Mom Needs Advice on Sleeping

I would try to start some cereal--she's most likely hungry. Or at least give her bottle in the middle of the night if you want her to sleep more soundly and for longer times.

I thinks she is waking up because she is hungry. I was giving me daughters rice cereal at 4 months. I really don't think at 5 1/2 months their little tummys can make it through the night without it. If you are that against the cereal then maybe you should be giving her a bottle when she wakes up? Best of luck to you.

I could be that she is just hungry. I have two children 9yrs and 7yrs. One thing I learned when they were babies was to never get too comfortable with there sleeping habits. As soon as I did, it would change. She could just be going through a growth spurt and need to eat more. I hope you find the answers you need!

I haven't read other responses yet, but wanted to give you my idea. My daughter was doing great with sleeping also, then all the sudden started to wake up every 2-3 hours at night. I also nurse. I did nurse through the night when this was happening. I thought maybe it was a growth spurt, but it lasted for 3 months. I think it had to do with teeth. About 3 weeks after the night-waking started, my daughter cut her first 2 teeth. Teething has continued since then (she now has 6)and in the last couple of weeks (since the top two have completely cut through)she has gone back to her old (and much better)sleeping habits. Does your daughter have any teeth yet or is showing any signs of teething? I wish I could help more, but it seems that if it is teeth you will have to deal with this until things change a bit. I gave my daughter Tylenol, but it did not help her sleep any longer. I was so tired, but nothing lasts forever-the teething will end (or whatever is causing her to wake). I hope your daughter's night-waking is short-lived so you can get back to sleeping well!

Maybe you should start cereal now. Her belly maybe hungry. What time does she go to bed and what is her last feeding time? There is nothing wrong with starting a little cereal now. How come you wanted to wait until 6 months?

My son is now 5 months old, although, he is a very big boy over 18 pounds. I had the same situation, and started giving him rice cereal, fruit and oatmeal cereal. All along he is just waking because he was HUNGRY, very HUNGRY. Now he sleeps 8 to 12 hours at night. Why do you want to wait on the cereal? My peditrician said if they will tolerate food - go for it.... Good luck. T.

I would nurse her when she wakes. I personally would not have stopped nursing a 5 1/2 month old child at night. They still need to eat at night. Their bellies only hold a small amount of food and empty quickly. I wouldn't introduce rice cereal as it is a filler and just ends up causing gas. Breastmilk or formula is really all they need at this stage.

I'm not sure why you want to wait until she is 6 months for the cereal. Any advice you get regarding feeding times is just a guideline. All babies are different. And quite likely if you give her some rice cereal before bedtime she will sleep all night. She's probably hungry.

We had the same issue. Our baby slept through the night but wnet through a period at about 5 months and again at 9 months where she started waking during the night. I t was never related to hunger... it might have been teething or new skills. I just rocked her back to sleep as you are doing and within about 1-2 weeks she went back to her usual sleeping self:) Just be patient, if she was hungry she wouldn't go back to sleep so easily! (Although it is a good time to be starting rice cereal and solids anyway)

It's not necessarily hunger that's waking her -- it could be teething, too. My baby never slept through the night until she was 11 months old because she was constantly teething since she was 4 months old. When the teething was bad, she was waking every 2 hours (even with Tylenol) and needed me to nurse her back to sleep.

My understanding about solids is that if you rush it, they might experience allergies or digestive problems. But since your baby's 5 1/2 months old, it might not be too early to try a little solids (with your doctor's OK). But if it doesn't work at helping her sleep, then you may have ruled out hunger as the cause.

I feel your pain. My 6 month old was sleeping through the night and suddenly she has started waking up around 2am and is up again at 5am. She takes a cereal bottle before bed. The only other thing I can think of is teething.

A little about me:

I am a veteran and military spouse. I have 2 daughters, 3 years old and a 6 month old. I do child care in home and work for work at home united.

Sorry, Rachel, I must veto your advice. T., DO NOT put rice cereal in a bottle! It is a fallacy that this makes babies sleep longer! They found it can lead to obesity, and besides, babies are supposed to learn how to chew food, not have it given in a bottle.
I found "The No Cry Sleep Solution" by Pantley is helpful. :)

sounds like a growth spurt to me, u might want to feed her at night, especially since shes not eating cereal yet. my son went thru it too and didnt become dependent on night feedings again. it lasted a few days and then he went back to normal.
i def dont agree with rice in the bottle - it can lead to choking and other problems. and for those who advised "stuffing" ur baby during the day?! shame on u! def not good, unless u want an overweight baby. babies need time to grow!

T.,
Each mother is different and lots of Moms do things differently. I started my son at 4 months with the OK from the Ped, on cereal and yellows and orange fruits/veggies. I made sure that my sons 'last' feeding at night starting at 4 months was a bowl of cereal with applesauce, pears or banana mixed in. Nice and hearty. Then gave him a bottle at his bedtime routine. He had a full belly and pretty much slept thru the night. We had to do the cry it out at 6 months for 2 nights because he was so used to getting up for a bottle in the night but we knew he was not hungry/wet/sick etc..., it was just habit. But I would def start cereal now, in the morning and the evening. #1's thru the day with her bottles.
Good luck
Christina

She definitely needs more food during the day. That is the cause of light sleeping at night 99% of the time. Kids can sleep through the night by 3 months if you stuff them. If it's humanly possible, feed her more often in the day, and cereal won't hurt her. The key is not just beefing up the night bottle, but increasing food all day long. I would add cereal to one or two pumped bottles a day and try to get in one extra feeding. It takes a few days to register, but you'll see a huge improvement. When you know she's eaten a lot, you can start letting her sooth herself to sleep so you can remove yourself from her nights completely. Get some sleep, good luck!

T., I remember when my son did something similar to that around that same age. We realized that if he wasn't crying, to just leave him alone and let him fall back asleep. Sometimes he wasn't even awake, just making noise in his sleep. I have realized that we all wake during the night, but as adults, we don't make a big production out of it and fall back asleep. My son, now 15 months, usually sleeps thorughout the night without disruption but ever now and again will wake up and chatter in the middle of the night and eventually go back to sleep on his own. I may check on him to make sure his diaper isn't wet or ensure that the temp is comfortable, but other than that, we leave him alone. We refer to it as him having a "party" in the middle of the night. Bottom line, if she isn't crying, you might want to leave her alone. If she is crying, give her a few minutes to maybe calm down and fall back asleep.
They like to change it up all the time so try to be flexible. Chances are she will be sleeping soundly by next week and you will have forgotten about these night wakings....until next time. good luck.

Hi T.,

Here are some web sites:

http://slumbersounds.com/baby-bedtime-rituals-info.htm

http://www.bellybelly.com/au/articles.baby/15-ways-to-hel...

http://www.minti.com/parenting-advice/13/top-ten-ways-to-...

Hope this helps. D.

Hi T.,
My daughter is 5 1/2 months also, and she has gone through something similar. She has slept through the night since about 10 weeks, usually between 9-11 hours per night. In the past week or two she has been waking several times a night and the other night even took a bottle at 3 am, which she hasn't done in a long time. I am just chalking it up to a phase. It is not typical for a baby to STTN continuously for their whole first year. Issues like growth spurts, teething, and learning new skills interrupts their sleep from time to time. Has she learned a new skill recently? Mine just started rolling a lot and I think she wants to move so much now that she can't stay asleep and stay calm like she used to. It will most likely pass in a week or so!

Hi T.,

Your daughter may be going through another growth spurt. You may want to nurse her during the night. She may keep waking up because she is hungry. Many babies can't sleep all the way through the night until they are much older. Even though she used to do it before, she may need a little food to help her out now.

J.

HI T., Well it could be two things either she is used to eating in the night and now she isn't getting it and is hungary. I gave both my kids cereal in their bottles before bedtime. I thought it helped with the sleeping. My daughter was 5 months and my son was 3 months. I just made the hole in the nipple larger and I was able to sleep and so were the kids. Good Luck on this. R. C.

the baby needs more food. i started feeding my son rice right around the time he turned four months old. does it really make a difference if she is 5.5 months or 6 months?
give her some rice cereal with breast milk. start off with a little bit. she may take a week or so to figure out how to swallow it but she will. once she turns six months old you could also start some baby oatmeal also. take it from there. you may be able to start feeding her fruits and veggies.