Going backwards at 5 months?

[Shazzzzz]

My 5 month old has done a complete 180 with this sleep! Since being a newborn he has only woken up in the night twice (2am & 5am) then at 7 weeks he started skipping the 2am feed and waking up around 4:30/5:30am.

5 weeks ago his sleep just started to change he was up again twice in the night and well now he's up EVERY hour. I know this could have started as sleep regression but its just getting worse and i thought it would be over by now?? I don't think he is hungry as its not a cry just a little whinge.

Bit of background info- he naps well through out the day (in his pram- i read this could be an issue?), he has no problem settling when we go to bed, he doesn't need to be held or rocked to sleep. He is bottle fed but on breastmilk only, no colic or constipation.

Has anyone been in a similar position or has any advice?? Id be grateful 🙏

PS - please no snide comments about "why have kids of you want to sleep" im simply asking for advice as i feel like im going wrong somewhere 👍🏼 but i do like sleep!!

No tips here, but just to say that it sounds perfectly normal. Both of my children slept better at 2-3m than they did until they were well over a year. Things got worse after the 4m sleep regression.

Baby/toddler sleep isn't linear and it has ups and downs and his phases and bad phases often for several years until it finally settles. the newborn phase is often not the worst, it's just that you aren't used to it.

You either sleep train or just ride the rollercoaster I guess. It's hard, I've been there.

@Babyboomtastic my first born didnt sleep through for 3 years! He is nearly 5 and still wakes me up sometimes. Ive always expected him to wake me up so i think because my second born has been so good up until 5 weeks ago, i just never expected it to last this long or be his new sleep pattern for the foreseeable.

When he sleeps through i feel so ready for the day ahead and im up and out the house early but when hes up all night i just want sit in my pyjamas all day and not move. I fear i will end up depressed like i did with my first😥

What's your usual daytime sleep routine? How long does he nap for and how long awake between naps?

Over tiredness built up through the day can give rise to disrupted nights.

How does baby go from being fully awake to fully asleep? It becomes increasingly important from 4 months that baby learns to go from fully awake to fully asleep all in the cot.

Hunger is another thing. It's not unusual for calorific need to jump by 25% at four months, which is significantly more milk. Baby's stomach volume is the limiting factor for how much milk is taken per feed. So the way to get extra calories in is more frequent feeds, more feeds per day. If you don't keep up with increasing calorific need through the daytime, you'll see increase night wakes due to hunger.

@FATEdestiny he naps really good he will do around 2 hours awake and then will nap, his naps are around an hour long except once a day he will have a big nap for around 3/ 3.5 hours. His naps are always away from me as he never settles on me anymore he always fidgets like he wants his own space.

Sometimes he would like a bit of comfort like now hes just held my finger till he fell asleep but i wouldnt say he would have been dependent on it.

Every night when i put him down to sleep he is wide awake and will just drift off himself, same again when i feed him he wakes up and will natter to himself for 10/15 mins before he goes back to sleep. He is in a next to me but we have the side up so it isn't attached to the bed.

Interesting on the feeding as i do feed him every time i get a signal he is hungry through the day, he has 6oz of breastmilk every 3ish hours but when he has a big nap he can be 2 hours overdue a feed so i wonder if he could be making up for it at night? I havent been feeding him when he wakes up in the night as he doesnt seem hungry and wakes only 2 hours after previous feed but maybe thats where i am going wrong😳 i do eventually give him a bottle around 4am but gonna change this to when he wakes up first time now ive actually sat and wrote this and thought about it.

Ive read about day naps in pram not helping with night time sleep so i have put him down to nap on the couch today i dont know what difference it will make but we shall see if it does.

You may get a more settled night if you feed earlier. Then use that knowledge that baby needs mire calories to find ways to maximise daytime calories so fewer are needed at night.

Sounds like he might be using daytime naps to catch up on missed nighttime sleep (especially that 3/3.5 hour nap!) - maybe try capping it (so wake when he’s due his feed) to try get more calories into him during the day.

I could be wrong, but I found if my DD slept too much in the day, nights were a nightmare.

@Vicky1989x ive had him napping on couch today instead of the pram and hes only done 20 mins - hour max! I wonder if the long nap could be the issue. We will find out tonight. I dont think im that lucky though! 😂

Napping on the couch is quite dangerous in terms of Safe Sleep. He would be better sleeping on the floor, or in his cot with you in with him.

@FATEdestiny i didn't leave him yesterday when he napped on the couch as he can roll over, we have a dog so the floor isnt an option. i have a baby monitor being delivered today so i can put him upstairs

@Shazzzzz Did the shorter nap help with his sleep last night?

@Vicky1989x yesss! I dunno if it was just a fluke but i fed him at 10pm and he woke up around 2am so i put his dummy in once and stroked his face for couple mins and he settled till 10 to 5 then. I hope he does it again tonight🤞🤞