5 Month Old Won't Stay Sleeping

No advice, really, but just to let you know my girls didn't start sleeping through the night until they were about eight months old--so be patient!

Have you tried a pacifier? Maybe she just needs that soothing suck? I don't know, but my (breastfed) baby didn't sleep thru the night until after 7 mos...sounds like she just needs the comfort more than the food. Since she has acid reflux, are you doing the raised head of the bed and such also? Maybe she is waking up with that?

start out adding a jar of vegetables to last bottle with oatmeal before bed.
Keeping her full & dry-are the diapers thick enough for night time?
Soothing water sounds?
good luck....shar

In sleep studies (the kind with videotaping, not parents reporting) it has been demonstrated that it is extremely unusual for *people* to sleep through the night, not just children. It is extremely unusual for children under 4 to sleep longer than 3 hours at a stretch...

Whether they wake their parents up to attend to their needs is another story. Many children lie awake alone, in distress, in the night knowing that there is no one coming to help them.

Babies have no way of soothing themselves, they can't fix the temperature, reassure themselves that their loneliness isn't real when they cannot sense their parents, they don't know they are not abandoned in a dangerous place, and they can't get themselves something to eat or drink. This is why we don't lay eggs and walk away: because human babies need human parenting for YEARS, not weeks.

The sooner you go in and meet her needs, the more sleep everyone in your house will get. Either her needs are important enough to deal with in the night or they aren't -- she will quickly learn which, no matter what you intend to teach her.

I have a 4 month old doing the same thing....HEEEELLP!!

B.

Ok I'm going to be blunt, sorry if you take offense. Adding cereal to the bottle doesn't make them sleep longer it just makes fat babies. A baby's stomache is only the size of it's fist so it only holds so much and once the food is gone they need more. The only way to know for certain she is not hungry is if she falls asleep as soon as the bottle is in her mouth. If she drinks the same as she would for any other feeding then she is hungry.

This phase does not last forever. My son ate every 4 hours until he was 7 months. Just keep telling yourself "this too shall pass"

A lot of interesting advice...the only thing I thought to add is if you do decide to let her cry it out (which is what has worked with my 3 small children -- they sleep so well! Makes for very happy kids & parents!), is to talk your 5 year old through it. If you determine that your 5 mo. old isn't hungry, then tell her that sister has to learn how to go back to sleep w/o a bottle, and she might hear her crying, but you are listening and taking care of her, and she won't even hear her in a night or two. I have found that the more I can prepare my kids for what to expect, whether behaviorly at the store, or what our schedule for the day looks like, the better they respond. Good luck!

I understand. My first would sleep through the night at 9 weeks, by my second who is now 10 mos. has been a different story. I have used music as a part of our night rountine which seems to help somewhat. Sometimes when he gets up and nothing else seems to work I give a bottle, but I add more water than formula and that seems to work. I have found with my 10 month old that often his night waking is when he is teething or getting ready to crawl or some other development. This could also be the case with your daughter. Hang in there!

Hi there, my son has acid reflux as well and is on Zantac and works like a charm. He is only 3 months old, but went from sleeping at most for 2 hours to sleeping between 4 and 5 hours. I was told by several pediatricians that if an infant is sleeping 5 hours at a time, then that is a full night. I know that some doctors still recommend cereal in the bottle, i've read and heard that is a bad idea, but if it works then go for it. If you aren't opposed to medicines and your daughter is still having symptoms give Zantac a try. I usually put my son to bed around 11 and he sleeps until 330 or 430 then hes up for the day around 730. Not necessarily the hours I was used to but much better than it was. Also, does she sleep on an incline? that may help. Sorry I don't have better help to offer, but good luck.

I have been in your shoes!!! My son was the same way! At 6 months old I finally let him "cry it out" to go to bed - it took about 3 days, but how relieved our whole family was after. He has been a great little sleeper ever since. He does have his "off" nights still, especially when teething, but overall we have all slept better since he learned to go to sleep on his own. And he was taking 3 naps per day as well and sleeping about 8-9 hours at night. He now, at 18 months, sleeps about 11 hours at night and had a 2-3 hour nap. As far as a bottle when she does get up I stopped giving him one as well and then he stopped getting up, it was more of a comfort thing than a hunger thing! It was hard but it had to be done, I did the water thing as well or I would put less milk (2 or 4 oz) in his bottle so he didn't think it was worth it to wake up and it did work for us! I would also recommend the book that helped me get through it all...it was written by a pediatrician who has 4 kids of his own and used this method on them as well. It's called Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. I bought it on www.powells.com (best prices I have found online for books and they ship quick). A customer I had recommended it to me and I wish I saw her again because I would have liked to have personally thanked her it was a blessing for us all! Good luck.

I guess I'm lucky--I have two children (3.5 yrs girl & 7 mos boy). Both started sleeping through the night (at least 7 hrs) by 6 weeks and both were/are breast fed. The 7 mos old is now sleeping between 10-13 hrs at night!

My boy is a BIG eater. About every two hours during the day he eats between 6-8 oz and up to two jars of food. Here's what I do: Bedtime is consistent (7:30pm--give or take 15 minutes). I firmly believe in routine, routine, routine. At 5:30-6pm, he gets a jar of food with the family while we eat dinner. Then, at 7:15ish I give him his last bottle (around 6oz). After he finishes, I burp him then take him up to his room. I kiss him goodnight, turn on the nightlight and leave the room. Sometimes I can hear him babbling to himself but this generally only lasts 10-15 minutes then he is out.

My daughter was the same way--except she wasn't a big eater (still isn't).

Good luck!
K.

First off, about the cereal in the bottle, I'm sure your doctor told you to do that - alot of doctors do to "treat" acid reflux. It does NOT treat acid reflux. Cereal in a bottle is a choking hazard (due to the baby needing to suck harder to get the formula out and then when you put just juice or just cereal in a bottle the baby sucks as hard as it would to get the cereal mix out and he/she can choke). Also, it does tend to make children overweight, cause constipation, and other problems. For the acid reflux there are low dose medicines for babies and special formula, my son was solely breastfed and was on a few different low dose acid reflux meds until we stuck with Prevacid. I'd ask your doc about changing formula and some medicine - or find a new doctor if yours keeps pushing the cereal. Also, she might be waking up so often due to the cereal in the bottle causing a stomachache.

About sleeping through the night. Babies run on thier own schedule. You can't make them sleep through the night if they aren't ready. My son was almost TWO years old before he slept through the night. Part of it was due to him being breastfed, so he ate more often than formula fed babies - but the other part was - he just wasn't ready to sleep through the night. Some children take longer to get on a schedule.

And, I don't think anyone would recommend water in place of formula for a 5 month old child.

I'm not trying to be rude at all - just have a bit of experience with these problems you are having. As hard as it might be, sleepless nights are ahead of you. Your child WILL sleep through the night though, sooner or later. It does get better.

Wow, a lot of "strong" responses here. I think every parent worries about when their little one will sleep through the night. Checking into teething was a good suggestion. Most of my kids started around 4 months, and a little bit of infant Tylenol before bed when they were teething worked wonders for getting to them to stay sleeping. The incline was also a good suggesetion. My baby sister had reflux that was the worst the doctors at the pediatric hospital had ever seen. They actually used her for case studies to educate other doctors on what seemed to work and what didn't to best treat such severe cases. So, I understand how frusterating a child with reflux can be on many levels and how you probably are feeling like you need the extra sleep from being stressed. I use the incline method for my own kids too when they are sick. When they were little I would just put a pillow or folded blanket under one end of the crib matress to create the incline while keeping dangerous stuff out of the crib.

It may of course be too that she actually does need to eat, or that she's just in a bad habit of waking up and enjoying getting some attention and closeness. If you do ascertain that she's just in a bad habit of waking up, then patting her, or rubbing her back should do the trick. Definetly do avoid the light or find one of those green colored nightlights you can turn on and off so you will have light if you need it. While any kind of light can disrupt your sleep - some wavelengths are worse than others - like red - which stupidly is the color of most alarm clock displays! Lol. If you do feel the irristable need to say something to baby, just try to limit it to "you're ok". She may fuss. She may have a huge fit. Your five year old may wake up. However your five year old, honestly from experience - is just as likely to sleep through it as anything. They sleep pretty soundly at that age - and even if she DOES wake up - she's old enough to lay back down and try to sleep if you tell her. One or two nights of baby waking everyone up is definetly worth the peace of mind sleeping through the night can bring, and it will save you a *ton* of anxiety over the baby waking up your 5 year old. My little ones have always shared a room at that age with someone else so I know how much anxiety it can cause - belive me, it is *SO* worth a few nights of knowing you're likely to be annoyed and sleep deprived (and possibly everyone else too! :) )to buy you the loss of the every night stress a screaming baby in the middle of the night can cause.

Of course if she is hungry and just isn't ready to sleep through the night yet, there's not much you can do but keep trying when the oppertunity presents itself. Even if she's waking up hungry, it may not be actual hunger every night that's waking her up - so keep an eye on that bottle, and keep trying. She'll get there eventually. :)

I don't want this to sound cruel, and it's not considering she is NOT hungry, Not messy , and nothing else is wrong to prevent her from sleeping :

One of my kids did that too.

LET HER HAVE THE MELTDOWN if it comes to that. Do it on the weekend if your 5 year old goes to school. See if after 20 minutes of just fussing if she doesn't go back to sleep . I know its hard not to go to her, but don't. Listen on the monitor.
If meltdown occurs, offer her a pacifier ( no food ) or find one of those motion and sound projectors that projects onto the cieling , my daughter loves the 'ocean sounds' one.

Try it. Good luck. Because if you don't nip this in the bud right now, you are in for bigger problems later ... she already has trained you to do what she wants at night, so it may be hard...but stick to it!
You will all sleep better for it!

Who are ou to say the baby isn't hungry? Are you her stomach?

putting oatmeal or cereal of anykind doesn't slow digestion that's a myth. It's digested at the same rate as formula without cereal added in.

It is completely normal for a baby to still need to eat several times during the night at 5months old. It's normal to still wake to eat at a year old. Babies aren't cookie cuts they don't do things on anyone's schedule but their own.

I feel your pain. I have twin girls who both had reflux and they did not sleep through the night (ever) until they were well over a year old. They did not sleep through the night consistently until they were almost four. They were on prevacid. We tried letting them cry it out and the GI dr said we could no longer do that as it was damaging twin a' s eshophagus. Now, it sounds like she has a mild form. Is she on medication? Have you tried to let her cry it out. At 5 months, she should have one bottle at most during the night. Sleep deprivation is the WORST! Let me know more details.

I don't know why parents think small children should be able to sleep through the night! Many children, breast or bottle fed or past that stage, awake during the night. Just part of parenting, I think. You'd be surprised how many families have this going on. They're just not as vocal as the ones who have used some system to keep their kids sleeping. I figure, if they wake up, they have a need! Parenting is a round-the-clock job! Hang in there, Mom! G. B.

First off (and this is positive) - my daughter had cereal from the time she was 3 weeks old, at the oldest, because her reflux was so bad that she couldn't hold down ANY food. If she had continued on that route she would have classified as "failure to thrive". So, that being said and she is now three - she is not over weight and she has NO allergies. She was also on two different medications. You're doing fine.

Now, for the sleep issue. I wish I had some advice. The same daughter didn't sleep well at all for a long time, could it be the reflux I don't know. She didn't start sleeping well until just recently. The only change at the time was a change in her pj's. She was wearing fleecy sleepers to bed, and kept changing them. When we gave her the choice (keep in mind, she's almost 3 now) she picked out shorts & t-shirts (against every grain in my body) - but she stopped changing her pj's and she started sleeping through the night. Could it be that she is to hot?? Just a thought.

Yes, M., I was exactly where you are at now, when my son was 5 months old. My husband and I went for the 6 month check up and he told the doctor how frustrating it was, to see his wife exhausted from getting up 2 times per night with our son. I would nurse him and then he would fall back asleep but it WAS having big repercussions on us both. What the pediatrician said (which I thought was ridiculous at the time) was that I could go in (if I really had to) to calm him and even hold him for a couple minutes. But, for NO REASON should I feed him. A baby at that age can go at least 8-10 hours without eating. But, your daughter is getting what she needs at that point in the night (your comfort) so it will continue until you teach her that pattern has changed. My son also has acid reflux and takes Zantac before bed and in the morning for it. So, it seemed impossible at the time, but for 3 nights, when he cried (1:30 and 4:30 am), I had to shut the monitor off and cover my head with the pillow and ignore it. The second night I went in to console him (b/c I felt like a horrible mom) but he screamed either way. But, after those 3 nights, I can honestly say, he sleeps through the night now. Every now and then he wakes up around 5 and wimpers but never cries and it doesn't usually wake my husband or step-daughter at all, like it used to. It is very difficult to get through those 3 or 4 days of "training" them but the lasting effects are SO worth it. I did it when I was off of work for a long weekend and we had my step-daughter stay with family, to make it workable for all. I was sleep-deprived those nights but now realize I had been for so long before that. He is happier now b/c he sleeps all night and I feel like I have more control b/c he is not able to wake me, at all times of the night. It is drastic but MAN does it work! Stick to your guns:)

Hello!! I have an 8 month little girl and she still wakes up in the night. How long do you let her fuss before you go to her? When my daughter wakes up it usually lasts 5 minutes, and no longer than 10-15 minutes. I'm just wondering if you might be giving in too soon? It could just be a habit she's gotten into. But like everyone else has said...it will pass eventually! Just keep a monitor nearby...if she really needs you, you'll know and she'll let you know! I wouldn't go in for just fussing - and if it is just a habit that needs to be broken...a meltdown may be required (as much as it stinks). We had a few in our house before things calmed down :)

I swear I am losing faith in some of the moms on hear day by day! Guys, come on...NOBODY has all the answers...can we please try our hardest to stick to the advice that was requested and not stick our noses into places they don't belong?!?! No, cereal in a bottle doesn't digest slower, it doesn't make baby more full, it ISNT a choking hazzard and it doesn't make babies fat...forgive me, but I don't recall any of those things being asked in this particular post!

Okay, off my soapbox...M., our pediatrician, as well, had us thicken formula with cereal to keep the feeding down because thinner liquids come back up easier! It did help...but as far as the waking up, I really think it's a habit. By 5 months your daughter absolutely has the ability to sleep all night, but the habit is hard to break. Like some other moms said, it may take a meltdown to solve it, but the good news is that it should only take a couple of nights to get thru it. Im afraid I don't have any new ideas, but I couldn't help but offer support, having been there! Often, the anticipation of breaking baby habits is worst than the act.
Good luck~

My son didn't start sleeping through the night until he was 8 months old, and then I was scolded a little by the dr. for still feeding him through the night (he was big enough and she said he didn't need it) . I would stick to your routine for a little while longer. The dr told me by 6 months he didn't need to get up and feed. It was very difficult for me b/c I also felt like I shouldn't ignore him. However, after just 2 nights of allowing him to get himself back to sleep without me coming into the room, he started sleeping through the night and wow I felt like a new woman. If you and your 5 year old can make it through just a couple of nights I learned that it paid off. He still wakes up once in a while at night and usually I will go to him, but the majority of the time he sleeps for 11 hours straight:-) Talk to your dr as well first b/c she has reflux, there may be other things to suggest.

I'm not sure why everyone is harping on you about the cereal in the bottle thing. I do nto think it is a good idea, but if my doctor told me to do something I would. Everyone trusts their doctors right? The cereal in the bottle isn't even the issue at hand.

My daughter is 13 months old now, and this is how she started sleeping through the night.
She slept in our room in a bassinet for abtou 3 weeks. We noticed she would of course get up to eat every 2 or 3 hours, I breastfed and supplemented with formula, but also when we would move in bed, or adjust a pillow etc. she woudl stir and sometimes wake up then, even if she has just eaten. So we started to put her to sleep in her own room in her crib with a monitor.

Within 2 weeks of being in her own room she was sleeping 5-6 hours at a time. We kept her room as dark as it could be, and had a humidifier in it, mainly for the noise of the fan. We had the monitor turned up loud and didn't hear a thing. I would wake up in the middle of the night worried abotu her and woudl go check and she would be sound asleep.

By 6 weeks old she would sleep 7-8 hours through the night, and then you could her her wake up and talk to herself and wiggle around for about a half hour before she actually started to fuss.

Many people told us we were lucky but I think alot of it is that I am a very calm person. Babies react to their parents emotional states, if you are calm and relaxed they will be more calm in relaxed. Do not get agitated when she wakes up during the night. Thats what babies do, just calmly quietly, and in the dark go get her, do whatever you need to, then put her back down. if you are frustrated she will sense that, and get agaitated which makes it harder for her to fall back asleep and stay asleep.

Take a few ideas from everyone and try them. No one method works for every baby, something will work in time. Good Luck.

I have a 5 1/2 month old. She went through this same thing. I nursed her and she would wake up about three times a night since birth. The routine was that I would go to her and nurse her. At three to four months it was only 5 minutes. I went knowing that she wasn't really hungry but I felt she was too little to let her "cry it out." When she was almost 5 months, she would wake up and not nurse. She was fussy; it didn't matter whether I held her. I thought it was her ears. I took her to the Dr. and he said that everything seems fine. So that night I couldn't handle the fussing any more so I let her "cry it out." She cried/fussed intermittently from about 10-11 pm. I would go to her about every 5 minutes and put the pacifier in (if possible) press her hands down and pat her butt. As time went on, the time in between her fussing got longer. She fell asleep. She did wake up at 4am and had another bout until 5am then slept until 7:30 am. I stopped nursing that next day. For the next three days she slept 11:30 pm to 4:30 am, straight. I stopped nursing so that I would know how many ounces she was getting through the day and before bed. I then introduced oatmeal before bed. (I had tried Rice at about 4 months but she did not want anything to do with it) That night she slept from 9:30 pm to 6 am. She gets 2 ounces of oatmeal and then 6 ounce bottle before bed. She sleeps 9 pm to 6:30 am everyday. I have a friend with a 6 month old and she is still nursing her but she let her fuss and cry it out and the baby is now sleeping. Do what is right for you. If you don't want her to cry then you may need to get up with her a few times. She doesn't need the bottle at night. Try a pacifier or water but remember if you start this, then this will become a routine. I have three children and with each child it came to a point at 5-6 months that I had to let them fuss/cry for a night or two and then they slept. You need to decide what works for you. Good luck.

some babies sleep and some dont its completely normal! you are doing everything right dont worry it will happen eventually :) just try to keep it as dark and quiet as you can during the night feedings :)

I have a 14 month old who just started sleping through the night, and she only does it once in awhile. If she has reflux I am sure you were told to feed her less more often, well that goes for the night too. My daughter nursed at least once a night until she was 11 months old. I am still not concerned about the sleep since I still don't sleep through the night. Try Sleep Solutions for the Infant, Toddler, and Preschooler, it explains night awakenings and why they happen. Don't worry about sleeping through the night yet, it will happen on your daughter's time frame.

I think that sleeping through the night is a developmental milestone.. some kids do it sooner than others.

My son is 10 months and he is up once or twice anight to breastfeed.

Some day your daughter will sleep through the night. I would feed her if she is hungry..

reflux babies can not hold as much food or they puke.. so they need to eat smaller meals less often.

they grow up soon enough.. I really dont mind feeding my son in the middle of the nightt.. It is special cudding time.

Hi M.,
Is your daughter sleeping in your room? I am only asking because usually at around this age, babies start to realize when they wake up, that you are not with them, so they fuss or cry. Many people will have babies who slept through the night at an early age, only to reach this age and start waking up again. I agree also that she may need the calories, usually babies who are not hungry will not eat. They are very good at knowing how much their bodies need! She may quite doing this on her own. Good luck!

My grandson was going through the same thing. the doctor told my daughter that she should not pick him up just cover him and rub his back, by all means do not talk to her. It took a few days and the frequency decreased and within a month no more waking in the middle of the night

most kids at 5 mo. do wake at night...
We don't have any light in our kids rooms when they are sleeping... Its scientifically proven that any amount of light disrupts your bodys ability to make what is known as the sleep chemical... So, try it without the light. It may help lengthen the sleep and make the quality of the sleep better. If you need to go in they have nightlights that you can turn on and off... that will give you enough light to see, but still keep the light low enough to not disturb the drowsiness...
I would discorage switching to water. If she's waking up because she is hungry then she needs the calories that a bottle would give her. She's growing tremendously right now so don't short her on the fuel she needs.
How is her day time napping schedule? Any chance to maybe shorten or combine naps so she does get the majority of sleep at night?

Ok.. I'm not going to harp on the cereal in the bottle thing ... because enough people have already done that. Suffice to say...I agree with them. It is NOT a good idea. It irritates me that doctors even recommend this frankly.

As for sleeping through the night... some kids do some don't. My daughter who is almost 8 months does not.

She is breastfed and for many months I was feeding her every time she woke up. When we went for our 6 month checkup our pediatrician suggested to see if she REALLY was hungry. Frankly, I was too sleepy to really recognize if she was comfort sucking or feeding sucking. Anyway...he suggested that possibly she was waking from teething pain... and to try and soothe her back to sleep with something other than food. Sure enough...that was it. I didn't even get engorged when we cut out the night feedings cold turkey! So, that told me she really wasn't eating. She too was waking 3-4 times each night.

Now she eats her last milk at 10pm ... sleeps until 2am... wakes up for a bit, goes back to sleep until 5 or 6am when she eats again.

It is NORMAL for children to not sleep through the night. I'm not sure where the idea that babies should sleep through the night ever came from. There are so many things that affect their sleeping. Particularly at 5/6 months of age. They are gaining strength and possibly mobility... they are anxious to try their new skills. They will cycle through deep sleep and light sleep and something may wake them during light sleep. This is also the time when seperation anxiety can set in. So...they wake up...may play a little in the crib or wherever they sleep... and then realize 'hey.. mommy isn't here!' Sometimes they just want to touch base with mom and dad.

At this point your daughter is expecting the bottle because that is what you've always given her. Try something different. You may have to actually pick her up and soothe her yourself for a night or two... but that isn't a bad thing. Tending to our childrens needs is a GOOD thing. Letting them know we are there to help them, comfort them, and soothe them is a GOOD thing. It builds self-esteem and strong children. Letting them lie there to fend for themselveds... not so good. Sometimes yes... just a little pat on the back is all they need and they go back to sleep. You don't have to pick her up all the time. But while you transition to something else, you may have to.

I would first determine if she REALLY is hungry. Does she fall alseep quickly after getting the bottle... or does she finish it all (like during the day) before falling asleep. Try offering a teether (chilled feels really good to them)... see if it is teething pain.

When you think about it.. most adults don't actually SLEEP through the night. We wake up, turn over and go back to sleep... or get up and go to the bathroom, get a drink of water... kick off the covers... whatever. Babies don't know how to fix what is wrong... so they call out to us to fix it. That's what parents are for.

Once you determine what the issue really is ... then you can work to correct it.

Good luck.

Seriously, who told you that a 5 month old is supposed to sleep through the night? For whatever reason, many parents have the ridiculous notion that their baby is supposed to sleep through the night for 12 hours when the parents don't even sleep that long . . . An infant's stomach is approximately the size of a golf ball so she will need to be fed every 2-4 hours. Sleeping through the night for an infant is usually about 6 hours. Many infants do not sleep 6 hours straight until they reach 7-8 months old and this is usually after the introduction of solids. It is your job as the parent to "teach" her good sleep habits. If she is fussing, give her 5-10 minutes before going in to check on her. There is a difference between flat out screaming her head off because something is wrong and fussing because "mommy I'm bored." Let her put herself to sleep. Give her some time when she starts fussing. If she's still fussing after 5-10 minutes, go in and check on her, reassure her that everything's okay, then put her back in her crib. It's going to take some time and patience, but if you stay consistent, she will be sleeping in her crib through the night by 10-12 months (not counting teething or other milestones). It's just something you have to go through . . .

Hello M., Water for this age baby is a bad idea. They are growing fast and need the nutrients, and vitamins. My daughters son is 4 1/2 mos and went through the same thing. When she stopped allowing him to sleep for more than 1 hour for naps in the 2nd half of the day, he began sleeping through the night. About 5 hours, which is a long time for this age, then would go back to sleep for another 3-4 after eating(breast milk only). This too will pass. Children learn more in the first 2 years of their lives than at any other time. They should triple their body weight by their 1st birthday. That is alot to go through, so they need calories, routine, and consistancy in their lives. Try creating white noise for your older child also, so if the baby has a melt down, it isn't as likely that he will wake up also. The first year is hard, hang in there, it does get better. Good luck, hope this helps.

Hate to burst anyones bubble, but my almost 3 year old doesn't sleep through the night everynight.... Just try to get the rest you can.
IMO, 5 months is to young to even think of sleeping all night.
I don't even think my 7 year old neice sleeps all night, she at least gets up to go potty.