Okay, so I know babies do lots of puzzling things, and I also know (given our firstborn) that sleeping in long stretches or through the night is a developmental milestone that babies reach at different ages...sometimes, a little help along the way is needed, sometimes not. With our first, we waited 16 months before she slept through the night. While some of my friends think that's a insanely long period of time to wait, other friends of ours are still being woken up by their 2 and 3 year olds and think we ought to thank our lucky stars we only waited 16 months. I drove myself crazy when our first was born 2.5 years ago...she was not a great sleeper...waking multiple times throughout the night to nurse, for comfort, or to scream! I vowed when our second was born almost 6 months ago that I would just take things in stride, not get so worked up and just go with the flow...that I would not "try" anything with him because ultimately when he's ready, he's ready.
Ok, so now here I am posting. LOL. He's a happy little guy...takes a few snoozes during the day and typically between 7:30 and 8 is definitely showing signs of being ready for bed. I nurse him and put him down...or sometimes my husband puts him to bed. Then the wierd stuff happens...within that first hour of going to bed, he'll wake up 2 or 3 times and need to nurse or be comforted in some other way (he looks asleep when he "wakes"). After that, he's waking up a lot---and the last 4 days, he's woken in the middle of the night, smiling, sqealing, laughing, having a little party in his crib! It takes up to an hour and a half before he's back asleep again...only to have him wake a couple hours later. His environment seems okay...he's not too warm or cold, it's dark, he's not wet or dirty, and certainly is well-fed (I honestly cannot imagine he's hungry). The only thing I can think of is that maybe I should start him on some solids before bed or in the late afternoon...like a couple teaspoons of baby oatmeal? Maybe my milk just isn't enough? Or, that maybe his bassinett is getting too small and he'd sleep better in a bigger space? Or, maybe this is just one of those stages that I have to wait out...
I appreciate any and all responses...as I'm sure many of you know, it's hard to be a sleep-deprived mom with a baby and toddler!
Thanks!
Thank you for all the great responses. It has been several days now of the same thing...waking to nurse, but then not settling down, moanng, grunting, arching his back, crying, etc...mixed with smiles and playfulness...until he finally exhausts hiimself (and us) and we hold, rock, nurse, hold, rock, nurse, etc...and he's out. It has been a nightmare and I hope this passes soon. For now I'm just going with it b/c I don't see I have any other choice...
Thanks again!
If he's happy, I'd just go back to sleep and let him "party." It's a stage.
I do think he's too large for a bassinet. It would be easy for him to fall out when he's wiggling around, rolling over, etc. Partying. I like the image.
If he were waking up because of hunger he would be fussing/crying. I'd not change his eating routine.
Wait on the solids until he is 6months at least please. The first wake period seems like a paci is needed here or a self soothing item of sorts - not your breast. IF he is happily awake then let him be, do not get up and check on him do not make a fuss allow him to be happy and fall back asleep. If he needs to be fed during this time then feed but do not do it simply because he is awake. This is just a phase and if he is happy then he is happy and you should just sleep. Again only get up if he is crying to be fed, or if the paci/soothing item needs to be delivered or is not working.
My daughter would do this too when she was around that age. When they start to learn new things they wake up wanting to play. Are you going right in to him? I would leave him as long as he is not crying or fussing, listen to him with a baby moniter. He will most likely go back to sleep on his own. I always figured as long as my daughter wasn't crying then she was fine playing on her own.
What perked my interest is that he takes a few snoozes during the day and goes to bed pretty late for a baby that age (mine were in bed by 6:30, although we are generally early-to-bed people). Perhaps he is not getting enough sleep during the day and is actually having chemical/brain-based trouble getting to into a deep sleep at night. Have you read "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr Marc Weissbluth? It was a huge help to me with small babies and sleep training (finding a healthy schedule).
No to the food late at night unless you really want to be up all night with a gassy baby. Start the foods early in the day when he's ready.
Other than that sounds like a normal baby to me.
Well every child is different and every parent is different on how they deal with these kinds of things lol. I myself sleep trained my kids. I have two a one and half year old and a 9 month old. Both my boys sleep through the night, the little one goes to bed around 8 and the older one around 8:30. Although recently the older one has started his terrible twos and stays up at night. Usually I don't mind this because he goes in his room and is allowed to play until 10 then we shut off his light. But he's tall enough to reach the light switch and turns it on and keeps playing until is passes out from exhaustion lol. He has also learned to turn door nobs, but oddly knows not to come out of his room. When my kids were still infants I didn't breast feed because neither latched or wanted the breast milk. My youngest just up and refused breast milk, but I blame the Koreans because I had him In South Korea in one of their hospitals. He was 4 weeks early and they wouldn't let us touch him or hold him until he went home two weeks later. But both of my kids used to play all the time in their cribs and we'd just listen to them on the baby monitor. Sometimes when we knew they were fed, changed and burped and still cried they were just really tired so at times we had to let them CIO. Just a quick question, why is your 5 month old still in a bassinet? Does he look like he's too big for it and if so put him in a crib lol. 5 months is still kind of early for solids, those I didn't start until about 7 months when my dr said I could. Ask your dr if you can start him on solids but personally I'd wait. :) Good luck.
This is a common problem, and there could be any number of causes, including the old explanation that it's just a stage and probably won't last long. Baby patterns change often as the child grows and develops.
But, since daylight is short right now, it's possible that your little guy isn't getting enough natural daylight. Try a few days of having him near your brightest windows, especially in the morning, and take him outside for walks as weather allows (exposure to nature is also beneficial to development in other ways, too). Daylight helps regulate the brain's production of melatonin, which encourages sleep at night.
Good luck.
ADDED: Cereal is all fast-digesting carbohydrate without a lot of nutritional value. Many moms find their babies wake more often after cereals are started, both because it is digested faster than milk or formula, and because introducing new foods can cause tummy upset/gas until the child's system adapts to them.
You haven't started cereal in the bottle yet?? Man, I guess they just do things different around here.. both my kiddos had trouble keeping the formula down so they've been on cereal since they were a couple weeks old and my son is not quite 8 weeks and he'll sleep 5-7 hours at night (or anytime really). Cereal is an amazing thing :) we do 1 tsp per ounce but you can go up to 1 tbsp per ounce (especially at his age!)... Good luck!
I would try starting him on cereal, then see how it goes. I would also switch him to a crib. My daughter ia on the small side and she outgrew her bassinet at 4 monrhs.
I would call his ped and ask if he can start a little cereal, give it to him around 6:30-7:00. My kids are older, my youngest is almost 21. I was always told to start them on rice cereal because it has no gluten, babies can develop celiac disease if they are given food with gluten too soon. But thoughts on this are different in 2012.
You do not need to wait intil 6 months. Certainly check with your pediatrician first but new sets of rules these days! Our Dr gave us the ok to start cereal around 3 1/2 months then baby food after 4 months. Obviously all babies' bellies are different but would certainly think ready to try some cereal! I also agree with the paci...might help soothe? Otherwise I think your right...another baby stage! Good luck!
If he seems happy when he is awake, I would let it be. At 5 months, he is old enough to start on solid foods (as a supplement to formula or breast milk, not as a major source of nutrition). However, I would not add it to the bottle - solids trigger an appropriate gag response differently than liquids do. He is at a higher risk of aspirating when you thicken his liquid than when you spoon feed a solid. Also, going to bed at 8 pm seems early to me. We put my son to bed when we went to bed (11:30 pm - 12 am) and that was when he had his last planned feeding. We fed him on demand until he was about a year old - so he pretty much ate q 3-4 hours from 7-8 am until about midnight, then generally good until 7-8 am.
