5 month old sleep - help!

[Batkinc2]

My son is 5 months old, and has me up between 3 & 18 times a night. Please help I think I am going mad
We have started weaning in the last couple of weeks, early I know however medically advised as he has a bad gastric reflux.
At around 3 months he started to sleep through, he then got gastroenteritis and hasn't slept since.
He has a nighttime routine of singing about an hour before bed, story time, bath, bottle, bed. He is always asleep by 7.He does have a dummy and some of the waking is him wanting this. His first wake can be anytime from 9-11 and from then it can be anything between every 30 minutes to 2 hours.
He normally feeds between 1 or 2 times a night.
I know the dummy has to go, but any ideas to get him sleeping better would be amazing I am a walking zombie
P.s he is on a reflux formula milk, we bf for 2 months but he couldn't keep it down even with thickners

[FATEdestiny]

Dummy is for getting to sleep not staying asleep. Live will be significantly harder for baby in terms of sleep if you get rid. I wouldn't. Babies can put their own dummy in somewhere around 7-10 months old. It's a game changer then. Dummies. Are. Ace.

In terms of light sleeping at night - probably linked to hinger and lack of daytime sleep.

The most calorie dense food stuff baby can have is milk. Food should not be replacing milk, it should be in addition to milk. Otherwise calorie intake goes down and baby is hungrier.

If you have a baby with server reflux it may be that he's sick often and/or takes less milk per feed. Both lead to hunger. The only answer is very frequent milk feeds. I'd go for a full feed every 90m-2h in on your position.

I'm guessing daytime naps are also short? Like feeding, the key is to make them frequent. Also make sleep as easy as possible - dummy, movement (bouncy chair, pushchair), reassurance, warmth.

Try a repeating cycle of short nap and feed every 90 minutes through the day. For example:

• Wake - note time and have baby back to sleep in an hour and a half
  
• Feed - full milk feed on waking.
  
• Wind/cuddle
  
• Floor time play - look at clock and limit awake time to 50m from waking up
  
• Top-up feed - see if baby wants what is left in the bottle
  
• Getting to sleep
  
• Sleep

[Scrumptiouscrumpets]

Could he be in pain due to the reflux?

[Batkinc2]

He is on medication from the reflux, and it's better then it has been.
He is having between 30-37oz of milk in a 24 hour period I have spoken to the dr as I am worried about over feeding but he's ok, as weight gain is what it should be.I know he is getting enough food he just doesn't want to sleep.
In the last 24 hours he has had 34oz of milk. 1oz pot of veg and a whole rusk with milk, so I don't think he is hungry.

[FATEdestiny]

At 5 to 7 months my (91st centile) DD was having 50-60oz a day. I'd make up 8 8oz bottles and she's usually drink 7oz per feed, within the 6-8oz range. Every 2 hours. So, for example,

7am
9am
11am
1pm
3pm
5pm
7pm
11pm

How much of the 30-37oz is being drank overnight?

What size and frequency of daytime milk feeds are you doing?

The reason for night feeds at this age really is very simple - because baby needs more milk than is being given in the daytime. This is especially true once weaning. Hunger also causes light sleeping.

[Batkinc2]

He has a 7/8oz bottle to go to bed sometimes wakes at 11 and can have 4-7oz. He will then wake 1-4 and take 4-10oz. I then try to not feed him again till his breakfast feed between 6-8am as he has only had 1 night feed since 10wks old. I just try to resettle him. Everyone keeps telling me at his age he doesn't need night feeds (and defo not 2 feeds) he should get enough during the day now and should go longer then 4 hrs at night. I should leave him to cry it out. It's just not me I can't do the self soothing he gets so upset

[Batkinc2]

Daytime feeds are 2-3 hourly, he takes anything from 4-8oz each feed

[FATEdestiny]

Whoever is telling you a 5 month old doesn't should not need a night feed is talking utter bullshit.

Yes, you can get some babies who don't need a night feed. These are the babies getting enough calories during the daytime. Your son clearly isn't.

Plus you've now started on (low calorie) solid food. This is going to make night feeds more likely. Early weaning foods are low calorie (fruit, veg, lean meat) and for this reason night feeds often make a reappearance during the first few months of weaning.

So baby is having an average of 12oz of his 34oz overnight. One third of his milk intake.

Could you try for getting 34 oz of milk into baby during the day? That is not done by giving bigger feeds. It's fine by giving more feeds (So reducing the gap between feeds).

I would try 6 7oz bottles and aiming for at least 6oz to be drank from each bottle. Assuming a 12 daytime, fitting six bottles in means 2 hourly feeds throughout the daytime.

[Batkinc2]

I am glad someone else doesn't think there is something wrong. One friends baby slept through from 7wks and seems to think there must be something wrong.
I shall give that a go over the next couple of days and see how he gets on.

[FATEdestiny]

Ive had a child sleeping through 12h at 7 weeks old. Ive had 3 other children who, urm, weren't anywhere close. All were perfectly normal. Just because one of my children was sleeping through very young did not mean I expected the others would.

Your baby is sublimely and perfectly "normal".