I got this question from a recent mom of 2:
Man, does this ever bring back memories. Not all kids do this, but many do. My twin boys made INSANE noises in their sleep. I remember calling one "race car" and the other "sqealler". The sounds are alien. They're like nothing you've heard before if you haven't been around newborn babies sleeping and I for one couldn't sleep through them either. I had all intentions to leave the crib in our bedroom (my boys were in one crib together for a while) for at least the first few months. But I was getting no sleep at all with them in there. In my case, they both started sleeping more quietly (or at least the sounds weren't as high-pitched and strange) around the 3-month mark. I've heard similar stories from loads of moms, but as far as I know, there are no empirical studies in developmental science that have marked a precise age at which these alien calls subside. Nor is there any consensus on what causes them.
In terms of what to do, I don't think there's much to do in terms of getting him to stop the noises. And as I've mentioned recently, any changes in his sleeping SCHEDULE should probably not be made this early in his life. So, the choices I see for you are all about his location: (1) try putting the baby in a crib in another room, if that's what you're eventually planning on doing anyway and TURN THE MONITOR OFF (since this is your second, I'm sure you know you'll wake up from a baby's cry without the need of any amplification if his crib is at a reasonable distance from you), (2) try putting the baby in a co-sleeper or bassinet next to your bed — maybe if he isn't right next to your body or ears, you could get used to the sounds easier, or (3) grin and bear it for the time being, if co-sleeping is your priority. You may very well get used to the sounds and stop waking up so frequently from them when your nervous system has stopped reacting to them so dramatically.
Any pediatrician or knowledgeable parent out there know the biological underpinnings of these cries? What have others done in similar situations? If you're not currently in that early stage, can anyone even remember back to those early weeks?
I certainly remember this stage – it’s not all that long ago for us. We called our son ‘the penguin’ and ‘the pterodactyl’ since he made a seemingly incessant series of squawks, both brief and drawn out, and other bird-like calls during his sleep. These simmered down dramatically by about 3 months.
I found them very startling at first, since I had never been around a sleeping newborn before and had no idea that it was pretty normal. Now I knind of miss those sounds!
BTW, it’s only been in the past few weeks that my nervous system has calmed down enough that I can easily fall back asleep after I’m woken by the baby’s cries with one of his increasingly-rare (thankfully) night wakings. He is 5.5 months old.
Wow, I guess I should count myself lucky that my little one (7 weeks) only makes thoes noises when he’s falling asleep or trying to wake up. The only time the grunting drives me nuts is after his major nighttime deepsleep and the early morning feeding, when he goes into his shorter sleep blocks, and seems to grunt and wiggle in his sleep the whole time. He sleeps soundly, I get 10 minute intervals between bursts of grunting.
We have the little one in a side-car crib set up. I do seem to be getting better at sleeping through it, now that I’ve realized it doesn’t necessarially mean he’s waking up. The current solution is that every once in a while I go sleep in the guest room and leave Dad in charge. It lets me get some more solid sleep, and since I know that Dad will wake me if the little one needs feeding, I can relax a bit more and not start awake every time I hear something that sounds kind of like a crying baby.