5mo fighting sleep every evening

[G1nger]

Hi Everyone,

My baby has started, at 5mo, appearing to fight going to sleep every evening. He goes through several spells of seeming tired and then perks up when I try to get him to sleep. He goes to bed somewhere between 10pm and 11.30pm, often after grizzling on and off for up to 2 hours. We sleep in the same room.

1. Is this separation anxiety (seems a bit early)? Is it just that he's chosen to insert some hours of wakefulness into the evening as he gets more alert?
2. Should I wait it out and assume he'll adjust as he becomes more awake in the daytime (he naps after approx every 60mins of wakefulness in the daytime - because he gets tired after that time)?
3. Or in doing that, would I just be prolonging things and will need to find a solution eventually?

Do you have any experience of this? I'm not going to let him cry himself to sleep, btw. Thank you.

Are you certain he's not hungry?

Absolutely sure.

Ginger... I'm in the dame position. DD 21 weeks used to spend the evenings up with us. About 6 weeks ago we started putting her to bed 7-8. I used to rock her off tho. Then we decided she needs to learn to get herself off and for a good week she whimpered (not cried) herself off up sleep. Now as soon as I take her off to her room and switch the light off she screams. Like she knows whats coming. Back to rocking her (even tho she still cries, bit makes me feel better!). Then always wakes 30-60 mins later and cries again! Barring in mind she really doesn't cry much x x x

How long does he nap for? 60 minutes of wakeful time before needing to nap doesn't sound very long - maybe try & increase this so he naps better (ie keep him awake for 70 minutes for a week before naps, then 80 etc etc). I found with my 5 month old DD that her nighttime sleep improved dramatically once we got into a routine with naps.

He does nap a lot during the day, and for 30-45 minutes a time. But he is becoming more wakeful as he gets older.

On the basis of Monday night's experience, I think the problem is that my baby gets too excited to sleep when his dad gets home. His dad/my partner didn't make it back for bedtime on Monday and the baby slept all evening. Then yesterday, my partner was back on time and the problem reoccurred.

Any tips, please? They only see eachother in the evenings and on weekends...

Have a baby in a pram next to me as I'm typing. Baby is 17 weeks and ditto problem! Did i mention I also have a glass of wine nearby too? I figure it's a phase. I remember when I had my DS (now 4.5) that people told "sleep makes sleep".

Put him to bed early and keep up the routine regardless of your partner. Honestly it will pass quickly! Can your partner help in the mornings and spend time with him then? That's what we did with DS because I got fed up of dealing with a tired baby!