5 Month Old and Sleeping

My dd just started sleeping through the night at 9 months. Good luck. I always thought the night feeding was important. She would get up, eat and go back to sleep. Good luck.

my daughter just now started sleeping through the night and she's almost two and a half. and that's still not an every night of hte week thing yet. its normal for 5 month olds to get up at night, but usually just once or twice...

We've been going through the same thing with our 5 month old and I finally hit a breaking point. Going without sleep for 5 months will definitely drive a woman to the edge.

Anyways, I finally picked up that book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Marc Weissbluth and we've been using that method and so far I've seen a great improvement in his sleep habits. I highly suggest reading that book, they give ways to handle the issues by using cry it out or a non cry it out method, you get to choose what works best for your family. I liked getting the freedom to use what worked for me. So the sleep schedule that works for us is I now try and make sure that he is getting naps close to the times of 9 a.m., 1 p.m., and 4 p.m. The first two naps usually last somewhere between an hour to 2 hours. the last one is a little catnap that doesn't usually go longer than 45 mins. Then we start a bedtime routine around 6 p.m. feeding his bottle, some cereal and a little bit of veggies. Then my husband puts him in his pjs and has about a half hour of quiet time with him where he reads to him and sits quietly. This has worked with my son since it gives him some time to slow his body down and relax before putting him to bed. Then usually close to 7 p.m. he gets put in his crib to sleep. The book suggests that earlier bedtimes will promote better sleep, and so far its worked for us.

Now he's been waking up at 11 p.m. to nurse and again at 3 or 4 a.m. to nurse and goes straight back to bed. At first he tried to get us to let him play but we put him straight back to bed and his protests only last about 5 minutes. The book says that for babies around 5-6 months might still need to eat at night and as long as they are eating and going right back to sleep then it should be ok. I am much happier getting up twice a night now rather than 5 times so I think its working!

Good luck to you! I think the lack of sleep is the suckiest thing to have to deal with!

HI. A company called Sleepy planet really helped me. Here is an interview I did with them and all their sleep tips.
http://www.happyhealthymom.com/newsletters/How-to-Get-You...
Good Luck!

Hmm... have you ever tried not nursing him to sleep at 9:45? I know it is tough, but sometimes they just need that comfort of being nursed or a bottle to get to sleep- which is a drag for the parents. We followed the Babywise method (good book with lots of great ideas) so my little one's routine was to eat, play, then sleep- that way he didn't need to nurse or a bottle to settle down to sleep. He is now 11 month's old and doesn't take a bottle before bed or naps - it is wonderful. It won't be easy to get your little guy to re-train himself not to nurse before bed, but he may be more able to cope when he wakes up during the night. Good luck and I hope you find something that works for you.

My daughter was like that. She didn't sleep through out the night until after she was a year old. My son who is only a month younger that yours can sleep 4-5 hours at night. I think it has to do with their different temperaments. He prefers to be put down when he's tired, but recently he wants me to rock, walk and sing to him to sleep. So, yes, there will be mixed responses, I'm sorry, hang in there. *hugs*

Well, my almost 5 month old daughter wakes about every 2 hours to nurse at night and falls right back asleep, so I know it's because she's needed to nurse. ALL of my girls (this is my third) nursed every 2 hours around the clock for the first 6 months, and didn't go longer than 4-6 until they were weaned. So I'd say your son is perfectly normal. Does it suck not to be able to get more than 2 hours of sleep at a time? Sure does! lol But it won't last forever....and when he *does* start sleeping longer, you're going to keep checking to make sure he's still breathing! haha

You could try the Baby Whisperer's 'pick up/put down' method. But I say take your cues from your baby and just go with it.....though I'm sure a lot of moms will disagree with me *shrug*

I have a 6 month old and I understand!

I wouldn't give him the cereal before bedtime. I was told to do that in the middle of the day because it really just gets them in the habit of eating you know? Try a bottle right before bed. Yeah he should be sleeping, but I know so many babies that still do this! Don't listen to them if they are telling you he should be sleeping and there is something wrong if he is not. Just try a bottle to fill him up and see what happens.

Mine sleeps very well unless he is growing or teething and I usually go the bottle at night and nurse mornings and on the rare occasion he wakes up.

Let me know what happens!

Not even 100% formula fed babies are expected to sleep the whole night before 1 years old. Since you are nursing him, I'd stop the rice cereal - it's nothing but cardboard and binders in his little tummy. Nurse him on demand and expect to be woken up a lot especially during growth spurt times. They are usually around 3m, 6m, 9m, 1 year but can start a month early or late.

All babies want at this young age is to be dry, fed when needed, loved, and MOMMY! They usually want Mommy to hold them, sleep with them, play with them, talk and sing to them. After all they were almost 1 year in our uterus, listening to our hearts, breathing, voice and being part of us.

I'd try co-sleeping with a co-sleeper attachment, or allow him in your bed. The first year, breastfeeding is made SO MUCH easier if Mommy and baby just co-slept thru that year.

You haven't done CIO. 3-5 minutes is not CIO, really. He sounds like my kids. When you're in there, he wants to play with you and gets pretty mad if you just turn around and leave.

My DD (now 8mos) was JUST like this. I did full on CIO with her at 22 weeks. I hit a wall and couldn't do it anymore. Now, she sleeps like a dream. (PS: I don't count 5-6 hrs as "sleeping through the night", like a lot of other moms out here do) She sleeps 12 hrs straight. A dream!

It took 2 nights of setting the standard with her. She didn't know how to self soothe and wanted to play! First night, she cried 2x. 1x for 20 minutes, 1x for 25 minutes.
Next night, she cried 1x for 25 minutes.
After that, 12 hrs, straight through, not a peep out of her ever since.

You can try different versions of sleep training, and each will eventually work, just simply taking longer than regular old CIO (ignore them until morning). It's really, really hard. But after those 2-3 days pass, you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner!