Five Month Old Waking Every Two Hours

I haven't read anything anyone else has posted but this happened to me with my last child. It was unnerving and nervewracking and the same time. I know EXACTLY where you are with lack of sleep and feeling like a walking zombie. Here's what I ended up doing...at least to get a few days extra sleep....my BFF came over and told me to go to bed at like 9pm. Immediately prior to that I would pump as much breast milk as I could and leave it for her in a bottle. She would stay up with my daughter as long as she could (usually around 3 am). She would then wake me to feed her (either breast or pump). Usually my daughter would go back to sleep at this point until about 6 am. I know it's not much but I tell you after 3 days of this I felt like a new woman! See if hubby or someone can't tag team you (especially over the holidays where they may already be home and it won't bother their work schedules). Hope this helps a little!

I skimmed through some of what the others said, and while I'll agree you can certainly try some cereal before bed, there is absolutey no reason for you to need to give her a bottle of any sorts! No need to pump or supplement with formula. Your breastmilk is EXACTLY what your baby needs! I have a 6 month old (my fourth child) who has been going through a similar thing with waking frequently, and I have no doubt it is tied into growth spurts, etc. It's no fun and I am exhausted too, but I just keep reminding myself it WILL pass! I have three older children who are all wonderful sleepers and I know this one will be too. She just has to get through this growing stage. With regard to thinking she may be hungry, the only thing I might suggest is to make sure she gets two or three let downs during one feeing. That way she is getting the richer hind milk that you don't get with only one let down. It may mean leaving her at the breat longer as you'll have to wait for her to get that later let down going, but it could help. And only nurse one side at a feeding to allow for that. Also, you might find she starts sleeping longer when she is not so close to you as baby is likely smelling you and your milk and thus craves that comfort.

Hang in there. As someone else noted, this is such a small window of time in the big picture. Hard to remember when we're exhausted, but it really will be fleeting down the road.

Hi A.,
I'm sure you are exhausted, who wouldn't be feeding every 2 hours through the night. You never get a to fall into a good sleep. I'm the Mother of 5 grandmother of 14, I've had a bunch of experience with babies, they are my absolute favorite things. It sounds to me like your baby isn't getting enough from you each feeding, or your milk isn't quite rich enough to satisfy her. If I were you, I would pump and and feed her a bottle every couple of times to see exactly how much she is taking each feeding. You can then judge to see if she sleeps longer between feeding if she takes a full 3 or 4 ozs. If she does sleep longer, then you can assume that she isn't getting that much when she is nursing. Not that your milk isn't good enough, but she may not like to work real hard to get all the milk that she needs to fill her up. She may just take enough to satisfy her in the short term and then she goes back to sleep, waking up in a couple of hours because she is hungry. She may also have a natural big appetite and needs supplimenting. I've seen that happen with babies. They just need more food than normal and you don't have enough at one feeding. In that case you may need to suppliment with formula. It looks like your baby is almost 5 months old. That is old enough to give her some cereal the last feeding before you go to bed. Yes, you will either have to pump or suppliment with formula, but put it in a bottle with a bigger nipple opening and add a couple of teaspoons of baby rice cereal. That should fill up her stomach so she sleeps for several hours so you can get some much needed sleep. At 5 months she should be able to go longer between feedings if she is satisfied and full. I hope this helps.

Are you giving her cereal before bed? At 5 months she should be able to take it off a spoon and you can pump milk to put into it or add a little watered down juice. You are probably right, she is hungry. I would start there. If you get her full and then she still waking up I don't have any real answer for you. They are all different and it will end sooner or later.

Suzi

I would suggest making sure she nurses for longer each feeding to ensure she gets enough hindmilk, which is fattier and more filling than the first milk that comes out of the breast (which is waterier to quench thirst). I used to keep a cool, damp washcloth close and when my son fell asleep while nursing, I would stroke his cheek with it to wake him a little and keep him nursing.

PLEASE DO NOT give your little one meds to get her to sleep! BREAST MILK is ALL she needs right now, so cereal is also unncessary! Hind milk will fill her belly and get her to sleep longer.

Blessings to you and your family now and in the new year! Hopefully you get some sleep soon!

Good Morning A., Oh My I would be tired too and I'm not a young mom to 3 at 4 yrs of age and under.

Like Suzi said try some cereal to fill her tummy, at her night time feeding. Pump and let Hubby feed her a few times. You sleep.. :) Paci might help at night time if she isn't hungry.. I am sorry I can't help more A..
It's been a while since I had my own little ones and I really don't remember doing anything except rocking them while I fed them at night.

We have used soothing music for Gr kids to self sooth at night and that worked for them nicely.

God Bless you A. may you find some rest soon
Happy New Year to You and Yours
K. Nana of 5

I dont know if this is something that might help with the carpal tunnel problem. Try nursing her while lying on your back...let her lie on your tummy and nurse that way, my daughter does this with her son and he seems go to sleep realy smoothly that way and then she can just turn on her side and lay him back down on the bed next to her. Maybe this would help you keep from having so much trouble with your carpal tunnel!!
Good luck to you!!
R. Ann

I truly believe that with co-sleeping...breastfed babies wake more frequently because they smell mama's milk & that triggers them into thinking they are hungry.

Consistently, in my daycare, I have Moms tell me that the babies only feed for 5 minutes or less....& then fall back asleep. Therefore, Mom has become the cause-the trigger of the issue- & the pacifier. Once the babies switch to formula or to their own beds, they become more settled at night. Cereal also factors into this....once those tummies are full, sleep is more peaceful.

5 months is a huge transition age. Their little bodies are preparing for more activity, longer awake periods, & less time being held. With enough tummy time, crawling & scooting will be next! Hope this helps.

I don't know if it is an option but my husband woke up with our firstborn for the two years. If our son needed to eat than my husband got me up to breastfeed. If my son just needed companionship than my husband was able to provide that. If he couldn't easily soothe my son back to sleep than we figured he needed to eat. My husband made sure he didn't provide entertainment for the late night wake-ups just comfort. We kept it dark, low activity, etc. It became easier to distinguish between whether or not the baby needed to eat or whether he wanted companionship or help getting back to sleep. We found our babies to be very noisy sleepers so we also made sure it was a real cry and not baby noise. Both of these things made it easier to figure out how to help him sleep well. My kids are 19 months apart so it was a while before we both got rest.
Good luck.

Has she always done this? If not she could just being going through a growth spurt and need to eat more. Also you didnt mention if you are giving her cereal or not. At 5 months she is at the age when you can start solids. Maybe give her some cereal before bed? Also I had both my babies in my room until they were 8 months and had no problem with them waking, or adjusting to sleeping in their room when I finally did it. Anyways good luck!

I've gotta add to the cereal before bed votes. Just mix with milk 'til it's runny, but thick enough for a spoon. Pump when you can--at morning is when you should have the most milk, maybe pump one side while you nurse on the other--and keep that expressed milk on hand for dad or a friend to help and for cereal. Also, that's about the age my daughter started liking her binkie. It gave her the comfort that she needed b/c felt like nursing. However, being breastfed, she didn't get too addicted to it and was mostly done with it at 15 months.

Sure you're exhausted. And she's acting like a normal infant. Even the cry it out proponents say not to do it when the baby is 5 months old. She has no ulterior motive. She has needs. She expresses them. Your job is to meet them. It sucks sometimes--no doubt two other kids makes it damn near insufferable--but that's the deal. There's no magic cure, and I highly discourage pumping a 5 month old full of ibuprofen because it wants to wake up and feed in the night. In the big picture, this is just a short period. If I were you, I'd keep working on the putting her back in the co-sleeper, but meet her demands otherwise.

I don't know what the "medical" views on this are.. but I often felt my kids would go thru growth spurts at that time and yest be more hungry and I think uncomfortable... "aka" growing pains. So... I would give them a warm bath and massage them with lotion. That seemed to help, I would do it right before bed and then feed them. Maybe give it a try. Maybe even a touch of motrin.

When I had this problem I looked at my diet. I had been consuming way too much caffeine and that was affecting my daughter. I didn't even think about it affecting her but she was waking up every two hours and i was not getting nearly enough sleep. I don't know if this is maybe what is going on with you but after I quit drinking caffeine (even though it really wasn't that much, I wasn't drinking coffee or anything) my daughter was sleeping for 4 or 5 hours everynight.

Please, Please, Please be careful of co-sleeping. A good friend of mine had a roll over, and her baby was smothered at 6 months. It haunts her daily. I understand that they have some sort of co-slpeeing thing for the bed to prevent that, but still be careful. Co-sleeping mixed with extreme fatigue can be tragic.
As far as waking, I bet she is having a growth spurt, try to bottle some milk and use cereal.