FTM. DS is 5 months and 3 weeks. DS used to be a great sleeper. Sometimes STTN, but usually waking once to eat and occasionally twice. No problem.
Now he usually wakes every hour and it is not uncommon for him to be up for 1.5 hours in the middle of the night. He's fed and dry and just wants to play. I'll put him in his crib and he will goof around until he is tired and then will cry for me to nurse him. Then back up every hour.
I'm at a loss. I log everything and there seems to be no rhyme or reason to good sleep nights vs. bad. I've read No Cry Sleep Solution, which has some good tips but there is no way DS could survive on only two naps a day, no matter how long they are. Plus the book doesn't really address the lengthy night awakenings. I am deffinitely implementing some things from the book and only time will tell.
If you have made it this far, thank you! Any advice on our sleep situation would be greatly appreciated. Also, are there any other Non-CIO books that would be worth reading? I refuse to do CIO. It doesn't feel right. Plus I read a study on infants who were allowed to CIO and while they cried less by night 3, their Cortisol (stress horomone) levels were just as high as night one.

Re: XP: sleep question
Have you read or heard of Wonder Weeks? I think around 5-5.5 months DD was also wanting to play in the MOTN. Now at 7 months she pulls herself to stand in her crib if she wakes up. As long as she's not crying I leave her alone and she usually puts herself back to sleep.
How long has this been going on? You could be going through a fussy phase and it'll end after a week or 2 (I know that sounds like forever). Keep working on the tips from No Cry - repetition and consistency are key.
One last question - is he warm enough? It took us a while to realize that DD needed an extra layer and that's the real reason she was waking up. For instance, last night I put a short sleeve onesie and a long sleeved footed fleece sleeper on her and the thermostat at 72 and she slept 7:30pm-5:45am. She woke at 2 and 4 for a few minutes but put herself back to sleep (no tears, I'm not a fan of CIO either).
I definitely try to leave him alone if he's not crying, but that is usually not the case. For awhile I thought he was too warm (we live in the SW and the temps have just dropped below 90), but that didn't make a difference either.
DH thinks it might be my caffeine intake. I only have about 12 ounces of coffee in the AM, but I am super sensitive to caffeine so maybe LO is too. I'm on day 5 of no coffee, it really seems like a cosmic joke if that is the issue! I read that caffeine accumulates in your system and to give it a week to see changes, so we'll see.
I think part the problem might be that I nurse him to sleep and he is looking for that when he wakes up. He used to be able to put himself to sleep or at least be rocked to sleep, but niether of those work now. He will fall asleep in his swing for naps, but that's it.
I have heard good things about Kim West's sleep lady shuffle book for a more gentle sleep training method, you might check it out. Good luck!
Thanks everyone!