5 1/2 month old screamng and doesn't sleep

[MrsHP]

My 5 1/2 month old boy is still not sleeping through the night. From birth he has been a delightful and happy boy during the day but as soon as the sun goes down he turns into a different person. During the day he is in a routine but only sleeps between and hour and an hour and half a day which can be in 20 mins stints. Throughout the day he is really active in his bouncer and rolls about the floor and plays happily. At night he has a routine and settles down with a bottle at around 6.30 - 7.00 pm and always falls asleep. He wakes throughout the night still screaming and looking terrified. I am pretty sure it is not wind as he has gripe water or infacol. He used to suffer from colic as a young baby but has out grown this now. For the last month I have started weaning and he loves his food. I was told by many people that by dong this it would make him sleep more. Although this screaming does not happen every night it happens about 5 of 7 nights a week. If he does not wake up screaming then he wakes up every 3 hours for a feed which he is bottle fed and has been since 8 weeks old. Sometimes when we put him down at 7.00 pm he can wake up every half hour crying but mostly as soon as you go in the room he settles down other times it can be 1/2 hour of crying. It is just heart breaking to see the terror in his face when he wakes up screaming and he cannot tell you why. Does anyone have any ideas why the screaming and how to get him to sleep through the night? HV has said that I just have a baby who does not like to sleep.

Have you ever tried co-sleeping with him? They will often sleep right through just because they know you're there, without even waking to "check" iyswim.

No idea why he'd be waking up crying unless like you say he has got into the habit due to having had colic in the past. If he's eating and drinking enough and is a healthy weight, and he's still waking in the night, then it would seem to be either habit or something hurting him perhaps. I would be tempted to have your doctor look him over, check his ears etc

Tried co-sleeping - although this does calm him down for a bit but sometimes it only works until he wakes up for his 2-3 hourly feeds but sometimes it mskes no difference at all andjust crys/screams until he is exhausted.

The doctors seems like the only thing at the moment but last time i went I was an over protective mother. Just wanted to know if anyone had any ideas at all. It is just so strange as if something was bothering him I would hsve thought that it would be during the day as well as at night time?????

have you tried putting a muslin in your bra so it gets your smell on it and giving it to him as a comforter? or if you wear perfume you could try spraying it with perfume?

also does he go to sleep on his back cos mine always settled better on his side or tummy.

have you tried a white noise cd?

also is he swaddled?

would a dummy work? have you tried putting anbesol on his gums? he may be teething.