5 month old sleep!

[Mom1991]

I was wondering if anyone had any advise please as I’m at a bit of a loss!

I have a 5 month old beautiful daughter. She used to sleep 9pm -5am with no wakes which was amazing

For the past 6 weeks she has got worse and worse with her sleep.
I put her to bed between 9pm and 10pm and she just wakes up crying about once an hour. I don’t feed her as she isn’t hungry so keep putting her dummy back in and eventually she will stop and go back to sleep. She doesn’t actually want anything it’s so random but it’s all night.
From day one I have always fed with the lights off, don’t talk or make any noise, take her from her crib to my lap, feed, wind and straight back in crib and stuck to the same routine every night.

She also never naps for longer than 20 minutes in the day which I find I’m really struggling with as she is so clingy. I put her down and keep making sure I do but she just cries every time I’m not holding her or right next to her. I’ve tried every piece of equipment going to sit her in, lye her on etc and it makes no difference.
I just feel so drained. I feel guilty writing this as I know she’s still so young and she is such a happy baby overall it’s just I am up all night and don’t get 5 minutes in the day. I feel like I’m burnout and running on empty. I get 20mins a few times a day which I’m then running around trying to get a few things done.
My partner has his own business and works 10-12 hour days, 6 sometimes 7 days a week, has quotes, invoices and phone calls to catch up on every night. He works so hard so I can’t expect him to do night times. I don’t really have any family support either so can’t ask anyone for a break now and again.

I also have a 14 year old son. He was the easiest baby in the world! Slept 12 hour straight since 5 weeks old, went down to play independently, had good day time naps. They say you never have two the same!

if anyone has any advice to establish some kind of routine that has worked for you I would be so grateful.

Hm bedtime sounds very late if she is having really short naps all day. Could be overtired.

What is wake up time?
How many naps a day?
What is her wake windows between naps?
How does she settle to sleep at the start of the night?

@Mom1991

She wakes up between 6.30am and 7.30am.
she feeds every 3 hours in the day and has a nap in between each feed so wake windows are between 2-3 hours.
At bedtime she has a bottle then is usually half asleep by the time she finishes is so I transfer her to the crib once she has had her milk.

Can being over tired cause her to be unsettled all night? Maybe I will try an earlier bedtime. We tried 8pm before and she woke more than usual but this was before all this started when she slept until 5am so maybe it’s worth trying again.

Ok, so the issues I see @Mom1991

1. The day is way way too long!!!! A baby in a 3 nap schedule (most usual for that age) should be awake around 8 hours across the day.
2. 3hours is quite a long wake, likely overtiredness is causing the short naps.
3. You are feeding to sleep at the start of the night, so baby is waking and needs support to get back down as they can't just settle to sleep.

here is some 3 nap information from a group I am in.
There is a wide range of ‘normal’ wake times on 3 naps. For example at 5 months old anything from 8 hours (eg 1.75/2/2/2.25) to 9 hours (eg. 2/2.25/2.25/2.5) is common. Be guided by your baby’s mood, and how well they sleep.

Maxing out
Most babies reach a “maxed out” 3 nap schedule between 6 and 8 months old.

Our recommended maximum wake time on 3 naps is 9.5 hours. And many babies are ready to switch to 2 naps after reaching 9.25 hours.
You’ll gradually work your way up to something like one of these schedules:
2/2/2.5/2.75
2.25/2.25/2.5/2.5
2/2/2.5/3
For example, 2/2/2.5/3 might look like
Wake 7
Nap 1 9-10.15
Nap 2 12.15-1.15
Nap 3 3:45-4:30
Bedtime 7:30
Once you reach this maximum wake time, and start seeing problems, it’s time to look at the two nap schedule!
On a maxed out schedule we recommend capping naps at 3.5 hours total (Eg 1hr45, 1hr, 45 mins). Some babies will need naps capped at 3 hours to sleep well overnight. (Eg 1h30, 1hr, 30 mins)