5 month old waking all through night

[Brighton635]

Hi there, I'm looking for any advice I can get please! My baby is 5 and a half months old, exclusively breast fed. A couple of months ago his sleep seemed to be going in the right direction, as he started to sleep for a 4-6 hour stretch on first being put down, although after that would wake every 1.5 - 2 hours for feeds. Over the last several weeks his sleep has deteriorated. First the longer stretches at the start of the night went, so he was just waking every 3 hours maximum. Then he started waking up very soon after being put down. We came away on holiday (halfway through a two week break) and it's now at the point where he's waking constantly. The last two nights I co slept with him and he will wake up if I take my hand off him, and also have an hour or so in the night where he's just awake and kicking around. He wants about three feeds in the night, the rest of the time he'll drop back off quickly after waking but only if I hold his hands down on his tummy otherwise he rubs then round his head/face quite frantically. I think he's probably overtired and overstimulated. We're trying to help him nap as much as possible in the day, but if anyone has any tips on how to turn around an overtired baby I'd really appreciate it!

No tips here but this is normal for a 5 month old and then throw in the fact that his routine might have been disturbed during the holiday. Sometimes their sleep just changes due to growth spurts etc.

Is it teething pain that's waking him? He's about the right age to be getting teeth. Mine had a few more wake ups than normal at that age for this reason

Thank you for your comment! Teething pain might be making things worse but I don't think it's the main problem as he seems fine during the day. I know it can be worse at night though.

Bump

Probably hungry if he's not on solids yet. Up to you if you wait two more weeks until 6 months - but could be worth starting on solids.

Could be napping too long in the day.

It's quite normal at that age, throw in the holiday aswell and it will definitely have an effect.
Around 4 months of age babies sleep patterns change, a lot call it the 4 month sleep regression. It does pass but their sleep can be different for a while and quite frustrating.
When my DD was going through it she would wake hourly, she's 10 months now and wakes every 2/3 hours for a feed.

Does he self settle to sleep? If you’re still feeding or rocking to sleep then try to phase that out.

Have you considered expressing milk and giving it from bottle? My little one woke up every two hours to feed before; since she's gets the bottle before bed she sleeps 7-10 hours. (I guess she didn't get enough milk from breast before) Introducing solids also can be a good idea as pp said.

The information about giving solids to make a child fuller overnight doesn't always work. Never worked for my DD, neither did trying formula and it's information that a lot of breastfeeding consultants have said isn't true.
Some babies just wake up more frequently than others.
Around 5 months a lot is going on for babies with their sleep changing and a lot of them have a really bad patch around this age.
Most babies cant self settle and look to their parents/caregiver to assist them with this until much older. It's very normal for children under 2 to wake in the night for comfort and even feeds.

This is controversial on Mumsnet, but if he has a dry nappy, been fed etc. have you tried just letting him cry for a bit?

Could be wind? Could try giving gripe water before bed to see if it helps. Also teething gel. They seem to help my little one settle better and for longer.

We were in exactly the same boat, sleep had become pretty consistent (5-7 hour stretches at the start of the night then 2-3 hour wakes) then we hit the 4 month sleep regression hard, bang on schedule.

I'd love to say it passes quickly, I'm sure it does for many babies but we are still having regular wakes at 7 months. It used to be every 40 mins though and we often get a couple of 2 hour stretches now.

Gave up on trying to put her down, we co-sleep as it's the only way for me to get some decent sleep.

The growth spurt/hungry baby theory isn't necessarily true - mine is on 3 good solid feeds a day and eats really well but still very wakeful.

Lots of different ideas out there - sleep training v. accept its biologically normal for babies to frequently wake.

Worth a look on instagram at Lyndsey Hookway & Fox & the moon sleep support , and also calm and bright sleep support for some varying perspectives (haven't made up my mind yet on what is the right way of thinking for us!)

From my experience, it's totally normal I'm afraid. Google 4 month sleep regression. It hit our baby hard at about 3.5 months and lasted through to 6 months. Those were long, painful weeks!

The 4 month sleep regression may tie in with babies needing more than just milk. Back in the day solids were introduced around 12-16 weeks. Might babies nowadays just be hungry as they have to wait until 6 months for any sort of solids?

I'm not suggesting people ignore current advice. Just wondering if the sleep regression might be simply linked to hunger? If so what do people think? Would it be ok to withhold food from an older child or an adult?

I get what you're saying but more research was done to find out that most babies tummies aren't ready for solid food before 6 months.

All they need is milk, whether formula or breast milk. The regression is linked to the change in sleep cycles that happens to babies around 4months. It doesn't seem to affect all babies either but it does affect a lot.
The term regression is not really the best as it isn't a step backwards, it's a development thing.

@converseandjeans I'm no expert but the reading I did on it (mostly at 4am 🙄) suggested that there is no evidence that introducing solids improves the 4 month sleep regression.

E.g.

"Will Starting Solids Help Baby Sleep?
Short answer: probably not. There’s no evidence that starting solids helps a baby sleep any better than she did before. In fact, a 2010 study suggests that starting solids before the age of 4 months may actually disrupt sleeping! This study revealed that babies who began eating cereal before 4 months of age slept half an hour less each day than infants who weren’t eating cereal."

It's the 4 month sleep regression. I could have written your post a few months ago, my little one had pretty much the exact same sleep patterns and changes.

We got to 6 months and had resorted to co-sleeping but it didn't really work for us, she would still wake up every hour or less and I was getting no sleep at all and was at the end of my tether.

So we decided to do sleep training, and I say this as someone who vowed never to do so. We vaguely did Ferber but changed the intervals and sort of combined with pick up/put down as comforting without picking up just made her cry even more. By night 3 she was waking up just once for a feed, occasionally twice. Those three nights were horrible but it worked so well for all of us.

We've had a couple of regressions since but nowhere near as bad, and we will sometimes do another bit of training here and there but she's usually asleep within 15-20 minutes of it, so it's not like she'll be crying for hours.

lilroo pitterypattery

That's interesting - I did wonder if it had been studied. I guess the positive is it's probably a phase & when you're in it it's hard to imagine things improving.

This is normal and I wouldn't overthink it. It will pass and sleep will return to a regular pattern soon.

My baby was just like yours, up until 3.5 months he did the 5 hour stretch followed by a couple of 2 hour stretches. Then the 4 month sleep regression hit hard (I used to always feed him to sleep so we were particularly vulnerable to it) and he began sleeping in 45 minute-1 hour stretches, maybe one 2 hour stretch if I was very lucky!

We sleep trained in the end (just for bedtime not for any night wakeups) and he dropped to 3-4 feeds at night right away, a few weeks later he was down to 2 feeds a night and now at 8 months old he has weaned himself off all nighttime feeds and sleeps 10.5 hours straight - something I honestly thought he would never do.

Wow thanks everyone for all your comments! It was my first post so it's great to know I can get such good advice. I didn't think it was only the sleep regression because it came on so gradually, but you've convinced me. My first slept really well so the difference is a bit shocking! I think I also need to make sure he naps as much as he wants in the day, but it looks like the main thing will be to soldier on until 6months and then try some form of sleep training if he's still sleeping terribly.

How did you get on @Brighton635

I feel like I could’ve written your original post about my 5 month old…

@newmummypm as I remember it he was a fair bit better as soon as we got back from holiday and he was in a familiar place. By 7 months he was waking two or three times in the night, and by 9 months I know I was able to get a decent amount of sleep, I think he must have starting sleeping through most nights. I did do a bit of sleep training here and there. Good luck with your little one! It will get easier x