5 Month Old Waking at Night Again

You are putting her to bed way too early!I have three kids who have all slept through the night by 8 weeks old.And have always been great at bedtime.Anyway in my personal opinion she wants to stay up later.She might be tierd at 6:15 but try giving her an evening nap and not putting her to bed until around 9-10 PM.You might try gradually pushing her naps back later so that her last nap is later and she can stay awake longer in the evening.I don't know what time her naps are but maybe she needs 4 naps.I thought my nephew was never going to sleep through the night.They were putting him to bed between 6-7.When he was old enough that he was down to one nap a day they would wake him up if they thought he was sleeping too long or too late.That only resulted in him being tierd earlier but not really being late enough for him to go to bed and he would not sleep through the night.

I read a great book called THE BABY WHISPERER by Tracy Hogg. She has a couple of different books for infants and toddlers.
It helped me with one of my sons.

Good luck!

E., is she teething? My daughter used to wake up at night at that age too but it stopped around 6-7 months. If she cries you could see how long she will cry before going back to sleep, but not to long, like 5 minut e s. She may be dreaming that wakes her also. It has been so long since mine was that age, just trying to think of possible reasons for her to wake up.

Ann B

I hate to say it, but don't nurse her when she wakes up and make sure she is awake when you lay her down. She will wake up s long as she gets what she wants. Isn't it amazing that our children manipulate us at such a young age. Let her cry it out a little if she has to. Believe me, in the long run life will be easier. Also if you wait until she isa little older it will be much harder - good luck!

I had the same thing going. My baby was teething which she still is and she has been waking up alot again also and she does the same thing falls asleep while I nurse her, I gave her some cereal right before bed and she did alot better so I am guessing she just isn't getting enough from breastmilk. She could also be going thru a growth spurt and is gonna wanna eat more this happens to me about maybe once a month and then she gains about 1-3 pounds. I hope this is helpful.
M.

I don't have any specific advice, just a resource to recommend. "The No Cry Sleep Solution" by Elizabeth Pantley. I swear by it. Good luck.

It might be that your daughter is getting too much rest & that's why she keeps waking up like that. You should try limiting her to one nap a day for up to two hours. You might need to push her bed time back to around eight/eight thirty at night. Make sure before you lay her down for the night that she's bathe, rubbed down (like a massage) real good & breast/bottle fed WITH cereal...she should sleep through the night & so should you:-). I notice you said you work ten hours a week, might you be one of my sister consultants (Mary Kay)? Good luck to you & God Bless!

read "baby wise" & follow it. it WILL work for you no matter what your baby's age when you start it.

I can only tell you what worked for my son, all kids are different. At that age he was taking a morning and afternoon nap, each an hour or more long. We put him to be around 10pm and he slept until 6am. I think that most babies go though this phase. They are sleeping all night for a few months and then all of the sudden they wake up in the middle of the night acting like they are starving again. My peditrician warned against feeding him at this time because it will get his tummy in the habit of having food in the middle of the night again. I would just go in and talk calmly and leave. If that didn't work I would try again in a few minutes. Ect, and so on. You are right in saying you don't need to stress about it. I think it is great that you had her falling asleep on her own and you seem to be doing all the right things. I think that I would move the cereal feeding to the middle of the day or the morning to see if that helps.

E., first of all, welcome! I don't know what I'd do without these moms to help me. I just have a couple of thoughts. First, are you putting her to bed too early? My almost 6 month old goes to bed every night around 8 or 8:30, and gets up in the morning around 6 or 6:30. Sometimes he wakes up once or twice in the night hungry and I have to feed him, but other times when he wakes up I can rock him back to sleep. Always try to rock her back to sleep before nursing. Even if you know she's just gonna wake up again, try to break the eating during the night habit. But, if she's hungry, you have to feed her.
Oh- my son started sleeping so much better a couple weeks ago because I started putting him to sleep in his bouncy seat. Every night I take off the musical light up top display so that it is just a seat and lay a blanket on it and kind of turn it into a bed. And he sleep so much better because he is a little upright. Soft music also helps. Do you think she is teething? There's no telling what it is but just work with it, babies change so often, next week she may be sleeping better again. Hope this helps.
S.

You can do everything you think is right and the truth is babies sleep habits can change a hundred times while they are little. That is what I have experienced anyway. My son is 19 months old and he started sleeping through the night at 2 months. Once we got used to that routine he switched it up on us and started waking up at night again at about 6 months. It has been a pattern of sleeping well then not sleeping well at all. I have tried all of the different advice I get from other mothers, but I have learned that he is going to sleep how he wants to no matter what I do. I know that isn't very assuring, but it's just what I have experienced. Good luck.

My son is 7 mos old(2 mos premature)and did the same thing. I also have 3 older children who also did the same thing. Usually the reason for a change in their sleep pattern and eating pattern was they were growing. They would wake in the night for an extra feeding or sleep extra during the day. It's usually because they need the rest and extra calories to grow. Hope that helps.

I really like The No-Cry Sleep Solution. It could be that she is ready to move down to two naps a day, possibly slightly longer naps. She could be teething. It may be that the cereal is upsetting her system. A lot of babies don't seem to be ready for solids until they are at least six months old, some need to wait even longer. You may want to check that she is comfortable...are her pajamas too warm, too cool, or too small. Is she waking up with a dirty diaper? Has something else changed in her life lately. Many things can upset sleep patterns. The best thing you can do is to trust your instincts. You know your daughter better than any of us. You can tell what she needs and if she needs you or she needs to nurse, then you can happily meet her needs, knowing that you are doing what is best for her. I hope that things do improve for you and you all have some restful nights ahead.

try giving E. a little bit more cereal, but don't give it to her until 8.... it seems like you are putting her down to bed really early. So try to give her the cereal around 7:30 - 8 and see if that works..

OOH, the teeth are probably coming if not already starting - are her gums swollen? Sometimes you can see a little hatch of white. Nursing soothes them because "Ouch" they can hurt. Be patient and if she's taking 3 naps during the day - try only two. That way she'll sleep a little longer than 1 hour. You can get over-the-counter numbing medicine for her gums if she is teething. Sometimes when they nurse they can be trying to sooth themselves but it can be very hard on you because of the wakeful hours and it can wear you down. See if medicine helps otherwise good luck and best wishes.

E.,
I'm a Mom of two and I breast fed as well. Is your baby teething? It really sounds like your daughter may be teething and using the nursing to sooth herself back to sleep and waking up when she is uncomfortable again. I would try to rub her gums to see if she will calm herself back to sleep. My kids would wake up and I would nurse out of habit but they really didn't suckle. Good luck
D. T

A great book is Babywise. It gives you a general understand of what a baby should be able to do at different ages and goals to shoot for. Granted you need to remember it is a guideline. Babies get light in their sleep sometimes and may just need to cry for a little bit to fall back asleep. If you just fed her than you know she is fine and just needs to cry it out. If she is teething I like the teething tablets. There are also growth spurts too when babies might need an extra feeding for a few nights but then you need to let them cry it out after a few nights so it does not become a habit. Anyways the book is great. I having a guideline to help me have an idea of how many naps and how long my babe should be sleeping.

Sounds like you've gotten lots of good advice already. My only suggestion would be to move her bedtime back a little. That's sounds like it's really early. Maybe try to keep her awake a little later and she might sleep longer. I also agree with the other responders, it could just be a growth spurt or new teeth coming in. My daughter will be 1 in a couple week and the one thing I've learned is that babies aren't predictable and no 2 babies are alike. You just have to go with the flow and catch a nap when you can :-). Good luck and hang in there. I keep telling myself that one of these years I'll get a full night sleep again!

My baby, who's also 5 months old, is also doing this. We have a similar sleep schedule, I nurse her and now she's also falling asleep while nursing which she didn't do before. I've noticed that all her crib "accessories" are too overstimulating since now she can see much better. When she wakes up, she talks to them & fully wakes up each time. We've removed all of them & I thought we took care of that problem. Wrong. Now she's teaching herself how to crawl & won't stop practicing. She wakes every 2-3 hours & I find her belly down, against the sides or corner of her crib with her face smashed into her bumper pad. I'm not worried about SIDS b/c it's a breathable pad, but she screams when she realizes she's stuck. We're exhausted. She also takes about 3 naps, 1 hour each, but even that is dwendling either in number or in length. I hope this is just a phase, but I'll be reading your responses & maybe someone will have some good suggestions. If their brains are learning and growing so much, you'd think they'd need some serious sleep. Right?

E.-I had this same problem with my baby a couple of months ago. He started waking up 3-4 times a night and I was tired all of the time. I finally stopped getting up with him and let him cry it out and I only got up if I could tell his cry was something else (like a painful burp, or leaky diaper). With in 2 days (it may take longer for more stubern babies)he was back to sleeping though the night. He started waking up at the same time that he started getting teeth so sometimes it may start out with waking up with a painful mouth then becomes a habit. If you stop she will stop. My pediatrician also agreed with this method.

Hi E.,

You've probably gotten a large number of responses. I'm thinking of a couple things, and of course they may not apply, but just some thoughts. First, she might be teething. Both of my daughters started 6-8 weeks before their first bottom teeth cut thru at 6 months. Also, both of my daughters went through phases where they would go to bed just fine, sleep just fine, and then all of a sudden, it would stop and we either had trouble going to bed or trouble staying asleep.

A routine that has seemed to work well for my kids has been a morning nap (I'm not sure what time your daughter wakes in the morning), like around 8:30 or 9 and then another longer nap around 12/12:30. Both of my kids always needed a short evening snooze, and I would wake them if it wasn't short (30 min)...say around 5ish. This seemed to get them through dinner until bedtime...7:30 or 8:00. Maybe you can try keeping her 3rd nap shorter and try getting her middle of the day nap longer. What time does she go down for her second nap.

My 15 month old still typically wakes once during the night, but I only have to go in and put her back down and she is typically fine. When you mentioned that she is waking, that really didn't surprise me, but what did is the fact that she wakes 1/2 hour after you nurse her. Does she take a pacifier? If not, and you are open to her taking one, that might help sooth her back to sleep.

Anyway, hope some of those thoughts help. Good luck.
Chris

This is pretty common as kids become more aware of their surroundings and want to be with you more. The best thing is to just leave her in there and let her cry it out so she learns how to fall back asleep by herself. We all wake up multiple times a night and we just roll back over and fall asleep and she needs to learn that skill too. It is always hard to listen to your child cry but keep an eye on the clock and it is never as long as it feels like it is. The other option is to keep feeding her but that will become a habit that is hard to break. By the way, I think your bedtime is perfect - don't let people tell you it is too early. Most children are totally sleep deprived because people keep them up too late because of parents getting home late from work.

She could be getting a tooth, you didnt mention if she had any yet, and it could be bothering her, a little ibuprofen always helped my son..Just a thought

hiya my 28 months still wakes once a night mostly goes back to sleep upon nursing a few minutes she just wants to know im there and seeks comfort. at that age I would imagine that 2 naps are better so that she will sleep most the night(the night waking never has ended for me but thank goodness its only once a night but at that age my daughter woke typically twice to nurse...

if she gets more sunshine in day it helps her sleep at night i noticed my daughter got extremely regular and has been staying down for 11 hours nearly nightly for almost 2 years...

for example my daughter at 5-6 months of age would wake around 7-8 am then take one hour nap about 3-4 hours later up for changing lunch and play and back down 3 hours later for about 1.5 -3 hours and down for the night by breastfeeding as long as she wanted on one breast only some nights i remmeber thinking omg its been 45minutes on one breast but it worked ... kept her peaceful and she never really ever put much in her mouth or chewed teethers or pacifiers i think in part to all that nursing satisfied her need.

oh i plan to wean this summer to only night feedings and wish me luck on total weaning because really its been a long haul with her... good luck to you
oh and she might need more stimulation ie interesting things during day and outings in fresh weather to keep her more settled at night thats my experience... bless you and your family.

Have you tried chiropractic? Many times infants are subluxated (spine is out of place or stuck) due to the birthing process. Chiropractic adjusts the spine that has every nerve connection in your body and helps in a vast array of ways for your infant. If you are in the Emporia area, contact Denise Thomson, DC at Flinthills Chiropractic Center. She has helped me with my 3 kids immensely!

Not all babies will sleep the nite away this is very common most babies will be a good sleeper then they will wake several times a nite she may need to be burped changed feed or need to know that her mama is still there.Just wake up and check on her pick her up and soothe her then let her crry it out if you want to for 10 min or so,also you put her to bed after 6 in the evening that may be a bit too early considering how many naps she taked during the day she may not be tired.Even though she is still a baby.sahm of 2

My son would do that as well, I would take off the shirt or nightgown I was wearing and put it in the crib with him, it helped for awhile. Maybe run a fan in her room (white noise) or a humidifer. Maybe some sleepy music would help.

Good Luck

My son did the same thing, and I have a suggestion for part of your question. You said she falls asleep during nursing at night and what I found to help was feeding him outside of his room so that when we carried him upstairs to bed he would wake up just enough to know we were putting him to bed. I started feeding him downstairs in our living room and it seemed to help some. Other than that, we tried the Dr. Ferber book (your daughter is old enough for that if you're interested) which allows for "structured" crying and allows you to go in and check on her. It worked some for us, but it was just before a lot of teething. I liked his method because I just couldn't leave my baby to cry by himself for an hour! I hope this helps some, especially the night time feeding out of your daughter's room. Good luck! You've got LOTS of company! :-)

She is probably getting too many hours of sleep during the day and just isn't tired. Wow you have 3 naps and put her to sleep by 6:30? maybe if you try to keep her awake during one of her naps she will sleep more at night. When my kids were that age they woke up about 7 or 8 am. took a 2 hour nap around 1:00 and stayed awake until at least 8 or 9 pm. 12 hours of sleep in 24 hours is average for babies and young kids. As they get older they stay awake more.

My son is 14 months now and he started sleeping through the night when he was 8 weeks old... well mostly. I've found that whenever he wakes in the middle of the night its because he is either about to hit a milestone, or he's going through a growth spurt or he's teething. Just keep up with your routines and in no time she should be back to sleeping through the night. Good luck!