A little background - I'm a full time working mother of two boys. The oldest is 3 1/2 and my youngest is 5 months old. They share a bedroom as we live in a tiny 2 bedroom place. I am breastfeeding and pump while I'm at work. The babysitter gives my son cereal in the morning and I give him baby food in the evenings. He drinks 3 bottles a day and I nurse him in the evening and right before bed. Nights have been an issue for a while now. My 5 month old does not sleep the best. He is usually up once a night (and usually it's sometime in the 2am hour) - not to eat - he's just up - wide awake ready to play or he's rolled onto his belly and then lifts his head and starts looking around. I try not to run in right away but at the same time, I don't want my 3 year old waking up either. I end up rocking him back to sleep and that usually buys us another hour or two. I have fed him in the middle of the night to see if that's the problem - that usually doesn't make a difference. He goes to bed about 9pm every night. Give or take a half hour. Is that too late? I pick him up from the babysitter's at 4:45 and he usually doesn't nap after we're home. I am wondering if he is overtired and by waiting till 8:30 or 9pm that he's overtired and that's why he's not sleeping well. If I put him to bed earlier do you think he would sleep all night without needing to nurse? I know he is old enough and big enough (he weighs 20 pounds and is 27 inches long - he was not a small child at birth (9lbs 13oz and 23 inches long) and has continued growing fast) to make it all night without food. Or is he now in a habit of waking up at 2am? I don't remember this being a huge issue with my 3 year old when he was this little, but I wasn't worried about him waking anyone else up. I would appreciate any suggestions!! Thanks!
Our ped had said they can go the night when they are 3 months or 12 lbs, whichever comes first. We used Dr. Ferber's sleep training, and it worked well for us.
Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.
Totally agree with Diane and Mama Lucky. Teething and growth spurts will contribute to night waking, and sleeping through the night is a developmental milestone, irregardless of size and weight. Every baby is different. My kids share a room too and I had to keep my youngest in our room until 6-7 mos. Once he was in the room with my daughter, he would still get up once for nursing,but we would keep lights dimmed and as quiet as possible. Don't worry, they all sleep through the night eventually :) Good luck and good for you for nursing!!
I would venture to say that most 5 month old babies do NOT sleep through the night. Sleeping through the night is a developmental milestone just like crawling or walking. They do it when they are ready. I know that doesn't help much, considering you don't want him to wake your older child. But it sounds to me like he just isn't ready to sleep through yet - and this isn't surprising when he's only 5 months old.
He may not be getting enough food and/or breast milk during the day. .
Try picking him up in his dimly lit room when he wakes up at 2am & try breastfeeding at that time. He might be going through a growth spurt.
Just do it quietly. I can bet you if you do this for a week or two, he'll stop waking at night & go back to sleeping longer & through this 2am wake up
time.
Is he teething? When my son was that age, he would wake up due to that during the night. I would rub baby orajel on his gums or give him infant Tylenol if he seemed fussy.
Also, try putting him to bed a little later.
