sleeping question... help please

wileswife

Ok so DS is EBF and is almost 5 months. through month 2 and 3 he slept great, waking up once and right back down. I left him for 10 days with my MIL here at my house and she fed him bottles of EBM and he went down at 8 and woke up to eat at 4 if at all and woke for the day at 8-9am..... then I come back and for the last 3 weeks he is waking at midnight-1am and then at 4-5 before waking for the day. I know that doesnt sound too bad but one extra feeding is really killing me because we get up at 6 so the sleep is just so broken that I feel like a flipping zombie! I think i was sleeping better with a 1 month old than with my 5 month old.

I tried giving him a bottle of EBM before bed thinking that he was falling asleep at the boob too fast and not getting enough to eat but it didnt help. I tried extra feedings during the day and tried feeding every hour for 4 hours before bed. He wont be soothed when he wakes up until you feed him but all the books say he should be able to go 6 hours. He falls asleep easily and on his own in his crib so that isnt the issue. I tried to do the "Healthy sleep Habits" book thing and let him cry but 10-15 min is all I can do because I know he is just hungry. He is almost 5 months and 17+ pounds and 27.5 inches so he is a big kid and I dont know if it makes any difference. Is this the 4 month wakeful and how do I make it stop and get him to sleep longer? I just need a good nights sleep. HELP please! (oh and my DH cant help at night because he is in army flight school and needs to get crew rest so he cant get up... not that he would hear the monitor anyway!)

blos35seed91

Maybe it's time to start solids?

pixiedustie

First of all the books don't know your child, if you know he is hungry then he is hungry.  It is very possible he is going through a growth spurt and just needs to eat more.  I know it is rough to have such broken sleep, but if he was a good sleeper before he will probably go back to being a good sleeper.  Try having Dh take a shift so you can get some more sleep, good luck.

azaretsky

The SAME thing is happening to us!! And DS is about the same age as your LO! I attributed it to 4-m wakeful, and I'm keeping fingers crossed that it'll go away soon.