Gah - DS naps getting shorter and shorter....could weaning help??

[BotBotticelli]

DS is 5mo next week. He is a BIG boy...on the 91st centile and weighs 19lb.

He has always been a catnapper, having four or five 30 minute naps per day, refusing to sleep any longer. However, things seem to be getting worse and worse. over the last 2 days he is only sleeping for 20 minutes and then is totally MISERABLE after being awake for about an hour.

he just generally seems unsettled and everything's gone up the spout :-(

I wonder if weaning him might help him settle a bit more?? I know, I know, i should wait till 6 months etc, and I really want to as am keen on the BLW route, but honestly he is just a nightmare at the moment. It's like he is trying to tell me something is wrong. And aside from maybe wanting a fuller belly, I can't think what it might be :-/

He has 7oz bottles every 3.5 hours during the day, and 8oz bottles at bedtime (6.30pm) and 10pm (dreamfeed).

what do you think? shall I try him on a bit of baby rice??

I would/did. I remember the look on their faces the first time they tasted it - priceless

Don't look for justification on it on here for it though, there's too much conflict on these sorts of questions. just do what's right for you and your baby.

However you should always listen to my advice. It's by far the best

My DD has always been a crappy sleeper. Weaning made ZERO difference. Sorry.

Weaning makes very little difference to sleep, for most babies. I started BLW 1 week before the 6 month mark with DS1, and 1 week after the 6 month mark with DS1, and it had zero effect on their naps or their nighttime sleep.

DS1 was a crap sleeper (still is - he's 8 ), DS2 is much better. It's just the way they are.

5 months is a classic age for wakefulness/being too distracted to sleep. It's a perfectly normal developmental stage.

I agree 4-5 months is a rubbish age for sleep. Solids made no difference here either.

I'd wait a few weeks and do baby led, it's really fun a f far less hassle

Weaning won't make any difference- it's unlikely he's waking because he's hungry. Some babies are just cat-nappers. Mine is too and it's rubbish so sympathies. I'm hoping she'll level out into less but longer naps soon.

If weaning helped, no weaned baby would have sleep issues

DS was a big bugger (11lb 7 at birth) and all that helped with his sleep was time and some eventual sleep training. Food made no difference at all.

I have a cat napper too who also got worse at 5 months, then after a coule of weeks went back to 30 mins. We are a month into weaning now, and night sleep has slightly (slightly slightly slightly) improved nighttime sleep but naps still rubbish.