5 months and still not sleeping through the night

MrsEKC · February 2014

My son is 5 months. He still gets up 2 times a night, sometimes 3. (About every 3 hrs). The doctor told me he should not be getting up at all and that if anything I should only nurse him once. He will not go back to sleep unless I nurse him. The doc said I have to just basically let him cry himself back to sleep and just keep checking on him. After an hour of crying, I couldn't stand it anymore and gave in and nursed him. I don't think I can do that again, it doesn't seem right. Although I can't handle being up all night either! Don't know what to do. Did you baby sleep through the night on his/her own? Or did you have to "sleep train" them. I've tried giving Tylenol and gas drops in case he was waking up due to gas pains or teeting, but nothing works. He definitely just wants nursed, but the doctor said he is not hungry and is just waking up out of habit. Any advice please! What did you do?

StephandMatt2012 · February 2014

I agree with PP I don't see how he would know if baby is or isn't hungry ... You are the only one that knows that trust your instinct ! Nurse him and get as much sleep inbetween as you can, we can't force our babies to STTN some just take longer then others yes it sucks cause we want sleep but in all honesty it doesn't really matter what mommy and daddy want anymore it's what baby wants and needs and that's that.

daniann333 · February 2014

poor baby is hungry. If he wasn't, he wouldn't eat when you nursed him. He would refuse the breast if he wasn't hungry. FEED HIM. Sleep training as been associated with FTT in some infants. I would not sleep train at this age. 3 hours is a good stretch. Maybe increase his feedings before he lays down. Let him cluster feed if he wants.

ksimo6 · February 2014

Yeah - I don't know about CIO at that age... seems drastic. What we did, and I am sure you're alreayd on it, is to make sure our LO eats during the day. When she was younger we made sure that she did not go more than 3 hours between bottles...even if that meant waking her up. She STTN and is not quite 5 months. I am not sure if that is beacuse she is just a "sleeper" or if it's because we pushed a routine during hte day. Maybe try to cluster feed in the evening and try to get him good and full before bed. I wish there was an easy answer! Good luck.

TREDgirl · February 2014

Well I'm not a fan of full on CIO but I do let them (we have twins) fuss before going in there. I've progressively been going from 5, then 10, and sometimes 15 minutes if they aren't actually crying. Sometimes they just want to snuggle.

This week I have made smaller bottles for the motn feedings in the hopes of weening them off of that at some point in the future. We shall see.

Lack of sleep for us is no fun but I just keep reminding myself they will never be this small/young again.

ASmallWonder · February 2014

My son is almost 9 months old and wakes up twice a night and sucks down a full bottle each time. If they're eating as a comfort thing, they'd take a little and conk out. It's not fair to say that ALL kids should "xyz" whatever the example is. Children are individuals and have individual needs.

tiki8286 · February 2014

My son got up to eat in the middle of the night at least once until he was 14 months old...some babies just need to eat and will let you know. Listen to your baby

wildbutterfli2001 · February 2014

MrsEKC said:

My son is 5 months. He still gets up 2 times a night, sometimes 3. (About every 3 hrs). The doctor told me he should not be getting up at all and that if anything I should only nurse him once. He will not go back to sleep unless I nurse him. The doc said I have to just basically let him cry himself back to sleep and just keep checking on him. After an hour of crying, I couldn't stand it anymore and gave in and nursed him. I don't think I can do that again, it doesn't seem right. Although I can't handle being up all night either! Don't know what to do. Did you baby sleep through the night on his/her own? Or did you have to "sleep train" them. I've tried giving Tylenol and gas drops in case he was waking up due to gas pains or teeting, but nothing works. He definitely just wants nursed, but the doctor said he is not hungry and is just waking up out of habit. Any advice please! What did you do?

Says the pedi with no children...

I don't think I could make it the whole hour if my LO was crying. Just nurse him and do what works for you. It's easy for doc's to textbook things and be so black and white, but when it is your child going through it, it's a different story. All babies are different and to me the whole CIO thing just seems unneccessarily cruel to both you and your LO. My LO never never never STTN. I'm lucky if I get 2-3 uninterrupted hours of sleep and as tired as I am, that's just the way it goes. Good luck momma

smlowe9311 · February 2014

Our LO is 5.5 months and she wakes up 2-3 times a night as well. I listen to her cry an determine if it's a cry or just fussing. If she's really crying I I and comfort her.

I'd say listen to your instinct and find a new pedi

Unknown · February 2014

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Mrbatesisinnocent · February 2014

I think your pedi is an idiot. Feed your baby. Some babies just don't STTN until much later.

DahliaFlower · March 2014

I would get up and take care of my baby. Is your doctor really old school or something? His advice seems harsh and cruel.

Incidentally, my baby was getting up like every 2 hours recently during what seems to have been the 4 month wakeful phase. Now, he gets up 1-2 times per night and I am in heaven!

barista411 · March 2014

Every baby is different. My first was up every two hours for a long time. She didn't sleep 12 hours until she was 14 months. DS on the other hand normally is only up once or twice.

If your baby is up and hungry, feed them. Some babies need the calories at night.

mwink001 · March 2014

I am so sorry that your LO isn't sleeping through the night. Some babies are much harder than others.

This is the first time I've ever posted. The only advice I can give you that helped us TREMENDOUSLY is setting up a night time routine. A bedtime routine makes the WORLD of difference. LO learns what to expect and learns to look forward to it. Our little girl has slept through the night since 2 1/2 months and I truly believe it's because of our routine.

Our routine consists of eating, then a warm bath, then we put her down in her crib, give her a bottle and she's out like a light. She rarely wakes up and if she does, we (either I or my husband) get up and try to give her a pacifier. Normally that will make her go back to sleep. If she cries again (within an hour), we change her diaper and give her a bottle. (I'm not breastfeeding because my LO had a protein sensitivity and we had to give her a special formula - alimentum). I will say that giving a baby a bottle/feeding is tricky because they DO get use to it. (Thus the pacifier first). We had that issue come up where she would wake up and want a bottle. She wasn't really hungry, she was just use to it. The way we solved it was two things - first, she was waking up because she would pee through her diaper. We went up a size and that stopped her waking up and secondly we don't let her take a nap after 5pm. Her bedtime is 8:30. We learned that if she takes a nap before her bedtime, she's MUCH harder to put down and wakes up more throughout the night.

Also, doctors are great tools. We, thankful, have a great pediatrician. But, they are only tools to help you. YOU are the mom. YOU decide what's best for your baby.

luvmygirlss · March 2014

Adrd47 said:

If your baby is eating, it is because hs is hungry. A lot of 5 month olds still do not STTN and CIO isn't recommended until at least 6 months. I would be looking for a new pediatrician.

Not really, a baby can wake up completely out of habit and eat because it's in his face. Just as you would if someone put a warm, cheesy, slice of pizza from your fav pizza place. You would eat it because it's right there in front of you and not necessarily because you were hungry. Just saying..

OP, It is still possible that your LO needs that one feed, however if he is waking multiple times a night, I would doubt that it is because of hunger. It would be safe to say he's waking because he does not know how to fall back asleep on his own and a feeding will do the trick

A good way to tell is, if he falls asleep on his own while put back down completely awake. If he falls asleep after a feeding on his own, not in your arms, then yes he most likely needed the feeding.

Good luck!

steph191 · March 2014

Sing2phins said:

luvmygirlss said:

Adrd47 said:

If your baby is eating, it is because hs is hungry. A lot of 5 month olds still do not STTN and CIO isn't recommended until at least 6 months. I would be looking for a new pediatrician.

Not really, a baby can wake up completely out of habit and eat because it's in his face. Just as you would if someone put a warm, cheesy, slice of pizza from your fav pizza place. You would eat it because it's right there in front of you and not necessarily because you were hungry. Just saying..

OP, It is still possible that your LO needs that one feed, however if he is waking multiple times a night, I would doubt that it is because of hunger. It would be safe to say he's waking because he does not know how to fall back asleep on his own and a feeding will do the trick A good way to tell is, if he falls asleep on his own while put back down completely awake. If he falls asleep after a feeding on his own, not in your arms, then yes he most likely needed the feeding.

Good luck!

I don't know. This might be true for bottle-fed babies, but my LO will not eat when I offer the breast if she is not hungry. Period. Won't even open her mouth,

My bottle fed baby will completely refuse if she isn't hungry. She will wake up once at night for a couple ounces, but I deal with it. She's 5 months old. I go to bed earlier to get more sleep.

Bluescarf · March 2014

How odd that your dr. thinks all babies are the same. Wouldn't that be nice if they were even for just a little while? lol If your baby is nursing when he wakes up he is hungry/needs comfort. Period. His parenting advice is simply his opinion and he shouldn't be passing it off as medical advice. Breastfed babies go through periods of increasing you breastmilk also so he could be doing that and gearing up for a huge growth spurt. The goal should not be a strict schedule based off a cookie-cutter idea of what your baby "should" be doing. The goal is a happy and healthy household. Do what you think is best to get to that. I would highly suggest looking into finding a pedi that better aligns with how you want to parent. Once I did this everything became easier. Good luck momma!

cagoldi · March 2014

steph191 said:

luvmygirlss said:

Adrd47 said:

If your baby is eating, it is because hs is hungry. A lot of 5 month olds still do not STTN and CIO isn't recommended until at least 6 months. I would be looking for a new pediatrician.

Not really, a baby can wake up completely out of habit and eat because it's in his face. Just as you would if someone put a warm, cheesy, slice of pizza from your fav pizza place. You would eat it because it's right there in front of you and not necessarily because you were hungry. Just saying..

OP, It is still possible that your LO needs that one feed, however if he is waking multiple times a night, I would doubt that it is because of hunger. It would be safe to say he's waking because he does not know how to fall back asleep on his own and a feeding will do the trick A good way to tell is, if he falls asleep on his own while put back down completely awake. If he falls asleep after a feeding on his own, not in your arms, then yes he most likely needed the feeding.

Good luck!

I don't know. This might be true for bottle-fed babies, but my LO will not eat when I offer the breast if she is not hungry. Period. Won't even open her mouth,
My bottle fed baby will completely refuse if she isn't hungry. She will wake up once at night for a couple ounces, but I deal with it. She's 5 months old. I go to bed earlier to get more sleep.

This. My FF baby will shove that bottle away if he isn't hungry, even if it's MOTN. He only needs to be fed once or twice at night. Other babies may need to eat more frequently. If DS isn't hungry I can usually just pat him and help him get comfortable and he'll go right to sleep.

Your baby is telling you what he needs. Right now, he needs to be nursed.

I was a BF baby and I woke at least once a night well after my first birthday, actually I was close to 2 before I was night weaned and STTN. I was a terrible sleeper and had horrible ear infections. I have no memory of this, obviously, but thankfully I had gentle, empathetic parents that responded to my needs. I can only imagine how devastated I would have been if they let me CIO.

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