5 1/2 Month Old Not Sleeping So Well

I think it's because he fell asleep next to you and when he wakes up (all babies wake up periodically through the night), he's old enough to realize that you're not there and he doesn't like it. Unfortunately, sleep training may have to be done. Both my kids had to cry themselves to sleep. Even if I was just holding them, they often cried. My doc said it was just a release of their energy. Even my three year old sometimes does it when he's really tired. Definitely read Ferber, it will help you understand why he's waking up and crying. He helped me understand the physiology of sleep so I could let my babies cry and understand that they needed to learn how to self soothe.

You have to start putting your son to bed sleepy but awake so that he will fall asleep on his own. If when you put him down like that he still screams. Go over pat him the back & tell him it's bedtime & back out of the room for a minute - if he is still crying come back repeat - leave for 2 min - or stand in the door to soothe. It's hard at first but worth it in the end. The key is to keep him awake during that last feeding & then put him right to bed.

It sounds like your son needs to learn to fall asleep on his own. If he's used to nursing to sleep, he's completely dependent upon you to go to sleep and now he's old enough that some movement to his crib will wake him up. When you go back into the room to nurse him, it's only reinforcing that he needs you to go to sleep. I would suggest buying some sleep training books. It's a little difficult dealing with the crying while sleep training but it's completely worth it. It's so much healthier for both of you if your son learns not to be dependent upon you in order to fall asleep and it leads to better sleep habits in the future.
Good luck, I know it's not easy!

Hi fellow Mom!
While I am not an expert by any means, I do have a little background with understanding behavior and my own 8 month old who has tried to pull this on me before!
Having a routine for him is ideal. Once you put him in his crib turn on some soothing sound to distract him- a mobile or my son has a Glow worm that plays music. You may need to go turn it on a couple times, but it should work! Next thing I would try is a shirt that you have already worn that has your smell on it...as funny as it sounds it can be very soothing to them. I have done this a couple times and I use a night shirt that I have worn. I know people say don't put anything in the crib, but these are just things that have worked for us. Lastly, when you go in there, don't pick him up (as hard as it might be!). That is really what he wants, and you reinforce that behavior of crying when you pick him up. This behavior won't change over one night, but I think after a few nights you will see improvement.
I really hope that some of these things help. Be strong Mom, I know you can get through this!
K. H.

First, stop letting him fall asleep while nursing. The habits you create now are the ones he will need later to fall asleep. And unless you want him to need you every time to soothe himself, I'd stop that habit asap. Also, he needs to learn that eating time is eating time and sleeping time is sleeping time and there is a difference. Now is the perfect time to teach him how to fall asleep on his own. Once you've kicked the nursing to sleep habit, start by putting him in bed more and more awake. Start off with him mostly asleep. Then a few days later a little more awake and keep it up until you're putting him in bed fully awake. I always use soft music to help my kids sleep. This way when they wake in the middle of the night, you turn on their music and they go right back to sleep. My 5 yr old will even come in my room and ask to have it turned back on if he can't fall asleep. You can also introduce the binky if you like, because believe it or not that is exactly what he is using you for. Baby's find sucking very soothing and so he isn't nursing the whole time while he's falling asleep. So let him nurse and keep him awake. Everytime he starts to dose, stop nursing and wake him. Then when he's done, rock him with the lights off, music playing and give him a binky. And as he starts to fall asleep, then start the process of sleep training.

I was going to suggest that he might be teething or going through a growth spurt like you said. Unfortunately, if that is the case, you're just going to have to deal with it and know that eventually he will go back to normal! I promise, it is just a phase! What I used to do is hold my daughter for an extra 15 minutes sometimes so she would get into a deeper sleep and then put her down. Or if you want to bring him to bed with you for that time, but keep trying to put him down because otherwise if he gets used to sleeping with you on a regular basis, he might not go into his own be when this phase is over. Good luck and remember, this too shall pass!

Hi E.,
I have a couple thoughts on this.
1. With a growth spurt, maybe he is still hungry when you put him down? I know you said you are nursing him before bed, but maybe thats not enough at this stage for him. Try feeding him his dinner a little later, closer to bath time? Or after his bath, some jar food (deserts or baby cereal mixed with formula/breast milk. Just a couple spoonfuls should be enough to fill him up enough to sleep.
2. Is he sleeping late into the afternoon, and is not so tired at bedtime? Try napping earlier, and shorter naps for a couple days - growth spurts dont last long, and some babies will go back to regular schedule. If not, get used to change, they change schedules all the time. : )
3. If he is teething, which is a big possibility, try some teething tablets before bed. I used Humphreys teething tablets, I believe they worked for colic also. Two of my kids are older, 18 and 16, and they were easy to find anywhere, however, they harder to find with my last 2, 8 and almost 3. So I used tablets I found in CVS. They worked, and helped my little one get to sleep, relaxed.
Good luck

My 5 month old is doing the same thing---although I am not nursing, he has been sleeping through the night since he was 3 months old, with his last bottle at 8ish. I put him down drowsy, or awake and he falls asleep watching his acquarium. (if you don't have one of these I highly recommend it) he loves the music and watching the fish....but for the last week or so, except for last night, he has been getting up multiple times. I try not to feed him in the middle of the night, I am told this is a bad idea, and that wakeups are probably due to teething. I give him a little tylenol if rubbing his belly and giving him his pacifier doesn't help. Also, I went back to work 3 weeks ago, and he is in daycare 3x a week. I have read that a change in care, or schedule will cause the wakeups also. Anyway, not sure if this helps, but I think its common. Try the acquarium!

I'm a first time mom, married for 4 years as well.

I had EXACTLY the same problem! We were told by pediatrician that our baby figured out that every time she fell asleep she would wake up in a different place (nursing with mommy then alone in crib).
She recommended the Ferber method. We bought Dr. Ferber's book and followed one of his case studies. It worked!
Now our baby gets put in bed awake and happy, and knows how to put herself to sleep.
Good luck!

one other thought to add....if he is getting teeth and crying when you lay him down flat on the crib....sounds like an ear infection to me...my lil one would get ear infection everytime he got teeth!!! (and my older son only gets a low grade temp...never above 99, so until you figure out your sons fever zone don't rule out the doctor...)I hope you both start sleeping well soon!!!

There deffinately might be something going on. Unfortunately he can't tell you so it's just a guessing game at this point. My kids would usually do that when they were teething. Try giving him Tylenol before you nurse him. He also might have an ear infection. Sometimes they have no other signs other than not sleeping. It hurts more when they lie down. If the Tylenol does not work I would take him into the doctors just to have the ears checked. Good luck and I hope you get some sleep soon !!

Dear E., You may very well be right about the teething. Sounds like your little one is an angel, sleeping through the night at 5 mos. If it is his teeth, this wil pass and come back again when more teeth are coming. Keep up the good pre bed routine, you are doing great. Grandma Mary

I'm interested to see what other moms have to say on this subject, because I'm going through the same thing. My son is 6 1/2 months old, and started having sleep trouble about a month ago. He was sleeping for 8-9 hour stretches prior to this, starting at 8pm. Now, even if he does go down smoothly, he wakes up every 3-4 hours. He HAS cut a tooth, and has a second one right behind. His first tooth came in a few days ago, and the night before was the absolute worst. I gave him infant Tylenol, and he slept for a recent record of 5 hours. Nursing is the only thing that calms my baby down....which I'm ok with, but I don't want to get into a bad routine. I am certain it is teething that is causing this in our case, and hopefully in yours, too!

He's figured out that you will keep coming in if he cries and gets upset. I know that lots of people will disagree, but letting him cry it out does work. Three nights of it and it's over.

We went through this too- it's tough to listen to the crying, but turn on the shower, movie, whatever dulls it and take a deep breath.

I feel for you! I've had to deal with that in the past...the good thing is that this too shall pass.
Maybe your son is extending his day...he doesn't need to go to bed as early as he did a few weeks prior. When he naps during the day, how long is he napping? Have you tried to shorten the afternoon nap?
Another trick is to put lavender essential oil on the bottom of his feet, even a few sprinkles of it on the crib sheets. It's a natural, healthy,relaxant. You'll find that even you'll chill out with it. It works!
Good luck!