5-month old with terrible sleep patterns - driving me bonkers

[stroop]

I am going bonkers.

My 5-month old had a sleep regression over a month ago, and is now an even worse sleeper than before. She wakes up every hour during the night, which means I am getting no sleep (she's exclusively breastfed).

She naps for half an hour every two hours during the day and fights it so hard! She will start grouching an hour and a half after the last nap, at which point I start to settle her. She fights and fights it, and the whole process usually takes an hour. I normally feed her to sleep in bed or go on a walk in her pram, though the latter is starting to not work (she just cries in the pram).

I am at the end of my tether, and feel so frustrated and upset. My husband is really helpful at the weekend, but the reality is it's just me and the baby during the day. I don't feel I'm coping very well, I feel constantly on edge. I know it's not the baby's fault, which makes me feel guilty for feeling frustrated.

Any kind words or advice would be appreciated...

I find my baby is soooo difficult to settle if I do it before 2.5 hours after she last woke. Even if she's grumpy and ready for a nap at 2 hours, I'll distract her. We'll have a play, read a book or sing songs for a while and then go and settle her for her nap.

She is also going through a regression but naps do seem to be settling into a routine now. I think they do need more awake time between naps as they get older.

I can relate to what you’re saying. My DD is 16 weeks and has never slept, I do all the nights by myself and have slept more than a couple of hours at once since she was born. She too cries a lot and I feel on edge all the time, she won’t skeep in the car or pram, although that’s changing. I have to battle to get her to sleep.
I think you are coping better than you think. It’s so very hard, and no sleep is literally torture isn’t it? I just wanted to say you’re not alone, I posted something similar lAst night and got some fabulous responses reassuring me things do get better. Hang in there, take each day as it comes and celebrate the small wins. Big hugs xx

Thank you both. @HelenMummyof2 would you mind linking your post please?

So sorry to hear this! I'm not sure what advice to give as all babies are different but here is a little bit of what I do..

Maybe you're missing her very first clues of her being tired and that's why she is fighting her naps? My baby sometimes can go 3 hours between naps, sometimes just an hour. But all of a sudden she will stop playing with toys or talking. She also starts to touch her ears and that's when I know to have some wind down time and a cuddle and then get her to sleep.

Maybe she is hungry? I know it is hard when breastfeeding to know how much they are taking in. Do you feed her during the night every time she wakes? My baby is formula fed and we have had to increase her milk quite a bit as she kept waking to be fed.

Also, have you tried music? Whenever my baby is being harder work than usual or crying for no apparent reason I whack up the radio on the tv and she instantly stops crying and then I rock her to sleep whilst it is on. It won't work for every baby but it's worth a shot.

It won't last forever and you're not alone. It's a lot of trial and error isn't it x

I feel you :( a week short of 5 months here and she's been going through a regression since nearly 4 months it's killing me! Went from waking 1 to 2 times a night to every hour. Nap times were a wright off.

I do think she's coming out of it though we've had the odd night this week where she's slept for 3 to 4 hours on the trot!
We've also found that nap times are becoming more structured she'll go to sleep an hour to two hours from when she wakes up and then about 2/3 in the afternoon. Even if she's not looking too tired we put her down at this time and feed to sleep to get her in this pattern, also ebf.

Sorry not much advice just that you're not the only one!!

Thank you ladies for your support! It's comforting to hear I'm not alone.

@thisisnotmyname87 DD tugs at her ears sometimes, I had no idea this could be an indication of tiredness! I'll watch out for this cue and see if this helps.

'This too shall pass' eh!