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5 Month old still waking up in middle of the night (3-5AM)

9 replies

dgyn14 · 30/06/2021 18:59

He's really not that bad of a night time sleeper, and I have my own sleep issues that I need to sort out, but I think when our son is sleeping through the night consistently, my sleep will improve as well. Anyways, he just turned 5 months this week. He sleeps in a sleep sack...we mostly stopped using the Merlin because we thought it was stopping him from rolling. We do sometimes change him out of the sleep sack, and into the Merlin, if he refuses to go back to sleep in the middle of the night. He went through his four month sleep regression-had difficulty laying him down for naps and would wake at unpredictable hours. Recently he has been laying down for naps much better, however he has never been one to nap for long stretches. He does give us some solid overnight stretches, but I'm hoping for 7-7 stretches by 6 months, and I'm worried we aren't going to get there. He's already teething-his first two teeth came in at 4 months. We give him baby Tylenol before bed when we can see that his tooth is breaking the gum/he's fussy during the day. He's a very good eater, and has not woken up due to hunger for weeks. He also had a tongue tie and lip tie repaired that has helped him nurse much better. He sleeps in his crib in a nursey with blackout shades and a white noise machine. The room is usually around 70 Fahrenheit (About 21 Celsius). When he wakes at night, we try to pacify him first (butt pats because he's usually rolled onto his stomach), but if that doesn't work then we pick him up and try to shush him back to sleep. It usually takes 3-4 attempts and he'll be awake for an hour on average, which is what makes it so difficult.

Another important note is that while he loves rolling onto his belly, he still doesn't know how to consistently roll from his belly to his back. During these wake ups, he's crying right away because he's "Stuck" on his stomach. Rolling him back onto his back doesn't help, he just continues to cry/be restless. The only nights where he is giving us 11 hour stretches straight right now is when we really wear him out during the day-long days out all day-which isn't sustainable over the long term. As of now during the day his wake windows are averaging 2 hours, and his feeding stretches are about 2-2.5 hours.

Here's our normal schedule
Wakeup 6:30AM, first feed (Nursing) after diaper change. Playtime until about 8AM.
First nap is usually 8-9AM, maybe 8-8:30.
Next feed comes soon after, around 9AM.
^That morning run is very consistent almost day-to day
Then from 9-5 it can change based on our work schedules, but typically there's a feeding around 11:30AM (before our lunchtime), 2PM, and 4:30-5PM. Nap wise, he normally is taking a 30-40 minute nap at 11AM, 1:30PM, and 4:30PM-5PM. Overall I would say he averages 3 hours of daytime sleep.

After 5PM we hit the start of our bedtime routine. He gets nursed around then like previously stated, has dinner with us (he gets purees now) around 6:15PM, bath time after dinner, and then gets a 5.5 ounce bottle around 7PM, is read a book so he isn't going straight from bottle to bed, and is laid down to sleep around 7:30PM on average. And then overnight he's usually sleeping 7:30-3:30AM, and then 4:30 (maybe 5 on extra bad nights) to 6:30AM. We've tried feeding him during those wake ups a couple of times, and he barely eats, so we know it isn't hunger. He never poops overnight, so diaper isn't the problem. I'm guessing it's possibly due to the teething, but is he getting to much/little day time sleep? Should we kill the last nap? Looking for some guidance to improve quality of life for all of us, thanks!

OP posts:
Zarene · 30/06/2021 19:04

I'm not a sleep expert, but gently, I think your expectations need changing not your routine.

DD is now 18 months, and of all the babies we know (lots) I don't think a single has ever consistently slept 7-7. They either wake in the night (still as young toddlers), or wake very early, or are a nightmare going down.

I'm sure some amazing babies do it, and yes, there are things you can do to help.

But 'hoping for 7-7 stretches by 6 months' is setting yourself up for disappointment.

PeonyTime · 30/06/2021 19:27

You are getting 8 hrs of solid sleep out of him. That is classed as sleeping through. He is doing amazingly.

VaguelyInteresting · 30/06/2021 19:30

Yeah what the previous posters said.

Also... my 4 year old has been getting up for the day at 5am every day for the last year.

You may also need to adjust your expectations of what “the middle of the night” means from a child’s perspective. Grin

dgyn14 · 30/06/2021 19:31

Thanks folks. If I wasn't such a lousy sleeper myself it wouldn't be as bad (for me). Our pediatrician has said he's sleeping well too. It's just really tough for me to get back to sleep after the 3AM wakes. Oh well. We go to bed early too-I'm hopefully asleep myself by 10PM (Go up at 9:30), so if it's say a 5:30AM wakeup that's plenty of sleep for me, but the 3AMs are still really rough. I have some anxiety/stress/IBS issues as well, trying to get it sorted out.

Glad to hear it sounds like our little guy is sleeping well for his age.

OP posts:
mn2022 · 30/06/2021 19:34

In the nicest way, I didn't even read your full post because the answer is always the same

They're a baby.
They need you.
They will wake.
It is normal.

PippinStar · 30/06/2021 19:36

He’s only 5 months so still very tiny. His sleeping patterns will change lots over the coming weeks and months.

As a pp said, the 7-7 babies are few and far between! DS only started sleeping “through” 11 hour stretches around his second birthday - and a sleep consultant told me he was a really good sleeper!

The only thing I can suggest is putting him to bed later. I know the 7pm bedtime works for lots of people (and it worked for us for a while) but at 5 months neither of mine went to bed until around 9pm - so that longer stretch of sleep was more in sync with our own.

mn2022 · 30/06/2021 19:36

He does give us some solid overnight stretches, but I'm hoping for 7-7 stretches by 6 months, and I'm worried we aren't going to get there

This made me LOL.

DS is 3 and has only just started doing 7-7.

As previous poster said, adjust your expectations.

And look forward to the 10 month sleep regression, cause that's a killer

FATEdestiny · 30/06/2021 19:58

I would suggest waking him at 11pm (or whenever you go to bed) and do a bit of a reset. So wake him and change his diper to fully wake him. Give him a milk feed and try to keep him awake throughout so that he takes a full feed.

The idea is to reset his night do that (hopefully) the 8h solid block of sleep moves to 11pm-7am.

Aria999 · 30/06/2021 20:56

DD did 13 hours solid (6pm - 7am) when she was 3 months old.... until she didn't.

After the 4 months sleep regression she didn't sleep through again till about 12 months.

They do what they do. If they're waking every 45 minutes you may need to do something but otherwise, you probably just need to go with the flow.

You could try leaving him in the crib until 7 when he wakes early, if he isn't unhappy. DD sometimes goes back to sleep if I do that. But mostly (now 17 months) we get up some time between 6-7, after a 7pm bedtime.

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