My 5month old baby just won’t sleep right through?

[KLD95]

Hi guys, I’m after a little bit of advice and guidance if possible.
I’m wondering how I encourage my son to sleep through the night as I’m wanting him to be sleeping through before he goes into his own bedroom.
He wakes anything from 6.20am and we get up. He has an hour nap around 8am until 9am. He then has a bottle of 8ozs. He then has a yoghurt/rusk at 11am.
He’ll nap around 12 for about 15-20 mins.
Again he’ll cue for a feed at 1. He’ll have a bottle and some puréed veg.
We’ll play until he’s tired and hungry. He will then nap around 4.30 until 5, hell then have a feed.
We’ll play or go for a walk and bath at 7pm-7.30pm and then I’m trying my hardest to keep him awake past 8pm. We even had him awake past 9 one night this week and he still woke up.
I have tried him with a rusk before bed which seems to help him go that little bit longer but he’s still waking at 3-4.30. I’ll feed him and put him down and then he wakes at 6.

I totally understand that sleeping from anything past 8 until 6 is brilliant but it’s not right through? I don’t mind getting up at 5am if he sleeps right through as I can expect him to sleep for long periods of time. Thanks x

He sounds overtired tbh. Dd had 3 naps at that age, each around an hour and then went to bed at 6:30 and slept (with waking to feed) until 6:30. They need around 14-16 hours of sleep a day, and an overtired baby will sleep less and then you get into a viscous circle.

Don’t give him a rusk, they have more sugar than a custard cream! And it’s SO NORMAL for a tiny baby with a tiny stomach to need to feed around 3am. I think you’re expecting a bit too much tbh. Relax, they all sleep through eventually.

He will do it when he's ready. For my son that was 16 months.

lots of babies who "sleep through"still wake for a feed at night. My youngest took nearly 3 yrs to sleep from 7-7 & still often comes into our bed at 6.30 or earlier.

Don't push back bedtime.

Babies don’t often sleep through at 5 months, sorry. Mine slept through much closer to a year.

I’d work on longer naps and ditch the rusks. They are full of sugar.

Keeping babies up late doesn't result in a longer sleep at night unfortunately. I think he needs more sleep during the day, can you try and stretch the lunch time nap? And I'd stick with 7 or 7:30pm for bedtime. If my DS2 had bad daytime naps I would sometimes put him down for the night at 6pm or 6:30. He still slept/woke the same amount at night.

He's a 5 month old baby. I think your expectations are unrealistic. He'll do it when he's ready.

I believe 'sleeping through' means 11pm till 6am.

And at that age I'd consider one waking for a night feed to be good!

I think sleeping through the night actually means 6-8 hours without interruptions which is pretty different to 7pm-7am which some seem to think it means.

So actually my youngest did do that much earlier than I said in my post upthread.

I have a 5 month old, he wakes every 3 hours on a good night, every 2 hours on a bad one. From experience with 3 babies this is normal. I think your expectations are unrealistic I'm afraid (and I agree, ditch the rusk, and I thought the advice was not to introduce yoghurt before 6 mo?)

Babies aren’t supposed to sleep through, especially at 5 months old.
I think his bedtime is far too late. Try and get him into a routine where you do bath/wash, story & bed by 7pm. Keeping a little one awake longer doesn’t ‘tire them out’ contrary to popular belief. He seems overtired so it’s harder to get him down.

Like others have said it's very normal. Many babies of that age need a night time feed. I do sympathise but it sounds like you're trying to night wean him which isn't advised until 18 months.

Also a rusk won't help him to sleep, they are very sugary. But even if they weren't, milk is more filling at this age. Again though he might not be waking because he is really hungry, it might just be because he is a baby and needs his mummy during the night!

If you are only on one night wake up at 5 months then I'd take that as a win. Plenty of us are waking much more than that with toddlers...

And yes I also agree with not keeping him up late. He will just get overtired. He probably needs more daytime sleep and an earlier bedtime.

I fully expected a night feed until at least 6 months. Ds slept through from 8 months.

Mine was still waking every 2-3 hours at this age with 4-5 30min naps through the day. Didn't sleep through until he was over 1.

I know of one baby that slept 7-7 from early on but it was a bit freakish.

He needs more naps during the day ideally, and an earlier bedtime. And milk at 11pm if he is waking is probably easier and better than a yoghurt or a rusk.

Your baby is sleeping very well at night for a 5 month old. Keeping him up late will not help, it will just overtire him - sleep begets sleep.

Please don’t give him a rusk before bed (or at all - so much sugar).

It is perfectly natural for children at his age to wake in the night. The sooner you accept it rather than trying to force a change he’s not developmentally ready for, the less stressful life will be! x

It's also perfectly normal to not sleeping through at that age.

I don’t mean to make it any worse for you as I absolutely know what it’s like to feel exhausted. But... he is doing very well for a 5 month old (especially compared to my 2!), and, even as they get older, nights will be interrupted. Mine are 5 and nearly 4, and we often have one (or both) in bed beside us, or have to get up for wees etc etc. Unfortunately, with little children that’s just how it is.

You are doing great, don’t be discouraged but maybe lower your expectations a little bit and that would help you mentally.

My two year old has just started sleeping through in the last few weeks. At 5 months he still got worse before he got better I'm afraid. If you find magic answer please share with us all!

I'd probably try waking for a dream feed (milk, not solids) just before you go to bed rather than trying of keep him up for a later bedtime.

But my DC was still having 1 night feed until he was 1 and didn't consistently sleep through until 18 months. I'm not sure you're going to get the result you want.

Wow yes I'm afraid your expectations are unrealistic. Biologically speaking sleeping through = 5 hours. I'm with pp and would suggest bedtime around 7 wheb their melatonin is at its highest. By 3am melatonin will have left the body which is why they often wake around then, their body is getting them ready to wake.

A couple of feeds during the night is to be expected at that age, and definitely ditch the rusk. Is he actually showing signs of readiness for food at 5 months? (Lost tongue thrust and sits well unaided).

I would also increase to 3 naps, my wee girl is 9.5 months and went down to 2 naps at about 8 months. We did a morning nap around 9ish, then 12ish and 4ish, roughly 3 hour awake period between. Not enough day sleep leads to a build up of the stress hormone cortisol which can affect sleep.

In the kindest way possible, I think your expectations are a bit high for a 5 month old. My son is 20 months and still doesn’t reliably sleep though now. If anything, you little one sounds overtired. Don’t keep him awake - it’s counter productive. Keeping them awake doesn’t not mean they’ll sleep longer and later. Sleep breeds sleep.

Babies aren't meant to sleep through, or be fed sugar filled rusks at 5 months old.

What he's doing is perfectly normal, it's natural to wake in the night- and only once is amazing at 5 months old! My 5mo is awake 3-10 times a night! But I wouldn't dream of filling him with rusks. My elder dd didn't sleep through until well over 3, it's totally normal. Just accept that babies wake, surely you knew that before having one?

It's a myth food makes babies sleep, same with formula, there is no magic solution to make a baby or small child sleep through the night that won't harm them. Those 'knockout' bottles people are doing are horrific, dosing babies with calpol to make them sleep.