Hi Ladies!
My 5 month old son is a champ at falling asleep on his own at bedtime (around 9pm), but after I put him down after his middle of the night feeding, he only sleeps 1 or 2 hours and fusses/cries and only sleeps in 30-45 min intervals until he wakes up for the day at 6:45am. I've tried everything I can think of...swaddling, not swaddling, turning on the mobile, etc. but nothing is working for the 2nd stretch of the night. He typically sleeps from 6-7 hours during his first stretch of sleep, but I would really love to be able to sleep from 4:30am on. Does anyone have any advice?
Is he eating solids yet? I only ask this because my son finally started sleeping throught the night from 8:30 pm to 7:00 am. I feed him around 6-7, then give hime a bath & bottle. He is usually asleep within 30-45 minutes.
Is he napping a lot during the day??? How long does it take for you to feed him and put him back to sleep? Did you try perhaps to put him to bed a little bit latter? I have a 6 month old baby and he sleeps from 9.30 - 10.00 then we have one feeding (it takes me 15 min. I do not turn on the lights in his room - then I put him in the crib and leave the room). He keeps sleeping until 6.30 - 7.00 am. Sometimes he stays awake... plays for 15 min and falls asleep by himself... I only go to his room if he is crying....
Is your baby sleeping on his back or stomach? In my case everything changes when he started to sleep on his stomach. Good luck! N.
If you are putting him down right after he finishes eating, then it sounds like he is having reflux issues that are bothering him. I have a few suggestions....1) Wait 30 minutes before laying him down after he finishes feeding. Just keep him sitting up on your shoulder or something for about 30 mins. If it is reflux this will help! 2) If you are bottle feeding, add some rice cereal to his bottle to thicken it up. This will also help with reflux as it wont be so liquidy (if you know what I mean) and will keep it from coming up so easily. You will have to get star cut nipples for this. 3) If he is bottle fed, try giving him a cereal bottle or just giving him cereal if he isn't bottle fed, at night. This will help fill his belly and let him and you sleep longer and through the night. At 5 months old, I would be working towards this!!!
Good luck!
Sounds like he might be in a growth spurt. (one happens normally at 6 months) Our daughter started her growth spurt at 5 months. She would not sleep through the night - waking up every 2 hours. So, I fed her every 2 hours. It lasted only one week then it was all back to normal. Another thought, he could be teething.
Can you drop the night feeding? Also, what are you doing during the night feeding? Is it stimulating? Can you get him up, feed side lying, and return him to his crib without truly interacting or turning on a light?
Have you tried skipping the day naps? Sometimes this works. Or maybe put him down a little later at night. I would suggest maybe 10:00 instead of 9:00. My youngest slept through the night from birth but I put her down between ten and eleven at night and she would sleep until around six or seven in the morning. I always got a good nights sleep.
