Cot Cruising, Crawling And Cartwheels
In the beginning, you can put your Small into their bed and they're very likely to stay in one place. All hail the swaddle AKA the baby burrito! In time your Small will develop their physical skills and they'll learn to move, crawl or cruise around. This is super exciting and cute during the day, but not as cute when it comes to settling them to sleep or at at 3am in the morning!
Once they’ve discovered they've got these exciting new skills, they'd much prefer to cot cruise, crawl or even throw in a cartwheel instead of doing what they’re meant to be doing…sleeping!
It can be a very frustrating and tiring time for you and your Small. They may take longer to settle to sleep at naps and bedtime or wake up wanting to practice their new-found skills at night!
As frustrating this may be, almost every Small will go through this peep phase and it too shall pass.
The futzing before falling
It’s natural your Small will want to crawl and cruise around their cot before falling asleep. I call it the futzing around before falling asleep and it can take up to 30 minutes on average. Our role isn’t to coax them to sleep, but give them the space, time and support whilst they figure out how do this with their newly learnt skills.
Amazon prime patience
Learning any new skill takes time and patience to get the hang of! It’s natural that as soon they start moving around we want to get in there and help them but if we do this they don't get the chance to practice. Yes, it will mean naps and bedtime will take a little longer, but it will help the phase pass. In the meantime, put them down 5 or 10 minutes earlier for their nap or bedtime and give them the time to figure out their new sleep skill.
Sleep space
Cot crawling, cruising or even cartwheeling as long as they aren't crying, are part of what I call “sleep space”. They’re not communicating to you or asking you for support. If they’re not asking for support, I would suggest giving them the sleep space they’re asking for to either get to sleep or ask for support. If they start to cry, the best response is always respond to them, get them calm and try again.
Jack in a bed
It’s never about winning or losing on my peep practice, but if we go into battle with our Smalls, the only one who loses is you! It’s so tempting to go in and lie them straight back down or even hold them down the minute they spring up! I don’t suggest doing this because this jack in a bed can quickly become a game for your small, you’ll end up even more frustrated and it can take them even longer them to fall asleep in the long run!
Keep the sleep space clear
This is a great time to have a little evaluation of their sleep space. Make sure there’s nothing they can grab now they’re on the move! A clear sleep space will hopefully be less distracting for them, so sleep comes sooner, everything can be such a distraction at this age!
If your sleep is a constant shiz show and unsettled, there's absolutely no sleep shame in asking for help and support. Talk to your friends or family and remember, I'm always here to offer you a shoulder of sleep solidarity. You can find out more about my peep practice and sleep services here
