Restless Sleeping 5 month old

[Chelly71]

Hi, my DS is a very content 5 month old who goes down very easily to sleep (day naps and night) but has recently started being very restless from about 3.30am until 5.30-6am. doesn't really fully wake up just thrashing around the cot (in a sleeping bag), banging against the rails and making lots of noise. I soothe him with a dummy (he does sleep with one) but it lasts about 15 minutes and he is off again. any advice? Should I wake him fully when it starts and then settle him back 'properly' or should I turn the baby monitor down and let him settle himself? He isn't hungry as his 7am feed is had quite calmly so I'm confident it isn't hunger (I wake him at 10.30pm for a feed too). One thought is that it might be his guts as he is windy when I go down to soothe him... if this is the problem what can I do???? Any advice welcome from a very tired mum...

personally i would just turn the baby monitor down if he's just restless and he hasn't got a problem or isn't 'asking' for anything. Waking him properly could create more problems than it solves IMO......it could easily develop into a habit which then becomes hard to break. As for why he becomes restless in the first place.....is he cold maybe? I know our house seems to be at it's coldest at about 4am. I'm not sure wind would be the obvious cause if his last feed was hours ago at 10.30 tbh........

I read somewhere that previous good sleepers start having wakeful periods again between 3-6 months. Some start teething and some just wake up because they are bored and want to play.
DD is 3 months today, has been sleeping for a good 8 or 9 hour stretch since a month ago - so not looking forward to the sleepless nights again!

Is it dark enough in the bedroom? Before DD went in her own room (complete with blackout blinds), she was waking us at 6ish when the sun came up. We soon shifted her into her own room!

Thanks both.... I agree I could be making a habit if I wake him but I was hoping for one main wake up and then he sleeps again more solidly.... we are on different floors so going up and down stairs constantly doesn't help. He actually might be warm because his room is the warmest in the house so he could be stuffy perhaps. I also invested in a gro anywhere blind the other day and put that up in the hope it would help but no difference so far! I also read that they start coming into a light sleep from about 3-4 months old, could be this and the dummy association that needs breaking.. thanks for the advice. Fingers crossed your DD stays aleep for those stretches... lucky you! Mine only started sleeping properly when I shifted to formula (3 weeks ago), he must have never been quite full before so I should be happy he goes to 3.30-4pm at the moment