5 month old up for HOURS after a night feed

[MollieTD]

Just as I thought we’d battled the 4 month sleep regression, there’s been a whole new set of problems this week!

After two weeks of pretty consistent 7-6 again, with two feeds in the night, we’ve gone back to waking every 90mins/2hrs and taking at least an hour to settle after each waking. Doesn’t always want feeding, just arms up for cuddles and comfort. He will fall asleep very easily on/next to us, but the moment he’s in his crib he cries, shuffled around, makes frustrated grunted noises and just will not settle. If one of us turns over, or the heating kicks in when he’s asleep, he wakes immediately and the whole process starts again.

Last night was horrific, with him not settling til gone 9pm, first wake at 10:30 and no sleep at all after 4:30. He must be absolutely exhausted and I am almost at the point of hallucinating with lack of sleep. I can’t do this every night!

Any ideas what has changed to cause this and how to solve it? Does sleep regression come and go? Is it time for his own room?

Hi OP,

Unfortunately you will go through stages like this for a while yet. He will sleep well, then not, then better, then perfect, then awful.

It finally started being more better nights than bad when he was 12 months for us but now he's at nursery we get the joy of him catching all kinds of awful illnesses and having disturbed sleep because of that.

Have you tried a dream feed so he doesn't actually fully wake up? And do you use white noise?

I hope you had a better night, it is so hard but I found once I stopped stressing about it, checking the clock etc I felt so much better

Thank you so much for responding - I was absolutely at my wits’ end!

white noise seems to really bother him but maybe I haven’t given it a proper go - reading that it needs to stay on all the me so
maybe he need ti try and get used to it! Dream feed, either he’s not bothered and turns away and goes back to sleep or wakes up fully and cries.

Good couple of nights but now we are three hours into bedtime and no joy…clinging onto the fact this will get better!!

@MollieTD it will get better I promise. Our "record" was only two stints of 45 minutes sleep one night and now my LB sleeps through every night

Just an update - coming up to 6 months, got him in his own room and started weaning and some (very) gentle sleep training and bar a few bad nights he’s now waking around 11 then 2 l, going back down within 20mins but sleeping in bed 7:30-6:30!