5 month old suddenly won’t sleep, fussy, hungry all the time - help

[Whywontyouletmesleep]

My baby turned 5 months last week and she has gone from a quite content baby that sleeps quite well, only waking twice a night for a while which I know I got quite lucky especially after the first 12 weeks which was just so difficult.

she is now waking up constantly, she wakes up multiple times an hour, she’s wanting a feed every two hours and she’s screaming more. I used to be able to calm her down really quickly and she’s inconsolable, I feel like a shit mum and I’m exhausted.

she’s not unwell, she doesn’t haven’t an allergy. What the hell is going on? I’m so tired and I’m feeling the anxiety I had when she was in the newborn stage.

Oh man I remember 5 months being tough for us too.

Supposedly there’s quite a big growth/development spurt at 5 months. This makes them much hungrier - meaning they wake up more.

She might also be teething - I think this is prime time for that. So calpol might help with that. I remember we actually started being a bit liberal with calpol around this time with suspected teething pain, and it helped him sleep much better.

Just pre-5 months we started on solid foods as well as milk. Meant we had more variety for keeping him less hungry for longer. Some people say they sleep better once they start on solids - I don’t remember if it made a huge difference for us immediately although it was definitely better within a few months.

good luck OP! And 💐

For the screaming, to be honest, we often assumed teething and calpolled. It helped. I don’t think it makes me a bad mother. Calpol every night for a week or so to get over the worst isn’t going to cause her any damage at all.

Haven’t tried calpol yet… I’ll try that next. She might be teething she’s constantly dribbling and trying to bite things.

That definitely sounds like teething to me!

Maybe also try googling how to soothe teething babies - you get special toys that for example can be put in the fridge so they’re nice and cool and soothing on sore gums. Sophie la girafe is a very aesthetically pleasing teether that our son liked but he also just liked chewing any sort of plastic or rubber ring.

Some people swear by bonjela gel too. I’m not sure it made much of a difference for us but he definitely liked the sensation of my finger pressing on his gums