My 18 mo toddler kicks his legs constantly while trying to fall sleep by himself every time. This could go for 1/2 hour or more. Finally, he falls asleep while starring into space. Is this kicking normal? Should I be worried?
This sounds like his way of getting his energy out and soothing himself to sleep. Completely normal, in my opinion.
Have a GREAT day!
S.
My niece would do something similar...she would roll herself back and forth on the bed. As a baby she liked to be rocked in hard fast movements to fall asleep and she still prefers it. Even when she wakes up in the night now (she's 8) she will still put herself back to sleep this way. Our family has never really been concerned about it because she has developed just fine in every other way. You can ask a pediatrician about it, but I say - if he can put himself to sleep, you're making progress and it will eventually die down even if it takes time.
Until I was in my twenties probably I used to rock my leg back and forth to fall asleep. I agree with the other poster it is more then like a self soothing method for him. I wouldn't worry about it much. As far as staring out into space, he is tired, he may be fighting shutting his eyes and I know first hand for my son, he had the toughest time shutting his eyes until he went to sleep, make sense? He would just wait until his brain shut off I guess and fell asleep, he would just finally crash and then the eyes would shut! :)
It is normal.
I would say that you are lucky to have a son that has learned a way to self soothe and wind down for the day. I knew of a child that would throw herself into the mattress or the sofa (whichever she happened to be on) to get herself to sleep. Some kids "sing" other suck their thumb. As long as he isn't doing any damamge to anything I think it is a great way for him to expend some energy before nodding off. And you will have a really funny story to embarras him with later.
My 18 month old son does the exact same thing. He usually accompanies the leg kicking with sucking his thumb and/or singing himself to sleep. Really nothing to worry about.
I just always make sure to sneak in and make sure he has a blanket over him before going to bed myself since he would have kicked it off.
i don't know that there's anything wrong with it. my youngest is 8 months and has always kicked her feet when she's mad. she wakes in the night to eat and often i hear her feet kicking the mattress before she cries for me to pick her up. so your son could just be protesting bedtime. but what i think is more likely is that the movement helps him fall asleep. my middle child preferred to spin himself to sleep in the saucer. i worried that it was abnormal and his head was at uncomfortable angles. but sometimes he would indicate that he'd rather be in the saucer than even in my arms when sleepy. so i let him do it and as soon as he was asleep enough i carried him to bed. i worried that needing movement to fall asleep would become a crutch, but he learned to fall asleep in his bed soon enough and actually he has been the best sleeper of the 3 kids. kids are funny.
My husband still does the same thing and he is in his 30's. Don't sweat it. I think it's perfect normal for him.
Actually, everybody has a reflexive kick when they fall asleep, but we are usually too asleep to notice. My husband kicks so hard (and it usually hits me) that he often wakes himself up and laughs. I hardly ever notice mine.
Kicking for 1/2 an hour seems a bit excessive. My husband only kicks once. Your son should be having a doc appt soon. Ask him about about it. Or if you already went, try calling in to the nurses, just to ask if it's something you should be worried about.
