Sleeping and motor development??

Question

I have read that sometimes a child's sleeping pattern can be disturbed when he or she is trying to learn a major new skill. For example, it appears that my son is getting ready to crawl and/or pull up. He can go backwards, and rocks on his hands and knees constantly. He is unable to go forward yet. Last night he was awake on and off from around 10pm to 12am. He would be scream and my husband and I would go into his room and he would be rocking back and forth on his hands and knees. We would put our hand on his back and he would lay down and go back to sleep, but as soon as we got near the door he would get back up again. Any thoughts?? Anyone with experience with this? My son is 7 months old and always has been a very good sleeper. He generally sleeps from about 8 pm until about 6-7 am. He is a very active child during the day as well... Also, one more part to my question, does anyone have a good guideline for how long after a rocking on his knees before he crawls? Thanks!

Answer 1

There isnt a real guideline. He sounds like he'll end up crawling, but then again, babies sometimes just completely abort that mission and move straight into sitting up and standing. Once he gets the concept together a couple times, the motions will stick and he'll start crawling.

It is really comon for new motor skills to cause a child to sleep more lightly, mostly because they roll themselves over and wake up, or now that they can move a little more they reposition themselves and wake up during the process. We move and roll over and fix the blankets and pillows all night, but we're used to the motion and generally sleep right through it. Eventually he will too.

Honestly, it sounds to me like maybe he just too tired when he goes to sleep at night. There a fine balance between too much sleep, and not enought. Not having enough sleep makes you sleep lighter, and having too much can shorten your productive sleep time and result in shorter nights of sleep.

Because he's at the age he is, he's probably fighting that second nap in the early afternoon, or maybe hes not even getting it. Try putting him down just a touch later for his last nap (only maybe half an hour or so) and make it a real nap. Not his light nap in the busy part of the house, but in a dim, quiet room.

Also, babies this age still should cluster feed right before bed, to help them sleep through the night. He might need a larger feeding before bed, or a couple smaller feedings only an hour or so apart before bed.

All these things can help him sleep a little heavier and productively.

I'd also suggest not going in and helping him back to sleep when he does wake up. Eventually he will learn that his moving body is normal and okay, and put himself back down once he's in a new position.