5 month old fighting bedtime
Sreed2292
member
Im new to this forum and would really appreciate some feedback
My little one has been crying a lot at night when my bf and I try to put her down at 5:30 pm. We've been sleep training her for the past month by putting her down drowsy but awake and it has seemed to go fairly well. Most days she'll put up a mild fuss for her naps and then fall asleep. But recently within the past week at bedtime when we put her down she will cry for up to 2 hours before drifting off. We've tried making her bedtime later but that only seems to make the crying worse. She doesn't seem to be teething as Ive checked for redness in her gums and havent noticed any. She started rolling over a month ago and I havent noticed any other milestones like sitting up as I know these things can definitely affect sleep. Im just kinda confused? Maybe its part of her becoming more aware of her surroundings and having too much accumulated energy at night? Any suggestions? Should I keep her bedtime at 5:30 or make it later? Oh I forgot to mention she does generally nap for a total of 3-5 hours a day, so I know she is getting enough sleep with that. Should I change anything with her naps though? Ive been doubting myself so much lately because it seems like I have more questions than answers
Thankyou for reading this long post ❤
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Bigboobsmcgee
member
Anytime I picked up my kids when they were crying in bed it was nearly impossible to put them back down. Seeing me makes everything worse
Last night my 13 month old was crying so hard after I put her to bed and I couldn't handle it either so I went in and rocked her. She cried even harder when I left the room but then fell asleep right away. Just know that naps suck at this age. Babies put up more of a fight, the naps aren't very long and parents tend to get super frustrated by this.
For night time sleep, I would recommend doing your normal bedtime routine, put her in her bed, awake or asleep and leave the room. Give her 15 minutes and if she's still crying, go in and rub her back then walk out again. Give her another 15 minutes and repeat. I've never had to let my kids cry/fuss longer than about 20-30 minutes. I've given this advice to a ton of people and they all say it works like a charm. You just have to be consistent no matter what you do.
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This is a tough one. 5:30 seems a little early to me but when is her last nap?
I have never been one to follow the whole "drowsy but awake" thing with either of my kids so I'm no help there. I don't think that rocking a baby until they are asleep then putting them in bed will do any harm or create a bad habit. I did it with both of my kids until they got older and stopped falling asleep drinking a bottle.
This could just be a random phase that will pass. IMO sleeping is really tough and all over the place until about 9 months old.