5 month old having a really tough time at night

[Nash717]

Hello,

My little one has always woke frequently in the night since he was newborn but he did start sleeping longer we managed to get him to go down at 7:30 and he wouldn’t wake until 1ish then 6am which was amazing felt like I was on top of the world having the most sleep I have had since he was born ... and then he learned how to roll over 😑

I think the rolling must be playing a part in him waking up so regularly again he will wake up to 7 times a night crying I just don’t know what to do, he is breast feed and we have a good routine during the day he is breastfed lots in the day he never cries for food and will happily go 4 hours between feeds, we have a good nap routine he has a 1hr-1.5hr nap in the morning afternoon and a cat nap early evening and then bath time story and bed so we have a routine In place and have done since he was 3 months, when he goes down to bed/naps he gets a little song like 5 little ducks he gets a kiss on the head and then put down awake he will cry sometimes for maybe 2-3 mins but then goes of to sleep, but durning the night he just can’t seem to self settle I have tried leaving him, flipping him over back on his front, nappy change and feeding

Feeding is the only thing that will really settle him back down, he will feed for a couple of mins and then get drowsy

I have tried breastfeeding him and then giving him a top up bottle before bed (expresses milk or formula) and he still wakes just as regularly surely he can be that hungry ?

And because he is feeding so regularly in the night he has to have his nappy changed at least once’s as it just can’t hold all the pee until morning which wakes him up even more

I just don’t know what to do to try and encourage him to sleep longer stretches

We also think he has a lactose intolerance leading to bad gas and poop, so he has a lactose free formula and I have given up dairy in my diet so I don’t think it’s that as I have stoped having dairy for about 5/6 weeks now

My husband works night shifts so it’s all on me :/

I’m at a loss all my friends are bragging and saying how there babies have slept through the night from 12 weeks 🤬 my mum says just stop breastfeeding and give him formula full time 😑

My family live in England and I’m in Northern Ireland so it’s not even like I can just pop down to them for some relief plus all my friends are back in England to so I can’t even go out with them and there is only so much banter you can have with a 5 month old and a cat 😂

Honestly feel like I’m going crazy

It's so hard. As you know, if he can go 4 hours during the day then he can during the night too. If he wakes up an hour or two after a feed, I would try to settle without a feed eg. Hand on chest and shushing.

When are you planning to introduce solids? It may get better then. Once he is eating regularly during the day, you can think about withdrawing night feeds. I've just done so for my nearly 7 month old and has gone much better than expected.

Good luck.

I am thinking of starting solids now as he is defiantly capable of eating gave him some mushed up banana with milk last week only about a tea spoon or so but he ate it all, I was thinking maybe a tea spoon of baby rice in the morning and a tea spoon in the evening not sure if it would make much difference is a teaspoon even enough ?

Have tried holding and rocking but he just starts squirming all around, and tried patting his bum when he is in the cot

He is also refusing a dummy at night time - which is a good thing but that would have helped get him over to sleep in the past

It’s so hard :/

Yeah it sounds like he's ready for some solids then. There is a huge debate to be had about starting solids before six months but some (possibly most) are ready earlier than that. I started with DD2 at 5 months and wish I had started earlier with DD1.

A teaspoon is a good start and then you build up as he tolerates.

Is he getting plenty of exercise and stimulation in the day? My 5.5mo is just learning to roll and can be very restless at night with lots of kicking and squirming! I find giving him lots of time on the floor and in the jumperoo during the day seems to help tire him out so he sleeps better, as does going out for walks in the buggy so he gets a bit of fresh air and has lots to look at. We are back to 1-2 wakes per night now.

I don't have any advice about settling, as my dd is regularly awake for feeding in the night (8 months) so I'm following to see what everyone else recommends (good napper, routine in evening and sleeps fine until 11pm) I would say though that so far solids isn't the magic answer and has made no difference (in fact in may make the wind worse in the middle of the night) - it might work for some but not for all

Yup he is on his play mat in the day, rolls around the living room, we go out for a walk at least once a day I pop him in his jumper for a bit to every day makes sure he gets lots of play to try and tire him out

I have a feeling food could make him more windy
He is a very gassy baby

I’m feeling a bit better now had a driving lesson this afternoon so that was a nice hour and a half away from the house and with some adult chat 😂

I think I’m going to try putting buba down in his own room tonight rather than in the next to me as I think the next to me cot is maybe to small and with him being in our bedroom it’s getting quite hot so I think he gets to warm

So last night went so much better, we put buba in his own room in his bigger cot bed put him down at 7 and he only woke twice once at 12:30 for a feed and then at 4:30 I think I He woke up then as he had mushed him self all the way down the other end of the cot and was head butting the end of the cot 😂

I think the next to me cot was just to small for him and he kept waking him self up from moving around, I’ll try again tonight hopefully it was not a fluke 🤞🏻

Hi OP, sounds like fingers crossed you're sorting it but just wanted to say I found 5 months a very trying time - my son would not settle at all and his sleep was terrible. I used to walk 2 hours in the morning and another 2 in the afternoon to get him to nap in his buggy and then he used to have night parties where he'd be awake for 2/3 hours at night. It was more exhausting than the newborn stage! It did pass once we hit 6 months and his sleep has got better and better ever since. Just some solidarity for you as all babies definitely do not sleep 12 hours by that age!

I'm glad to hear the cot worked better. How was last night?

Do you have blackout curtains? He could be waking up because of the light and staying up because he knows he’ll get fed.

Last night was good to, he woke up at 11:30 and then again at 4:30 then up at 7

I really miss not having him in our room but I’m loving that he is more settled and seems happier during the day, we have a camera baby monitor so I can see him fine so that’s stoped me worrying about him so much

So it think it’s officially time buba is evicted form our bedroom :p

Yus have blackout curtains