5 month old sleep problem

[Ardnaxelah]

I'm writing here because I'm desperate... My baby who is now 5 and a half months old barely sleeps at night. His bedtime is at 9, he sleeps from bedtime to maybe 1-2am, then he wakes up and doesn't fall asleep for two hours... And after that, he just sleeps for 40 minute stretches. Then at 7 he is completely awake.
Does anyone have a solution for how to fix this? I'M SO EXHAUSTED! From 2 til 7 I barely close my eyes because it takes me a while to go back to sleep, and when I do manage to fall asleep baby wakes up. Everything in my body hurts. Please help!

Anybody?

What does sleep over the whole day look like? Perhaps they are overtired?

@Imicola He has around 4 naps but it's nothing regular. Basically he sleeps for 2 and a half hours, maybe 3 during the day. I've been trying to fix his naps to be more regular but no luck 😪 I tried to make him sleep more during the day because I thought that was the reason but at night the same happened. I also tried to make him sleep less because I thought maybe he was getting too much sleep, same happened...

Ah, frustrating! Not too sure what to suggest, have you tried an earlier bedtime? Mine was a nightmare for naps as they were only 30-45 mins which makes it impossible to get into a routine, but I tried to have a max awake time after the final nap (can't remember how long at that age, maybe 2 hours?) before bed, then did bedtime according to that, so it usually ended up between 6 and 7.30 for bedtime.

@Imicola I tried an earlier bedtime and it was q disaster, he ended up waking at 11pm and refused to go back to sleep. Hopefully it's just a phase but it's draining

Looks like you might be in the midst of the 4 month sleep regression. It's normal developmental mikestone but it's very tough. Usually a case of waiting it out but there as things you can do to gently push them into the right direction.
I'd second an earlier bedtime - sometime between 6.30 and 7.30pm. but don't change it overnight, you need to bring earlier by 15min increments over a couple of weeks for him to get used to it. He should be aiming for around 11hours total at night.
Aim for 3-4hrs sleep on the daytime, and final nap wake up no less than 2hrs before you want him to sleep at night (also make sure this is shortest nap of the day, maybe 30mins).
Do you have a routine for putting down for naps and bed? If not start one now. Keep largely the same but bedtime longer and maybe add in a bath - helps to wind them down and tells them to expect a big sleep.

Could it be to do with how he actually gets to sleep? How does your little one fall asleep for naps and at bedtime? If he is reliant on you to help him get off to sleep, this could be why he can’t resettle between sleep cycles overnight. I am no expert but I have read a lot about baby sleep because my DD is really not a brilliant sleeper. From what I understand, babies’ sleep drive is highest right after they fall asleep at the beginning of the night, so this is often their longest stretch of sleep. After this first longer stretch, if they struggle to link sleep cycles, this is where they will start waking at regular intervals and need their parent’s help to get back off to sleep. So however you helped him get to sleep, that’s what he will need and expect every time he wakes in the night. If you are helping him get to sleep, I would suggest you focus on trying to teach him to settle to sleep independently (believe me, I know this is easier said than done!!). This may not eliminate night wakings but would be likely to reduce them significantly.