5 1/2 mth old DS - How do I get him to sleep longer?

[MyCatIsABiggerBastardThanYours]

OK - he's a great lad and a good sleeper really, but, everynight he goes down to sleep at around 6:30 and everynight, around 3hrs later he wakes up and needs to be settled. EVERY NIGHT. DH settles him and he does go back to sleep for a couple more hours, at which point I BF him.

It's not a big deal really, but is there anything I can do to help him sleep longer than 3hrs before he wakes or am I just going to have to wait for him to grow out of it.

He settles himself to sleep for naps (3 of them during the day, last about 45 to 50 mins max), so he can do it, but why not when he's in his cot at night. I kind of feel that if we can get him to do this first settling, then he'll sleep longer the rest of the night (after about midnight he wakes every 3hrs - we co-sleep after he wakes around 1am is as it's easier and I get more sleep).

Any advice anyone or shall I just be thankful that he's not have as wakeful as some I've read about on MN (and DD who was a nightmare).

half as wakeful not have (doh!)

bump

Maybe he's just got into the habit of waking up after that time. Would it be worth just letting him cry for a short time, just to see if he settles himself back down. I'm not saying controlled crying, just not rushing in when he stirs. My DS is 4 1/2 months and used to wake religiously at 3.00am (I could literally set my clock by him)! I would go in, EVERYTIME, and put his dummy in and then he would generally settle down. One night I was so knackered I just let him grumble away to himself, he even cried a bit but after about 5 mins of crying (not proper screamy crying, just frustrated crying)he settled back to sleep. The next night I did the same and again, he settled back down. After about a week he stopped waking up at that time. Maybe a coincidence, who knows, but surely anything's worth a go. Good luck.

Thanks for the reply. We did try leaving him a few weeks ago but he went ballistic after a couple of minutes - maybe we should try again now he's older.

Does he have a nasty wet nappy when he wakes up? 3 hours = 2 sleep cycles and about right for a big old wee after a feed before bed.

Hello - sorry, only just saw your reply ches. Do you know, I haven't checked as I decided long ago (with DD) that the hell of waking a baby to change a nappy in the middle of the night was just not worth it (I have never perfected the art of changing nappies by stealth).

Sounds reasonable though, maybe thats what it is. He did settle down a lot quicker last night so I'm going to try leaving him tonight and see how that goes.