5 Mth Old Fighting Sleep

I remember that mine would wake up when I laid them on the cold bed. We solved this by putting an electric blanket on the mattress, then moving it before laying him down. The other options were a sheet, towel etc... fresh from the warm dryer when you lay them down or a larger receiving blanket under them when you hold them. Then when you lay them down keep the blanket under them. This will continue to give them the warmth from your body as well as their body heat. Good Luck

hi-
Have you tried Dr Karp's 5 S’s to calm to sleep? http://www.happiestbaby.com/
• Swaddling - Tight swaddling provides the continuous touching and support the fetus experienced while still in Mom's womb.
• Side/stomach position - You place your baby, while holding her, either on her left side to assist in digestion, or on her stomach to provide reassuring support. Once your baby is happily asleep, you can safely put her in her crib, on her back.
• Shushing Sounds - These sounds imitate the continual whooshing sound made by the blood flowing through arteries near the womb. This white noise can be in the form of a vacuum cleaner, a hair dryer, a fan and so on. The good news is that you can easily save the motors on your household appliances and get a white noise CD which can be played over and over again with no worries.
• Swinging - Newborns are used to the swinging motions that were present when they were still in Mom's womb. Every step mom took, every movement caused a swinging motion for your baby. After your baby is born, this calming motion, which was so comforting and familiar, is abruptly taken away. Your baby misses the motion and has a difficult time getting used to it not being there. "It's disorienting and unnatural," says Karp. Rocking, car rides, and other swinging movements all can help.
• Sucking - "Sucking has its effects deep within the nervous system," notes Karp, "and triggers the calming reflex and releases natural chemicals within the brain." This "S" can be accomplished with breast, bottle, pacifier or even a finger.

GREAT video clip with Dr Karp: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6KnVPUdEgQ

good luck!

My now seven month old son went through the same thing. It is just now starting to get better. I talked to my doctor about it at his six month check up and she said to continue rocking him and he would get better. She also suggested to feed him cereal a little later and I think that also helped a lot. Now we usually feed him between 7-8 and then he takes his bath and gets ready for bed. By 8:30-9 he is ready to nurse and go to sleep. I make sure he is asleep and by 9-9:30 lay him down. He used to have to be in a deep sleep to stay in bed, but now he can just be getting to sleep and stay in the bed. I have also noticed that if he is over sleepy he is harder to get to sleep, he fights it more. I'm not sure what time your son is going to sleep, but that may be it to. Good luck and just hang it there it gets better.

I think some just fight it more than others. The most helpful advice I got was to establish a routine that he will associate with bedtime-not just the cuddling. My 2nd boy is just 10 months and I worked really hard on a routine that works for us. He gets a nighttime video (like Baby Bach or a Veggietales singalong) and then I feed him cereal with a bit of fruit (he has acid reflux, so this helps his tummy too). And then I give him part of his bottle, change his diaper and outfit and then the rest of the bottle. And then I would turn him and cuddle him close-if he fought it I would hold firm but gentle and I'd pat or rub his back and gentle bounce him a little. Now when he is done with the bottle, he starts to turn himself onto me to cuddle close and the eyes start closing just that quickly. But it took awhile. The other thing, this is from the experts, lol... is after following a nighttime routine, give him a special toy or book or lovey that is done only for sleep and then you put him down and when he cries, you do not pick him up, but talk to him soothingly and check on him every couple minutes. And then you lengthen the time out of the room, to 3 minutes and so on. And after about a week, the baby is supposed to not really cry when put down. In as small an apt as we are in, this was not possible, since my other son is asleep in one room and my husband is asleep in the other before the baby is ready to go down. Hope this helps...

We had this same problem & found out that we were putting her to bed too late. She was overly tired. We moved her bedtime back & she quit waking up after we put her down. We did still have to rock her to sleep (she's 2 now & we're just now getting away from that), but at least she stayed asleep.

its hard to deal with but what i did with my kids was try to soothe them from the crib or bassinet not picking them up just patting ther butt or rubbing ther back and talking to them . if that wouldnt work i would just let them cry its hard i kno, i sweat n breath heavy n it actually turns my stomach but normally after the first night it gets better n each night after gets a little easier

It sounds like he is getting overtired. Try to put him down every two hours during the day for naps even if he appears wide awake. When babies become overtired they get restless sleep and are much more difficult to to settle in. Try to soothe the baby while he is laying in his crib. Pat his back, rub his head, just try not to hold him while he is falling asleep. He may fuss a little but eventually he will learn to settle down while in his crib and not in your arms. I know when mine were little I would rock to sleep and then pray they didn't wake when I would go to lay them down. Most times it didn't work so I tried staying with them and help them fall asleep just not by holding them. Try not to be bothered by the fussing as difficult as it is to listen to as long as he is fed, dry, and you are with him you are not doing anything to hurt him. I also put music on for my children to fall asleep to that helped. The important thing is to put them down before they become overtired, sometimes we miss the cues because we wait until they are rubbing their eyes, and crying to put them down. One other suggestion is to create the same bedtime routine. I always gave my children an evening bath that helped to relax them. You can still feed them and rock in the rocking chair but put them down awake and then pat them and stay with them until they fall asleep. Good luck!!