Problem with 5 Month Old Not Sleeping

My son is now almost 7 months, but like your son, always slept well...from 9-5, waking up to nurse, then back to sleep till almost 8 usually. That was between 1-5 mnths. Then at shortly after 5 mths old, he'd wake 3 or 4 times during the nite, i'd nurse him, and he'd go back to sleep....but this last for 4 weeks. Until we gave him some baby food...immediately he slept all nite again. He also started teething at 5 mths, but the teeth never seemed to bother him too much. The food helped him sleep. At least for 3 weeks, now he's back to waking once or twice, but I think we need to start food more than once a day....

I THINK if you try giving just a little food around dinner time (we did half a jar of vegetable to start) u might find this to help.

A.:

Boy do I know your pain! Both my kids had similar issues (but never slept as well as your little one did earlier:) ). I think your are right...it does sound like a growth spurt. Also, babies will wake up more often when hitting a developmental milestone...turning over, sitting up, walking, etc.

You say he sleeps a lot during the day...if you can you might try keeping him up a little more and "tank" him up as much as possible with feedings during the day. Also, starting the solids could help too with that.

A rule of thumb with babies...once you get used to one sleeping patter it always changes.

Hang in there and try to get some sleep for yourself too-we found that doing shifts helped. I would nurse the baby then go to bed at 8pm so I could get some uninteruped sleep. This would help me get through the waking up periods at night. Also, will he take a bottle? If so you could pump and have some extra milk so that your husband could take some feeds. Think of this time as survival mode-do what you need to do to take care of yourself and the baby!

at 5 mos, I definitely think its time to start cereal. but start at night time, sometimes it helps them sleep longer at night, but don't let that fool you, most times it doesn't, and it isn't likely to help him sleep 12 hours for a while.

Try feeding him cereal at night, after a few weeks if he takes a liking to it, start him on cereal during the day too, mornings,

definitely sounds like a growth spurt to me.

I think you should try breaking him of the swaddling habit though, at 5 mos, they shouldn't have any blankets in the bed due to SIDS risks, and if you don't break him soon, it might become a requirement, and he might freak and make things harder on you once he's even bigger than he is now.

good luck!

D.

Hi A.,
Your baby could be teething now. Mine teethed from age 3-5 months, then the first 2 teeth finally cut through. He woke up every 1-2 hrs during that time period. You don't need to start solids unless you want to. Plenty of babies that breastfeed exclusively do sleep through the night. Some do wake for hunger, but it's always a guessing game with these little babies. You will get more sleep if you sleep with the baby. The teething time can last a long time and you can be there to sooth him without having to get up and out of bed so many times during the night. Co-sleeping families can and do successfully transition the children out of their bed when the time is right for them, so don't let that prevent you if you want to go that route. Also, read 'The no cry sleep solution', for other ideas to help him sleep through the night.
Good luck!

Hi A.: We experienced something very similar. Our daughter was sleeping long stretches until around 4 1/2 or 5 months and then started waking up at closer and closer intervals. I don't have any concrete advice, because we are still going through it, but wanted to let you know that I have heard from MANY PEOPLE, that babies can change sleep habits around 5 months because of all the new stuff they are starting to do and the physical changes that are happening. I guess it depends on your level of sanity (or insanity). Sleep deprivation is awful and we have struggled through some really tough nights for sure. There are two books I can mention to you, that you might find helpful to look at: The No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley and Good Night Sleep Tight by Kim West. They both offer some valuable ideas. You can either follow them to a "T" or implement what makes sense and what you are comfortable with. Some people will suggest the Ferber Method as well. I just personally am not comfortable with cry-it-out so would rather take the slow train. We also like Dr. Sears and he has a comprehensive Baby Book in which he does discuss night wakings. Our daughter nurses to sleep and at present this works fine for us. I know there is a lot of pressure to put your baby down awake, etc., and it sounds fine and all, but for us this would turn into a cry-it-out situation. It's hard to remember this, but when it comes down to it, all these babies are unique individuals and what works for one won't work for all. I have decided that taking it one day at a time works best. I also have tried to get my husband more involved in night comforting, so that it's not all me; however, I still do most of the night wakings and I'm with you on how brutal it can be. Sometimes she lets him and other times I relieve him, but we've had some great success with her sleeping longer stretches after he puts her down, though no pattern established yet. Follow your instincts: If you think he needs to eat, feed him. I've heard from many folks, including our pediatrician, that solids DO NOT help babies sleep through the night, so if you want to wait until 6 months, listen to that. Sorry this was a bit rambly, but I wanted you to know that you are not alone and that there are MANY mommies with babies who are waking up frequently at night. Good Luck! C.

A., I just went through this same scenario last month with my 7.5 month old son. He started sleeping through night at 4 months, but it was short lived due to our crazy summer. I tried two combined methods, one from the Baby Whisperer and the other from No-Cry Sleep Solution. In the first couple days I concentrated on getting him into a daytime routine, making sure he was waking at approx. the same time each day and having breakfast, lunch and dinner at approx. the same time each day ,as well as his naps. I continued my nighttime usual trying to gradually soothe instead of breastfeed him back to sleep. Then I moved into cutting out night feedings altogether by just picking him up until he was calm and putting him back down, at first I would pick up for 5-10min. get him calm, put him down and he'd scream again so I started the same process again....the most time it ever lasted was 1 hour., the next night he did better and by the third night I almost didn't have to pick him up at all...and we moved into the next phase where we would go in, rub his back and shhhh him until he settled....now he wakes occasionally but I can get him settled in less than 10 secs. He will still occastionaly wake and not settle right away, in which case, we check to make sure he's not wet and we know he's not hungry, so we will let him cry it out for 2-5 min. to see if he settles himself and if not we will go in and lay him back down to which he will usually just stay and fall back to sleep. Now if we could just get him to sleep through night altogether, but we are significantly better than we were just 2 weeks ago. You just have to be consistent and once you start don't stop.....I will admit it is hard for a couple of days,but it is so worth those two nights of little sleep to get to where we are now as opposed to before. I found the following website so helpful www.babywhispererforums.com I wish you the best of luck and sleep soon. By the way, we saw the pediatrician last week and she told me that babies who weigh over 11 lbs. can now hold fat reserves and do not need to eat through the night, as long as they are taking in 18-24 oz. a day of milk/formula (my son's also on solids now), but that's always hard to know when you breastfeed. Goodluck!

At 4.5 months my daughter began waking multiple times in the night and her pedi told me to start her on cereal. Within a few weeks she was sleeping 12 hours at night and nursing 4 times during the day. Teething is hard to diagnose. Starting him on food won't hurt him if that is what you decide to do. It was our choice over sleep deprivation and medication. Good luck.

Hi A.,
It took my 4 month old almost a month to get back on her "normal" routine after we traveled... There may be hope!!
I'm with you on waiting to start solids. Although he maybe ready. I would try some cereal, give it a try. If he isn't interested, then you know you continue nursing. I thought mine was ready when she was eye balling my food one night - I tried a tiny bit of cereal, no interest! So I'm sticking with the nursing. She is back to sleeping through most nights, although occasionally still gets up a bit more to nurse.
Sounds like you are doing a great job following your babies needs!