What has happened to my 5m old?

[Ginfilledcats]

Hi all, broken mama here.

My 5m old up until this week has mostly been a great sleeper and a napper. 4 naps in the day, 3 short and one an hour and a half plus, and at night 8-6 with only 2 short dream feeds in the middle. She went down to nap and to bed fine, same routine: bum, sleeping bag, book, boob, bed. And would go off easy as anything (mostly).

This week I have no idea what's happened (5.5 months). She's up every 2 hours in the night hungry, dropped one of her naps, is a nightmare to settle for day time naps - crying, having to feed to sleep or rock. I'm so tired now and upset at my lost routine (she's now doing 3 hours plus awake between naps) that I'm crying all the time! Feel like I'm either on the edge of tears or actually crying 90% of my day. I've never been like that (except the early early weeks).

She didn't have much of a 4m sleep regression, we haven't started weaning yet, she's teething but nothings erupted yet.

What am I doing wrong?

My husband is NHS front line and is out the house at least 12 hours a day, and because of lockdown I can't have any one over or go to anyone's homes, all baby classes are off....I'm really struggling (as I know most people are)

Is this just karma for having it easy for so long??

Help :(

Hi op. You aren't doing anything wrong. It's completely normal unfortunately. Look up four month sleep regression. At this stage, babies sleep patterns/cycles change.
Sympathies as we went through the same with DS. Was hard.

Sorry just see you mentioned four month sleep regression. Sorry to say it lasted until he was 10 months

@minnie465 thanks for replying but oh no hope she doesn't do this til 10months.

Does my routine sound ok so you think

It's hard to say @Ginfilledcats. Some people swear by routine. I became a bit obsessed with it and looking back I do wish I'd tried to go with the flow more. Babies seem to change constantly at that stage. I'd have a new routine and then it would all go to pot a few days later and we were back to square one 🤷‍♀️. Hopefully someone else will be along with their experience to share.
A reliable routine started when he was around 10 months. But he started nursery at that age so that might have helped.

I could have written this when my little one was about 6 months. She was a great napper/sleeper up until that stage and then it all seemed to go a bit wrong!

Naps would only last 30 minutes max and she would be exhausted by 3pm so would be grotty and unconsolable. (Un)fortunately this is completely normal as their sleep patterns mature, although it didn't feel normal at the time and I took it personally and cried a lot. I felt like I spent all my day trying to get her to nap.

Then about 3 weeks after the start of it, I just decided I wasn't going to stress out about it anymore. I went for afternoon walks, which even if she didn't sleep helped because at least she wasn't crying because she was tired, it broke up the day a bit and the fresh air was good for me too.

I caught up on sleep or rested wherever I could and neglected the housework in favour of having a cuppa and 5 minutes peace.

Her nighttime sleep got back to the way it was before after a couple of weeks (similar to your DDs schedule) but naps remained a battle. Now we're at 8 months and naps finally seem to be righting themselves although at least now she's not so tired by 3pm because she is able to stay awake longer so a "bad nap day" isn't such a horror anymore.

Hang in there! You're doing a great job!

Do you have the huckleberry app? If not it's a great way to map sleep and feeds to notice patterns at this stage, it does suggest nap times but I found it a little bit out at this point for my little one, it had been great up until then and it seems to be back in sync with her now though!

Try not to worry. It’s a normal phase. I totally understand! My hubby works shifts & it’s bloody exhausting mentally & physically on your own. My son was brilliant, then literally over night, boom! Nightmare! He was waking every 2hrs, wouldn’t nap during the day. He was screaming the house down every night before bed. I actually thought I was going to have a breakdown. Went on for 2 weeks. Then one night it stopped. As quick as he got in to the phase, he came out of it. He’s been fine since. Sleeps 7-7am without any wakes most nights.

Thank you all for reading and replying with your experiences @minnie465 @LunaNova @Johnson10 I really appreciate it.

She's been in a lovely mood all day, but got up at 7:30 and napped at 10:30 (battle in which I cried) for 50 mins, then napped at 2 for 40 mins (pram and long walk), then at 5 for 30 mins (in the car) and (after a brief battle) is asleep now. Just seems so little sleep for such a little sausage! She's also not fed very much but nappies are ok.

Think she's just enjoying sitting up now so doesn't fancy sleeping maybe!

It's so hard when you're used to a "routine". Like I knew I could get her to sleep, have my shower and wash my hair and get ready in the time she was asleep at her first nap. Now who the F knows? I didn't shower yesterday because she was all over the place!

I'll try and relax and go with the he flow (not how I am as a person at all haha) and hope we get through the other side soon.

For now though, wine and chocolate buttons

@Ginfilledcats my son never naps for more then 1hr. Once in a while he has a big nap for 1/2hrs. But his naps are usually 30-45 mins max. He naps about 2/3 times per day. I think some babies might need more sleep then others. He’s almost 5 months & he’s so nosey haha he wants to see everything. He’s shattered by bedtime.

@Ginfilledcats that's exactly how my little one was as well, you could just tell how tired she was and I'd spend all day thinking "please just sleep more!"

I think it's such a tough age for their little minds, they're learning so much! It certainly started getting easier when she didn't need as much sleep and has started transitioning now to 2 naps a day (at 6 months she was having between 3 and 4).

I was exactly the same as well in terms of getting things done, I'll be honest I now do housework while she's awake (I put her in the highchair in the kitchen, put some music on and dance away while cleaning - she loves it haha!) And I try to do the same with showering, doing it as soon as she's had her breakfast and I know she'll be happy for ten minutes while I jump in. That way I can enjoy a guilt free cuppa and some biscuits while she sleeps

Sending solidarity and fingers crossed for a good night's sleep tonight!

Hi.
My LO is 21 weeks now , and will not sleep anywhere but her pram tried self soothing, rocking to sleep. Doesn't work. Hates her next to me.
Soon as we put her down albeit its getting on midnight at this stage she will only settle in the pram.

Any suggestions ?

Tia x

Hi, I feel your pain except my boy never slept through he would go 6hours then all of a sudden turned 4months and bam he was poorly a lot, grumpy waking every 2hours or 3hours and now 4hours he wont finish his bottles ive tried everything and hes now nearly 6months and im exhausted naps 3x a day for 30minutes exactly im a single mum and cant cope with this wen i return to work for the NHS in 2months time any advice?

I don’t have any suggestions but am here to let you know you’re not alone. My boy is 5 months old next week and his naps have just become awful! He’s always been a crappy napper, but this last week has killed me. Will only sleep whilst being rocked and if I hold him throughout the nap duration. Usually his first nap of the day he does in his cot unaided and does anything between 45mins - 1.5 hours. Thankfully this is still the same. But all naps after he will not sleep without me rocking him and holding him. I have cried so much out of sheer frustration and just need somebody to tell me it will all be okay ☹️