I need some advice on getting 5 month DS to sleep longer than 2 hours at night.

[FrightNightFebes]

My DS is 5 months and is a good healthy weight. He has been exclusively breastfed and has always slept well, in his cot, between feeds. I have a 2 yo DD who sleeps really well 7-8 most nights and has alway slept pretty good. The problem is DS seems to wake about 4 times in the night and I have been feeding him to sleep but he is now 5 months and he doesn't need to feed so often. I am also finding he isn't very interested in his morning feed so I need to change that.

A typical night was sleep at around 7 (put in his cot sleepy but awake). Woken for a dreamfeed at 10.30 but sometimes he wakes before I get to him. Feed at 1,3,5 and 7.

I have been trying to space out feeds for 2 weeks now.

Last night he went to sleep at 7 then woke at 10 so I fed him. He then woke at 3, I tried to settle him but then fed him at 3.30 when he wouldn't take the hint. He then woke at 4.45 so I tried to settle him with shushing, patting, music lullabye thing and when they all failed I gave him to DH at about 5.45 to cuddle back to sleep. He gave up so I fed him at 6am. Then of course he slept till 8.

I'm getting a bit down about it. I do not mind feeding him at 11 and 3 as that is 4 hourly and I'm happy to do that until he is estabished on solids (at which point I'll get tough on those feeds if he hasn't dropped them.) But waking every 2 hours is not neccessary and I need to stop it for my on sanity but also it mucks up the day ahead as we are having very lazy mornings and I have been slack at getting out and about. I do go to toddler group on Thursdays but I was going to something most days before. I am finding that due to tiredness I am doing the bare minimum- cooking dinner, a bit of housework, trips to the supermarket, the odd trip to the park. I feel bad for DD mainly.

Help!!!

[pippel]

how often does he feed during the day? my dd (who is admittedly ff so slightly different) feeds loads in the day then sleeps all night she also goes to sleep by herself

I would read the no cry sleep solution to try and teach him to go to sleep without feeding or try co-sleeping

[FrightNightFebes]

He feeds alot in the day normally every 2/3 hours with a little cluster feed before and after bath time.

I haven't read NCSS but I have tried pick up put down and shush/ pat which do work they just take a long time. I guess I just need to do some training for a few nights and hopefully I will crack it.

[chocohead]

I am in exactly the same position with my DS, no answers im afraid but just keep telling myself it will get better / easier.

With my DD i used the book 'solve your child's sleep problems' Dr Richard ferber. You basically cut the length of the feed by a minute each night and leave longer gaps every night. It worked really well but she was 8 months.

I might try this again its just getting the right mind set, im sure they don't need to feed so often.

let me know if anything works please

[vvvodka]

this is what worked for me.
ds1 was this age in the summer. i worked by the rule that during the hours of darkness, he got no milk, only water. it was hard for the first two nights, b ut by the third, it worked. he slept through, well, for fivish hours, which was fine, as i got some sleep.

with dc3, my problem was the constant feeding all day long, up to twenty breastfeeds a day, and at 6.5 months, she wasn tinterested in solids, and it was driving me potty. i used the gina ford routine for four days of torture, but by the fifth day, she knew she was getting fed every four hours, 6, 10, 2, 6 and ten pm and started taking solids too. a week later, she refused purees but that was a different issue.

[FrightNightFebes]

I have refered to my GF book to space out feeds during the day so he is taking more at each feed rather than snacking.

I have decided to feed him at 11, 3 and 7 tonight and leave him for DH to comfort in between. I hope its not too horrendous.