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5 month old awake every hour - please tell me this will pass!

12 replies

reeny19 · 15/12/2019 07:23

My son turned 5 months yesterday and we have had the 4th night of waking every hour. (Bed 8:30, awake for the day 6:45am) Prior to that he woke every two hours, which has been going on since he was 3.5 months old, and me thinking he’d grow out of it, just ride it out - only it got worse, now I look back and think two hourly sleep would be bliss 😂

He is EBF. I feed every time he’s awake except maybe one time if I can get him to sleep again easily. I feed because it’s the quickest way to settle him and I’m of course desperate to get back to sleep myself. The longer I leave him the more he wakes up, and then once fully awake he’ll be awake for an hour or two before he will sleep again.

His daytime naps aren’t great and vary, usually 3 naps a day which last between 20-45mins with an occasional big 1-2 hour nap which might occur about once a week.

He has always rejected a dummy

I’ve tried adding an extra layer of clothing as it might have been due to cold - made no difference

He has slept better in the past but I can count the times he’s slept as long as 5 hours on one hand and when I say better I mean he would only be up 4 times a night 😂 we have had two nights where he was up once and that was the two days after his 12 week injections!

Has anyone else experienced this? How long until things got better? Did it get worse? (If it does tell me I need to mentally prepare myself!)

People keep saying he might keep waking as he’s a big baby with a strong appetite (born at 25th weight percentile, followed 92nd percentile since 4 weeks old), but is there any truth in that this would affect sleep?

I have no idea what to do I’m just riding it out. No idea how I’m still managing to function tbh.

OP posts:
Tinmum2 · 15/12/2019 11:17

I remember my twins going through a similar phase when I went back to work. They were 8 months corrected. Not sure if it was developmental or separation anxiety but they grew out of it after a couple of weeks. Hope it will be the same for you.

novacaneforthepain · 15/12/2019 11:53

Our babies were born on the same day Smile

I am EBF and have him in bed with me just lying down on my side feeding him ALL night. When my back is breaking I change sides, repeat all night Sad it's tough

Best advice I ever had was "everything is a phase"

hodgepodge21 · 15/12/2019 16:21

Urgh it's tough, I am in the middle of the 4 month sleep regression myself! Just wondering whether you are feeding him to sleep? Or whether you feed him, then put him down awake to put himself to sleep? I have read a lot about baby sleep and apparently around 4/5 months they start to be aware of how they got to sleep (e.g rocked to sleep, fed to sleep etc) and therefore when they wake again in the night they can't put themselves back to sleep without that same thing. And then that leads to more frequent wakings over time, every time they finish a sleep cycle! That might help to explain why he is getting worse?

Rosalie009 · 16/12/2019 03:09

Went got into the dreaded 4 month sleep regression a month ago, went from waking once or twice a night to every hour. Last week we decided to try him in his own room and he has slept like a dream since! It was hard for me the first few nights having him in a different room but now I am so grateful for a better night sleep!

NewInTown08 · 16/12/2019 03:57

No advice but I am in the exact same situation! I think my problem is bf'ing him back to sleep, but I don't have the strength to try and just rock him without bf'ing, as he will just scream until he's wide awake and then I'll have to settle him for over an hour ( although then he might get used to the rocking and need that to get back to sleep, but seems less enticing then bf back to sleep??) I have tried feeding him a little cereal in the breastmilk and it hasn't changed a thing.

reeny19 · 16/12/2019 19:37

Oh yes I do all of the “don’ts“ such as feed to sleep, rock to sleep and put him down when fast asleep and not awake. I’ve tried not doing all those things but they just don’t work! In the end I just do what’s quickest and easiest.

The rocking to sleep is becoming much less effective now, so I do it a bit to get him drowsy then either feed to sleep or pop him on his side on the crook of my arm and he goes to sleep on his own. Then when he’s totally KO’ed he goes in his own bed.

Aw I love that there’s a baba born on the same day 😍 I guess this thread is just show of solidarity for us all. No real solution just ride it out. Interesting how one of them has been better in their own room, a friend of mine said the same; poor sleep then once by themselves slept through the night. Also interesting that the food has made no difference as I have been wondering if it would.

I was only up 5-6 times last night so it has got a bit better - An improvement from 10 times definitely!

OP posts:
reeny19 · 16/12/2019 19:38

Tinmum2 however you managed with twins I am in awe! I think twins would break me 😂

OP posts:
MilkLady02 · 16/12/2019 19:45

Aargh, this sounds exactly like us! My DS is nearly 11 months now but went through exactly what you described just when I went back to work. (He would have been 6ish months) I was broken! It lasted 3 weeks and then his first teeth came through! Then slept much better (up twice/three times per night!) People look at me strangely when I say he had a really good night, only up twice! I do all the things you do too, feed to sleep as it’s fast! Mine will not self settle, I have tried, but when I’m at work all day I just need to get as much sleep as possible! I’m not going to do CC as I just think if he needs me, he needs me, that’s what I’m here for! But I do end up co sleeping after the fourth ish wake up and let him feed while I sleep. It will get better!

MilkLady02 · 16/12/2019 19:47

Also now DS is weaning and eating well in the day, he doesn’t want so much milk in the night. He’ll sometimes feed for 5 mins and be back asleep again! So it is improving!

hodgepodge21 · 16/12/2019 19:49

Oh god yeah we all just do what's quickest and easiest, so I don't blame you there! But in the meantime, It might be worth attempting to try and put him down awake even if it's just for one nap, or bedtime on one day. You know it may take a while to get him to settle but you will only need to do it for that one time, then for the rest of the day/night just do what you usually do. You can try picking him up and resettling then putting him down again (and repeat!) or settling him in his cot by shushing and patting, or even rocking until calm but stopping before asleep. It might just help start the cycle of him being able to self settle.

Tinmum2 · 25/12/2019 07:04

Tinmum2 however you managed with twins I am in awe! I think twins would break me 😂
Reeny19 think I may be a bit broken already but fortunately they have phases of sleeping OK which helps keep me sane. I just keep repeating the mantra 'everything is a phase'. Hope your little one starts sleeping for longer periods soon.

literategiraffe · 25/12/2019 07:16

You could be describing us!
My DD settles really quickly but even at 8.5months she wakes 3 times on a good night.
She was worse, at one point refused to be put down at all. As with everything else this will pass!
I found the Care It Out sleep consultant on Instagram really helpful!

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