5 month old waking frequently and grumbling 'cos he wants to sleep - WWYD

[Bartiimaeus]

DS is waking up at best every 2 hours, at worst every 15 mins at night

He doesn't cry as such, but he will lie there groaning and thrashing his legs and turning his head because he desperately wants to sleep but can't seem to. If I feed him or DH rocks him he'll instantly calm (90% of the time) and then we can put him down and he sleeps. But often 10 - 30 minutes later he's grumbling again.

Should we just leave him to grumble? I'm afraid it'll wake him up even more if he just lies there trying to sleep but not being able to.

We sometimes leave him to grumble for 5 minutes but he never manages to self settle. Most nights he self settles for the first time, i.e. I feed him and he dozes off but me getting up to put him in his cot wakes him up and then he goes to sleep by himself.

my ds used to wake himself up when he moved his arms and would hit himself in the face so we swaddled him so he couldnt do it and it worked

swaddling is great for newborns, but I personally think it would be a bit restrictive for him at 5 months old - he's getting to an age where he might want to roll & sleep in a different position & swaddle is going to make that more difficult.

Bartiimaeus can I ask how long this has been happening for? Is he teething? Has he started solids yet(as this may cause wind/discomfort during the night)? And also what his daytime routine looks like? wakeup time, nap times/duration & bedtime? I ask this every time I post on a thread but its so important b/c day sleep affects night sleep & vice versa.

Also, are you picking him up/rocking him/feeding him every time he grumbles? IIWM I would be inclined to leave him be unless he cries for you, as you might not be giving him quite long enough to see if he'll self settle.