Sleep Help - Leawood,KS

Honestly there are probably a hundred reasons why she could be waking up....my six month old son just started rolling from his belly (where he sleeps) to his back in his sleep (or maybe he wakes up and does this) but then has a hard time falling back asleep because he doesn't know how to get back to his belly!

She could be teething, be sick, just need more nurturing at this point, be going through a growth spurt, be hungry, gassy, losing her binky, etc.

I'd recommend letting her fuss a little since it seems like she's not fully awake. Maybe she's just having dreams/nightmares, etc and does not really wake up but is loud enough to rouse you. Maybe put a fan or noise machine in her room to block out the sound.

Good luck!

as children reach their next milestones (during that 1st year), we -as parents- need to adjust the timing & scheduling to better suit their needs. What your child did at 8 weeks is not necessarily what she'll do at 5 months!

My very 1st thought was hunger, not enough to fully wake her, but enough to disturb her sleep. My next thought was about the pacifier....if that pacifier is not always in her mouth during this disrupted sleep time....then, honestly, this would be a good time to break her of it!

I know that sounds insane, but there's this little window of opportunity right around 5 months, where you can actually eliminate the pacifier. I know this has nothing to do with your request.....just thought I'd toss it out there since you're having to pop it back into her mouth. How many nights do you want to have to do this??? !!

Getting back on track....is she eating cereal before bedtime? That will help her sleep through the night. & if she is already on cereal, then you may need to move back her bedtime to accommodate her shortened night's sleep. As long as she's getting a full night's sleep, then I wouldn't worry. She's hitting a stage of development where she'll be more active & sleep less - from this point on!

Consistently, in my daycare, I hear from Moms that once babies hit 5 months, they are sleeping less at night. No more going down at 7:30 & sleeping until 6am! The schedule is more....down at 8:30 & sleep until 6am - if the parents are lucky. & actually, that is 9 1/2 hours sleep/going without food! That's a long time period for babies. Good Luck & enjoy your little one!

Maybe she's ready to start solids, as some have suggested, or if you've recently started them, maybe they are causing her some discomfort. Try dropping the ones you've started and try something else. (My daughter would kind of grunt and groan while sleeping, and when I stopped eating wheat (I was nursing) the groaning stopped. I did this several times thinking it was a fluke, but I finally gave up eating wheat, plus the dairy I was already off)

I would agree that maybe she's hungry. She's almost 6 months so it would be time to start cereal soon anyway, so I would try it. We give it to my son (just turned 5 months) just before bed, with his last bottle and it works like a charm. I've read plenty of studies that say it only works about 50% of the time, but I'd say it's worth the other 50% to try it and see if it works just to get a few more hours of sleep!

As Ashley said below she could be going through a growth spurt and is hungrier earlier, you could try feeding her more at night.

Based on her age though, she could also be teething. That could cause restless sleep. I'm going through it with my 1 1/2 year old who usually sleeps well. She's cutting 4 teeth right now. Unfortunately there is no medicine that lasts through the night. I would check her gums to see if she is.

If she isn't crying, I would leave her alone. If you comfort her when she doesn't need it, she'll get used to it and you won't get any good sleep.

the first thing i thought of was that she might be teething. but then i thought about it and if it is always the same time every night, she might just be getting a little hungry, or realizing that she has not had something to eat in a while. Im not sure when you feed her last before bedtime, but i would try to do it right before she goes to sleep so then maybe it will last longer. i know some people mix cereal in with the formula or breastmilk, but i never did that cause of the chances of choking and gagging, and my son had acid reflux. anyway, i would just check to see if her gums feel swollen at all or if you can feel any teeth coming in, and if it is not that, i would try the feeding thing, try to accomadate that to what you think she needs (cereal wise and all that). and as far as the binky goes, at this age, it is ok to let them have it. it is totally a personal decision on your part when you are ready to let your child not have it anymore (this was in response to a previous answer). my son is 2 and a half and he still takes binky's at nap and bedtime and that is it. that is his "lovey" he never attached to a blanket or anything. so anyway, work at your own pace with that one! no rush! good luck and i hope she gets through this stage fast, sleep is so valuable when you are a mommy!

She's probably starting to come out of her deep sleep. And if she's sleeping all night that's probably the time her little tummy is starting to get ready to eat (not that she needs to eat at all! But still if you get up then for a bit your tummy will grumble too). If she's not crying for you, she's fine. We all make sounds in our sleep, and if she's not crying for her soother, I wouldn't go in until she does. Each time you go in you bring her a little further out of sleep!

Good luck!