5MO waking 10 times a night

[CSB7589]

Hi All,
Just looking for some support. My 5MO DS is waking around 10 times a night. He is EBF with some pumping. He has a strong feed to sleep association. I managed to move the bedtime feed earlier in the routine (now bath, feed, book, sleep) which was rough for a week but now he settles quickly with no issue. But naps and night times are a different story. Naps will only be done feeding or on the move, which I’m not so fussed about but have read this is a good place to start? But it’s the relentless night wakings that need to change. I’ve been trying to keep him roused during the feeds to make sure it’s a full feed and avoid him snacking throughout the night but this doesn’t seem to help. He often wakes fully arched, am I missing something that’s causing him to wake? Or do I just need to bite the bullet and break the association even though it will be rough short term? I just hate the crying but don’t know how else to go about it. Any advice appreciated!

It’s hard when it’s happening but it will change soon I promise!

This sounds like a sleep regression, we had this at 4 months. How long has it been happening for?

Definitely sounds like a 4-6 month regression.

We're in the midst of it right now. I've made a few threads about it.

Hang in there!

When he wakes in the night or when he naps in the day are you BF to settle him? If so I would think that’s the issue because he has got used to that comfort to enable him to sleep. You need to try to ensure that you only BF him when he’s actually due a feed and settle him in other ways at other times, such as walking up & down, rocking, white noise, using a dummy, drink of water from a bottle. My other advice is that when he falls asleep during the day, put him straight into his cot and do not let him nap on top of you so he gets used to sleeping independently. I’m not suggesting that you leave him to cry but that if you rock him and he falls asleep, you put him straight down. He will probably cry again so pick him up and try again and after a while he should give in and sleep.

The 10 times a night is probably only on the last week or so. So maybe you’re right, it could be a regression. But he’s been waking around 5 times a night (every 2/3 hours) since he was 2.5 months. He was doing up to 6 hours before that! 😭 So either way, I think we still need to get the wakings down to just a couple of times a night.

Yeah I do. He will only sleep without if he’s on the move (car, sling, buggy). I know I need to break this but worry about how much he will get upset through the night. Especially if I feed sometimes and not others. Will he just get used to it or will it end up in a continuous cycle? Is there a gentle way to do it? If I don’t offer boob he gets super upset and even if I unlatch when his feeding slows he will search frantically.