like tummy-to-tummy carries, either.