would love some ideas/ feedback- 5 month old not sleeping through the night

irishsmiles428

Hi everyone,

I called my Dr on this one and he was really no help. Wondering if you can help me.

My son is 5 and a half months old. He was sleeping through the night around 3 months, now he is FAR FROM IT!

I put him to sleep around 8:30 after eating about 7 oz. He wakes around 11:30- very wet. I change him. Get him back down and then he wakes a few times during the night- sometimes to eat, sometimes for binky, sometimes for seemingly no reason at all. It is exhausting.

He usually gets up at 5:30 AM, I feed him and we both go back to bed immediately. He usually sleeps a good 3 hours after that 5:30 feeding. I cant determine if this is a 3 hour nap or if getting up at 5:30 is considered "waking up during the night".  At about 8:30, he has another bottle, we play and then he naps around 10:30.

I cant keep waking up during the night like this! Im exhausted and going back to work in a month. Im desperate for a schedule- PLEASE help! I wont be offended if you tell me Im doing it all wrong!

 

leesa031906

in total how many oz does he drink?

It could be cause he's not satisfied with the amount he is drinking now.

beckpreg

I feel your pain. Mine is the same age and has only EVER slept 5 hours once. Every night over here, mine wakes every 2/3 hours non stop. I guess Im just accustomed to it now. And then he is wide awake anywhere from 530-630 every morning. I think ive given up on it changing so that way I am not disappointed if it continues for the rest of my life.

Ive tried LITERALLY everything. no dice. I guess he is just a sensitive sleeper. I had so hoped he would get my sleep but I think he got my husband's.

Countrygirl0289

I am a FTM, but i know from what my mom has told me about my self and my new LO. He could be over stimulated during the day? idk if you are a stay at home mom,or working...think of any changes, like moving, daily activities and such! it may seem simple and non stimulating to us but for them!!! but maybe he is not getting enough to eat? have you started him on solids! if not try that! It is totally up to you, but rice cereal has arsenic in it, it is ok if it is givin once a day, but after then it is bad. I choose not to do rice at all! they have oatmeal but he can develop celiacs if you have Irish in him!  I know my LO is 3 m and strictly Bfeed, so I have started solids and he can sleep from 10 to 5/6am! he will only eat once after a dinner of Breast milk at 6/7 and hour after that some solid food, then feed again at 9/10(breastmilk)... for a breast fed baby that is good so I have been told! idk if you know but breast fed babies dont stay full as long. so that 2oz of solid keeps him pretty full. hope that helps!

cporfido1981

beckpreg:

I feel your pain. Mine is the same age and has only EVER slept 5 hours once. Every night over here, mine wakes every 2/3 hours non stop. I guess Im just accustomed to it now. And then he is wide awake anywhere from 530-630 every morning. I think ive given up on it changing so that way I am not disappointed if it continues for the rest of my life.

Ive tried LITERALLY everything. no dice. I guess he is just a sensitive sleeper. I had so hoped he would get my sleep but I think he got my husband's.

This is me exactly . Nathan is 4.5 months and 17lbs ,

irishsmiles428

Thanks. 

He is eating solids now (fruit and veggies stage 1 and 2 - as per Dr and oatmeal) He drinks about 30 oz a day, I would guess. I started a log today because the dr did ask me that and I didnt know.

Okay- he just woke up! 17 min nap! uuugh!!!!!!! 

beccalee721

My daughter just started sleeping through the night (7:30pm-7am) about a week ago, right after she hit 6 months. So I have a few suggestions.. Are you using a nighttime diaper or a regular diaper for bedtime? We use Luvs during the day, because I love they way they fit her (and the price), but we use Huggies overnight diapers for bed. They're a lot thicker and she's completely dry after 12 hours of sleep. When we switched to those we noticed she wasn't waking up as often. The waking to eat will fall away on its own, at least that's my opinion. My daughter dropped to one feeding a night at about 4 1/2 or 5 months, and dropped the other a week ago. She is eating rice or oatmeal for breakfast, lunch and dinner and we started vegetables, so that might help keep her full. Obviously it takes time to figure out if they're waking up to eat or for other reasons, but if you know he's not hungry and shouldn't be really wet and he's crying, I let her cry for about 10-15 minutes before I do anything. We started doing that at about 3 months and it took about a week for her to figure it out, but she puts herself back to sleep now with no problems. I've never had to go in there to give her her pacifier or rock her or anything. If it's the middle of the night, I set an alarm on my phone for 10 minutes later and silence the monitor and go back to sleep. For my daughter, if she's still awake it's because she's hungry.  If he's waking up for some unknown reason try waiting a bit before you help him. Hope you figure out something that helps!

cmhicklin

kbruington:

"He usually gets up at 5:30 AM, I feed him and we both go back to bed immediately. He usually sleeps a good 3 hours after that 5:30 feeding. I cant determine if this is a 3 hour nap or if getting up at 5:30 is considered "waking up during the night". At about 8:30, he has another bottle, we play and then he naps around 10:30"

I would consider this a MOTN feeding because he goes right back to sleep.

IMO....this all sounds pretty normal for a young baby...especially the regression part. I don't know how many times I've read on these boards "My baby USED to STTN now he's not. Why?" I found that once I realized regression happen all the time, I lowered my expectations and was much happier!

I know that waking up in the night with him is exhausting but it comes with the territory and might not be totally avoidable. You could try some sort of sleep training for the times he wakes up for reasons other than hunger but if he needs a MOTN feeding, you kind of just have to keep doing it until he outgrows that. I'm sure you know this, just giving my input because I've been there.

All of this.  I was super happy when my first started STTN at 7 weeks.  And then teething happened, and she woke up 2 to 3 times a night for like 6 months.  Teething and milestones and a million other things can affect your babies sleeping.  I hope things get better for you, but I think you need to have realistic expectations.

sbevmc09

Agreed with PPs, it's probably the first of many regressions to come.  Look into the 4 month wakeful.  I'm guessing you're at the tail end of that.  I doubt you're doing anything wrong, you'll just have to deal with it until they outgrow it.  I would guess that will be relatively soon.

When I had DS I thought once he was STTN we were golden!  No one told me about all the regressions or the fact that every little thing can impact sleep.  He has a stuff nose right now and has been up 3x overnight the last 2 nights.  Meanwhile, my infant slept straight through.  Oy!   

rockyrollgirl

How long are his naps during the day? You could try sleep training him to take longer naps. Maybe get a white noise machine to drown out any outside noise. You could also try getting him to bed a bit earlier. Like a half hour at a time. It has been shown that babies that get to bed earlier tend to sleep longer. Start a routine about a hour before you want him to sleep and stick to that schedule. Turn down all the lights and noise. Try to encourage him to eat the most during the day. When he wakes up, don't automatically jump to pick him up. Wait to see if he falls asleep back on his own. Of course if he is hungry then feed him, but keep all of that very quiet and low key. 

Of course every baby is different (this can be completely normal), but sometimes these little cat naps just don't do the trick. My LO used to do that and then I had to deal with a baby that just wouldn't go to sleep.

irishsmiles428

Thanks.

His naps during the day dont exceed 30 minutes. 

pgros005

irishsmiles428:

Hi everyone,

I called my Dr on this one and he was really no help. Wondering if you can help me.

My son is 5 and a half months old. He was sleeping through the night around 3 months, now he is FAR FROM IT!

I put him to sleep around 8:30 after eating about 7 oz. He wakes around 11:30- very wet. I change him. Get him back down and then he wakes a few times during the night- sometimes to eat, sometimes for binky, sometimes for seemingly no reason at all. It is exhausting.

He usually gets up at 5:30 AM, I feed him and we both go back to bed immediately. He usually sleeps a good 3 hours after that 5:30 feeding. I cant determine if this is a 3 hour nap or if getting up at 5:30 is considered "waking up during the night".  At about 8:30, he has another bottle, we play and then he naps around 10:30.

I cant keep waking up during the night like this! Im exhausted and going back to work in a month. Im desperate for a schedule- PLEASE help! I wont be offended if you tell me Im doing it all wrong!

 

 

I would see if you could wean the binky. One less thing to wake him at night. We never introduced a pacifier (ok, she wouldn't take one...we did introduce it ) and I find that has helped a lot since we never have a wake up due to that. Maybe also add a half ounce to the day time bottles? I try very hard to make sure she babygirl eats 7-8 times during the day. We still wake up once a night- between 3:30 and 5 usually- but I'll take it. Also, whenever I don't know what's going on, my reason is always this:

 "...because she's a baby."  

pitterpatter129

irishsmiles428:

Thanks.

His naps during the day dont exceed 30 minutes. 

The naps should exceed 30 min.  Babies who sleep longer/better during the day sleep better at night.  And waking multiple times is completely normal.  Even my 2 yr old rarely sleeps through the entire night.  Here's a great sleep timeline. It also says 52% of toddlers get up once per night still.

https://www.thealphaparent.com/2013/01/timeline-of-baby-and-toddler-sleep.html

 

ericalee27

sbevmc09:

Agreed with PPs, it's probably the first of many regressions to come.  Look into the 4 month wakeful.  I'm guessing you're at the tail end of that.  I doubt you're doing anything wrong, you'll just have to deal with it until they outgrow it.  I would guess that will be relatively soon.

  

 

This! DS1 didnt STTN until 11 months!

 

 

 

jaimevogt

A few thoughts?

- could it be the famed "4 month wakefuls" and he'll just get over it?

- Do you really need to change the diaper? If it's only a little wet and doesn't seem uncomfortable, maybe leaving it on will wake him up less, keeping him in a deeper sleep.

- are you talking to him during your up times? The advice was given to me to avoid talking to baby during middle of the night, to keep the message going that this is sleep time. 

pitterpatter129

kbruington:

pitterpatter129:

irishsmiles428:

Thanks.

His naps during the day dont exceed 30 minutes. 

The naps should exceed 30 min.  Babies who sleep longer/better during the day sleep better at night.  And waking multiple times is completely normal.  Even my 2 yr old rarely sleeps through the entire night.  Here's a great sleep timeline. It also says 52% of toddlers get up once per night still.

https://www.thealphaparent.com/2013/01/timeline-of-baby-and-toddler-sleep.html

Of course naps SHOULD be longer but that's not always easy to accomplish. Babies do what they want, when they want to. Longer naps come in time. Sometimes babies just go through bad napping phases and unfortunately it messes up night time sleeping too. You can "train" all you want but it doesnt always help until they outgrow it. Good info though.

Well, of course they do as they please! I have a kid who hates naps. I was just saying that 30 min isn't ideal because the statement kind of seemed like OP might be trying for shorter naps?  But now I think she was probably just answering a question from before without quoting and I missed that!

 

bgf1

This is probably not what you want to hear, but I don't believe there is a one size fits all solution to getting a baby to STTN.  My DS slept through the night at 7 weeks.  We have used the same routine with DD but she has rarely STTN.   I think she is just not a great sleeper.  I have tried a few different things to encourage my daughter to STTN and nothing works consistently.  She will sleep in a 6 hour stretch for a day or two and then be up 3-4 times for the next few nights.  She has on 3-4 occasions slept as long as 8 hours.  There is no difference in our routine on these nights.  

I have a friend whose older LO did not sleep through the night until he was over a year, and her newbie is already STTN at 3 months.  She has no idea why one sleep and the other never did.  

When my older son struggled with naps at around 9 months I picked up The No Cry Nap Solution by Elizabeth Pantley and found it very helpful.  She has lots of ideas to try for various nap issues.  I know there is a No Cry Sleep Solution Book by the same author.  It may be a good resource for you.  Really though, I just think that you can learn to set the stage for sleep as best as you can, but your LO will likely STTN when they are good and ready.