5 month old won’t go back down

[Victimofasleepthief]

My LO is 5 months in a couple of days and it’s fair to say has never been a good sleeper.

We are now able to put him down for a nap in his cot where he sleeps for 30 mins at a time (usually 3 times a day) He will sleep for much longer if given the chance to sleep on me or DH.

At night we have a bedtime routine of bath, massage and book. I am then able to put him down awake but drowsy and he drops off about 7pm. He stays asleep for about 4 hours and once he has woken about 11pm there are no more chunks of sleep and will hate being put back down in his cot. He manages about 30mins/hour at a time and that’s if I rock him off, no chance of going down drowsy then. I usually cave around 5am and let him sleep with me as I can tell he is exhausted but means I can’t sleep. He then wakes up about 7am full of smiles.

Anyone with any advice and happy stories of sleep miracles?!

Is there a reason you can't sleep when he's in bed with you?

He will only sleep if in my arms so get a dead arm pretty quickly! Also worry about rolling onto him. I know co sleeping works really well for some families but I just worry too much.

Sounds like he’s having a developmental leap. My dd would have horrendous periods like this and as suddenly as they’d started they’d stop and her sleep would be better than it’s ever been before.

Could you get your DH to care for the baby something like 8pm to 12am so you can get a chunk of sleep till this phase is over?

Agree that it could be a developmental leap. One thing that might help is if you sleep with the sheets fir his cot for a couple of nights to give them the nice reassuring smell of you.

Is he feeding a lot in this unsettled hours too? If so, I’d try to get more feeds in during the day, if you can.

Thanks I’ll try the bedsheet trick to see if that makes him feel more settled.

A developmental leap would make sense since he seems to doing new things every day at the moment.

The one good thing coming out of the lockdown is although hubby is a teacher he is working from home 4 days a week so is able to help out. I think it’s a good idea to split the night so we both get some sleep.

LO has been struggling with reflux so getting enough food in him during the day is a challenge but he only takes 2 feeds over night and seems happy with that. When he wakes between feeds he seems to fall asleep as soon as he is in our arms so he must want our comfort.

Shame coffee can’t keep me going 24/7 until this passes as it’s horrible seeing him so upset. We split the night last night so he slept on us for most of it and seems so much happier this morning.

Fingers crossed it will pass soon.

If he's got reflux, has tongue tie been ruled out? Just asking as my DS would only really sleep on us, had reflux symptoms but it turned out to be tt.

A breastfeeding specialist mentioned he might be when I was struggling before changing to formula. How does a tt impact on their sleep?

They take I wind instead of milk so they possibly don't get enough calories plus have the discomfort of the wind.

I'd have a read of the link in my last post and if you think he has it, I'd seriously think about getting it divided.

We had trouble with sleep, for years, trouble with weaning as he'd only have smooth purées until he was one and ended up having speech therapy.

Sorry in the sleep fog I didn’t spot the link. That does sound quite a lot like him. I think I’ll wait (survive) the next few weeks to see if its a leap and if his reflux settles. Sadly I don’t think the doctor will have much time for a FTM with a sleepless baby so once it’s all over and if he hasn’t improve I’ll get myself booked in. Thanks

Absolutely no problem. You might find it easier to cope with if you can see a way out, even if it might be sone weeks away. Milk Matters, from the link, do virtual diagnosis. I'm not sure if they are doing divisions right now though, even if you did what to risk it.

In the meantime, try splitting the nights as the PP suggested, try the sheets thing and if you can manage to hold him this way still, try the "Tiger in the Tree" hold to help to get his wind up. There are sone videos on YouTube

Also, if you are thinking of having another LO, at least next time you'll know the signs and where you can get help