5 1/2 Month Old WON'T SLEEP!

Hi there. My LO did the same thing yours is doing, but started a little later - more like 6 1/2 months.
I too thought she was hungry, but when I started feeding her and she did not go back to sleep, I knew it was not hunger. Also if she is playing and then gets upset I doubt it is hunger otherwise she would be crying - get me some food now!

So, this is what we did:

At 4:00am when she typically woke my husband went in there and repeated her night time routine, a shortened version and minus the feed. He usually puts her to bed anyways, and since I breastfeed I did not want her to think it was a feeding time.

The routine for us: He got her out of her crib, sat with her in her rocking chair for 5 min, then put her back in her crib, gave her her blankie, turned on her music box and left the room. If she got upset after he left he went back in and sat in her rocking chair and just talked to her - no feed, no more picking her up. It took NINETY minutes the first night! Then it got less and less.

We also make sure that she is crying before we go in and not just fussing. Sometimes she'll fall back asleep before she ever gets to the crying part.

Try your night time routine in the middle of the night, and try feeding her as close to bedtime as possible.

GOOD luck!

1 mom found this helpful

try to keep her up a little later.... at that age my daughter sometimes took a cat nap between 6-7pm (we wouldn't let her go longer than 1 hour) then closer to 8 we gave her that last bottle and then she'd be down for the night.... then slowly that little cat nap will get a bit shorter and my 9 mos. she should be able to go to bed betwee 7- 7:30 and be down for the night. also depending on how many and how long are her naps during the day....

as much as it's nice to have a 2 hour nap during the day to let you get stuff done... i'd rather have a shorter nap and sleep through the night.

by 1 my daughter was down to 1 nap a day.... she's now 21 mos and she's 1 nap (1.5 hours) if she goes any longer than that she'll wake up in the middle of the night.

my husband and i both work - we don't get home until 6ish... this is a routine that worked for us - we're cooking/eating dinner between 6-7PM. 7ish is bath time - in PJ's by 7:30 then lights low, read book and/or last bottle of the night, and then in the crib by 8.

also we have a CD that plays for 1 hour in her room... the minute that goes on and she get's her bink - it's like an instant sleeping pill.....

Try cutting down on the amount in the bottle a little each night. Her body is used to eating in the night.

Mine is the same way! He will be six mths next week and just started to cut down to getting up once....so hang in there! It is very normal for babies to wake up at night --- especially the first year. Your little one may be teething and waking from pain as well.

What kind of beans are you feeding her? Maybe she's gassy int the middle of the night and that's what's waking her up?

I agree that the cry out method really isn't something that can be easily done.
I couldn't do it eather if I had to.

Is she eating 32 ounces of formula/breastmilk during the day?? That is the total amount that she really should be eating at this point. if not, then she's probably waking up to eat more to get in that 32 ounces..

you may want to increase formula intake during the day to ensure that she's getting the 32 within 24. If she;s still hungry.. you may want to increase her solids to twice a day. Try fruits for lunch and cereal at night. You need to cut her from eating at night without starving her.. You may want to try rocking her in the dark and not playing or chatting with her and see if you can get her back to sleep without feeding her.. It works for mine when she occasionally wakes up. If not, try giving her a couple of ounces of water as long as you are sure she's eating the 32 during the day.