My five month old has been sleeping through the night since he was about 8 weeks old (we do understand how lucky we are). All of the sudden, he is waking like he did when he was a newborn. Last night he was up every hour and a half to two hours...and he needed to nurse each time. Has this happened to anyone else? I am starting to get that panicky feeling each night around ten pm wondering how many times he will be up this time. My mom seems to think he could be teething but I don't see anything popping through yet. Also, he is exclusively breast fed but we did start rice cereal twice a day about a week ago. I am wondering if he is still hungry and not getting enough food throughout the day. ( he has plenty of wet and poopy diapers every day) Any advice would be so helpful. Thank you ladies.
Welcome to a massive developmental period that ends with wonder week 26. Google "wonder weeks".
His sleep will settle around 6.5 months.
A few things.....growth spurt in which he needs a little bit more food...Teething!!!!!!!! While they may not pop up right away...they are shifitng below the gums causing miserable pain....Is he drooling alot...stuffy or runny nose??? Trying to put his fist in his mouth or some other object? If it isn't growth spurt, or teething....could be an ear infection especially if there has been any nasal drainage...If in a few days he isn't better have his ears checked out.
sunlight- morning sunlight- for you and him
the sun triggers the production of melatonin and seratonin. the help regulate sleep cycles. if you want him to sleep at night give him and yourself morning sun.
Also- with my daughter- I didn't give her the evening cereal till just before bed. Kept her belly nice and full longer.
Best luck!
(as I always recommend: Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child--- pick it up!)
I agree he is Teething. I am going to guess they are up in there making their way down. They can be painful and he has a need to chew or have something to grip down with.. try freezing some wet baby wash cloths and see if that helps.
He can chew on it and get some relief. As they are about to cut through, he will begin drooling and then diarrhea..
This will continue to disrupt night time sleep, in the evening, try not to speak or look at him so he will just eat and go right back to sleep..Also do all of this in the dark. Change his diaper and feed him.. this will keep him drowsy.
Remember those little teeth feel like little needles poking his gums up inside there.. I really does hurt..
I also guess teething. My son used to teethe in two parts - one rough patch about a month before the teeth came through but were just starting to push up through the gums, and the other right before they poked through. Tonight, try giving him some motrin before bed and see if it helps. Check with your doc about dosing. Good luck.
Growth spurt or teething. Teething doesn't mean he pops out a tooth it takes time for that first tooth to make its way out. My first daughter started teething at 6 months and the first tooth didn't pop out till 7.5 months and then again she started fussing at 10 months and then 2 months later she poped out her bottom two teeth. Or he could be in a growth spurt and just needed a little more food. anyhow this happens and this wont be the first or the last time.
It does seem like a growth spurt, and it won't last too much longer. Hang in there mama! Congrats on giving him the good stuff by the way. This may get easier when he's eating veggies and more cereal.
Growth spurt is my guess. My son went through his six month growth spurt at about 5 1/2 months.. It'll probably last about a week or less and then things will get back to normal. Hang in there!
started solids a bit early. that made my daughter sleep worse. most likely though it is teething, nursing is a natural pain reliever. remember food is for practice NOT nutrition in a breastfed baby. you are supplementing an inferior food ( rice cereal) for a superior food ( breast milk) so if you think your baby isnt getting enough to eat stop giving your child food ( non breastmilk) until your child is older. there is a reason you shouldnt give foods until after 6 months old. your childs gut doesnt have a "strainer" yet. that is how the large antibodies get into a young baby and that is why they say immunities begin to wane at 6 months because the strainer system begins to filter out large proteins. when you feed your baby before this time their body doesnt proper;y break down the foods and they get dumped into the system.
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started solids a bit early. that made my daughter sleep worse. most likely though it is teething, nursing is a natural pain reliever. remember food is for practice NOT nutrition in a breastfed baby. you are supplementing an inferior food ( rice cereal) for a superior food ( breast milk) so if you think your baby isnt getting enough to eat stop giving your child food ( non breastmilk) until your child is older. there is a reason you shouldnt give foods until after 6 months old. your childs gut doesnt have a "strainer" yet. that is how the large antibodies get into a young baby and that is why they say immunities begin to wane at 6 months because the strainer system begins to filter out large proteins. when you feed your baby before this time their body doesnt proper;y break down the foods and they get dumped into the system.
I agree that it can be growth spurt or teething or both. My is 10 months old and had been teething since 4 months and he barely had two teeth popped out last month. I think teething takes longer for some babies.
My son also had a hard time sleeping for more than 2 hours at a time at night because he was teething and just learned how to crawl back when he was 9 months old.
I agree with everyone else, Growth Spurt or Teething. There is a typical growth spurt around 6 months (5 months is part of that range). Just nurse a lot and soon he will get back to sleeping. If it is teething the teeth don't always pop through right away. It would take a couple weeks for each of my daughters teeth to come through. And like someone else said, nursing relieves pain, so baby will want to nurse.
