Getting the Baby to Sleep Through the Night

I have a question, why is it necessary for a 5 month old to sleep through the night? None of mine do until about 2 years old and sometimes as late as 3. They wake for a reason, whether it is because they are hungry, or scared or just looking for some reassurance that mom or dad are still around. The only reason I can see letting the child cry it out is because the parents don't want to be woken through out the night anymore, and are finding that they need the sleep more. I am sorry if this sounds harsh but I really don't get why any parent finds it ok to let an infant cry themsleves to sleep in a lonely crib, and dark room. I have 7 kids and am so sleep deprived somedays I am lucky to know my name, but I would never allow them to cry themselves to sleep at night or any other time.

2 moms found this helpful

I love all the different opinions on this subject! There's always those who say never let your children cry themselves to sleep and some that are opposite. I'm kind of in the middle ground. You know your children better than anyone else. 5 months old is NOT too young to be sleeping thru the night. My 2 youngest were sleeping thru the night by 3 months old. My youngest was 9 weeks old. Establish a bedtime routine, but keep it short. With my girls, they get their PJ's on, brush their teeth, get 1 (sometimes 2) book(s), pray, and then sleep. The total time is 15-20min and then they are in bed. When they were younger, I put the younger one to bed first, then after she was asleep 1/2 hour later, the oldest went to bed, but knew she had to stay quiet or she'd get in trouble for waking the baby. It is doesn't work to put them to sleep at different times, try putting the baby in another room. Good luck and enjoy your full nights sleep when that happens! :)

P.S. -I have 3 children, 2 girls ages 4 & 2, and our little man who's 6.5 months.

1 mom found this helpful

Letting her cry it out at 5 months would be cruel, why don't you try putting her crib in your room until she is a little older-that why your older child will be able to sleep when the baby gets up to eat. She still needs to eat int he middle of the night as well-you shouldn't make her cry her self to sleep because she is hungry, just give it some more time.

1 mom found this helpful

Here's my opinion.

Don't make your baby cry it out. Babies don't cry for no reason, they cry because they need something from their Momma or Daddy, even if that's just cuddles and comfort to fall asleep. At 5 months Baby probably doesn't have the ability to self soothe yet, that doesn't come until 8-9months for most kids.

Get a copy of Elizabeth Pantley's No Cry Sleep Solution.

1 mom found this helpful

Different babies, different sleep routines. Have you considered using different methods other than the Cry it out...

I know my son hasn't slept through the night until he was 3. And he usually would wake 1-2 times a night after he was 1. And before that he wanted to eat, which is why most babies wake at night... They're hungry, and they're growing.

I can't speak for other's experiences, however, I will say that most babies are designed to eat frequently, and at 5 months... it might be a little early to start skipping the nighttime feeding.

My two kids share a room, too. They are 18 months apart. It took the youngest one longer to learn how to fall asleep, because we were scared of waking the older one. We finally put the baby in a pack an play in the office, so that we weren't worrying. BUt then we would have guests or go out of town, and have to start over so it seemed like forever. But it finally worked. Now he is 15 months and such a great sleeper. he knows that going to bed means going to sleep.
Plus, older sister sleeps through some amazing crying, even on those odd occassions when he does wake up, and little brother has learned to sleep through her waking from bad dreams or storms.
but even if you have a small house and have to stick a bed in the bathroom , it is so worth it to take care of it now. You do not want to wait until they are old enough to climb out of the crib. By then that is way too late.
Be strong and know that it may feel mean, but having a happy mommy and baby in the morning is more important than having a happy baby at midnight.

S.~
It absolutely amazes me that so many people allow their kids to go until 2 or 3 without sleeping throught the night. It is not a luxury, it's a necessity!! Kids NEED an entire nights' sleep and they are NOT born with that skill. Kudos to you for understanding how vital sound sleep is to your kids. Now the solution? Im sorry to say I have no idea! :( Unless you can find another room for one of them, they might wake each other up. That said, my 10 month old wakes often lately b/c of a cold and the 3 year old has yet to be disturbed. I would say just put baby to bed first and then hopefully the older one can go to bed quietly w/o waking the other. I think at 5 months, you might have some work on your hands b/c it *could* still be a little early for baby to sleep the entire night, but soon!
~L.

My 15 months old still doesn't sleep through the night and the other two didn't until they were at least 2 years old. However, I do let him cry it out when he isn't wet and he isn't hungry. (Cause I just fed him less than an hour ago!) If you keep going in there then they start crying to get you to come in. All children should be able to fall asleep on their own and they shouldn't wake up numerous times just so mom can walk in to pat their backs. My youngest goes to sleep about a half hour before the others. This gives him 30 minutes to cry it out before the other two have to sleep. Try moving the baby into your room for awhile until she catches onto it. NOT FOREVER THOUGH! It is the MASTER bedroom for a reason.

My 2 1/2 year old and 7 month old share a room. The 7 month old goes to bed at 7:00PM and the 2 1/2 year old at 8:00PM, so we don't have an issue at bedtime, but on occassion the younger one does get up in the middle of the night. He's been sleeping through the night since 8 weeks, so I know that he doesn't need me to get him back to sleep, so I have indeed let him cry it out numerous times. My 2 1/2 year old has never been awakened by his crying! I was nervous about having the 2 of them up in the middle of the night, but it has never been an issue and the older one is not a deep sleeper, either. I would just give it a shot and you might be surprised that the older one doesn't even move. Good luck!

Hi there. My question for you is: Is your 5 month old daughter still eating during the night? If so, then there is a program I used for getting my son to wean off feedings at night and sleep through the night. I did it with him at 4 1/2 months old and it took 6 days with almost no crying. Let me know if she's still feeding at night, and I"ll let you know about the program. (P.S. It worked like a charm for my first son, but not at all for my second son...he's 10 months old and STILL not sleeping through the night!)

Hi,
Since they are sharing a room, is it possible to put your younger one to bed first so that while she's cyring your other daughter won't be in there? My daughter on the other hand was a very sound sleeper and my son has never woken her up lol. Good luck!! Let us know what worked!!
M.

S.- I like you let my children cry at night sometime too. (So, don't feel like you are a bad mother!!) I have twin boys who are 4 months old they recently starting sleeping LONGER at night- but not through the night. Our peditrican says taht they can go 6-7 hours with out eating and I KNOW they can do that because they have done it at night time and time again. My suggestion is to go in and consule her. give her a pacifer (if she has one) and rewrap her in a blanket BUT DO NOT talk to her or anything. Then leave the room. You are making sure that she is okay and trying to consule her in a different way other than feeding her. Also- listen to her cry- you know her best, you are her mother... if it is a cry of hunger- then by all means- feed her. If it is a cry of just wanting attention- as mean as it sounds- DON'T give it to her- it is night and she needs to learn that that is NOT the time for fun and games.
I allow my boys to cry! If that makes me a mad mother in some peoples eye- then I am a bad mother... but I have 5 healthy kids and I have allowed all of them to cry themselves to sleep... and they have all slept through the night by 7 months. And you know what- I did it under the suggestion of my pediatrican!
S.- hope that helps!
-V.

My son is seven months now and sleeps thru the night. He started at around 5. He doesn't always though. There are times for about a week that he wakes up in the night. I believe they go thru growth spurts that requires them to eat more. Maybe your daughter is waking up hungry. I always have fed my son when he wakes up and doesn't go back to sleep right away. That puts him to sleep.

i really don't have a suggestion.... besides putting youngest to bed before the other. Also i have learned alot between my 3 kids. my 2 girls(8&7) were tottally different then my 17 month old boy. My andyman seems to be a weird child. lol My point being is EVERY CHILD IS DIFFERENT !!! They have different needs, different crys, different every thing. My andyman seems to need a comfort thing. Wether its just lightly touching his foot in the car for him to go to sleep on a long trip. Or just a pat on the back to show that we are there and every thing is okiee. My girls never had the issue but also they had items that comfort them like a sippy. I know bad bad at least it was water. Anyways every child is different so wether u let them cry it out or..... u comfort them. Your the mother and u have the motherly love to know the difference between needs and wants. GOOD LUCK !!
Also Girl scouts is a wonderful thing.... i am a co leader of 2 troops. Both my daughters troops. It gives a great opportunity for girls.

S., I dont know if at 5 months I would let her cry it out. At 5 months you are still dealing with the needs over wants. I have two children as well whos rooms are side by side (the wall is a thin as paper...no sound barrier at all. I just started bedtime a little earlier to get through it. I allowed my 7 year old to stay up a little later and started the routine for the baby a little earlier. At four months I started to keep a rather strict routine it went food then read and play then bath then bottle then bed. I never varied and regardless of if she was asleep or not she still went in her crib at first it was a few min. before she went to sleep and now she sleeps through the night and I have no problems. Babies are creatures of habit and those habits are learned.

5 months is still pretty small though they dont cry for attention at 5 months they cry for need. And it may even be fear. just your presence rubbing her back and standing next to the crib may help her. Your other daughter will get used to the noises of the baby as did my son. She cries at 7am because shes hungry and on the weekends my son sleeps right through it.(during the week he is already up.) If it affects the older childs sleep too much maybe you could place the baby's crib in your bedroom until a routine is set up?

Just some thoughts...good luck...sleeping through the night is the wonder of the world...and its like hitting the lottery when it finally hapens!!

also there is a great book you can get it at any book store called the Baby Whisperer. It deals with bed time. I found it very helpful for both of my children.

I just want to say again I dont think that letting an infant cry is a very good idea. I stress that routine even at 5 months is so very important!!

My 3month old just started sleeping through the night, but still waking up at least a few times on most nights. I don't let him cry it out however, I have to walk in there and put his pacifier back in his mouth and he falls right back to sleep. If he keeps waking up numerous times within 30 minutes i know he's hungry and have to deal with it. I know they say the sucking sensation calms a baby and they need that. To keep from him waking up my 2 year old I have a monitor right beside him and by my bed so I go in there before he gets too loud. Some nights he does sleep through the night, but if you're not against pacifiers I would certainly try one, you'd still have to get up, but it's fast and easy so you can go right back to sleep.

hey S. have you tryed what they call a dream feed this is a good way to get them to sleep all night long try giving her a bottle at 10:00 at night and she will sleep alnight long i di tha with my daughter when she was that age and it works. let me now how it gose for u.

I haven't had to deal with this yet, but here are things I would try in your situation. 1)Try to put the baby to sleep first and let her get settled, then let her sister go to bed. 2) If one of the girls can temporarily be moved into your room (or another room- even if it's the living room and you have to confine yourself to your room early in the evening for a while) just until the baby learns to go to sleep- so if you think it's easier to put the baby in your room (in a crib or pack and play) and let her go to sleep, then you and hubby can sneak in later. Or, if you think your older child can handle moving to your room easier go with that. 3) Depending on how long you think it will take to get the baby to learn to fall asleep (my boy just suddenly started going down at night- maybe cried one or two nights for a few minutes-we were super lucky) maybe the older sister could stay with grandma and grandpa a couple nights while you work on establishing the baby's ability to fall asleep. Other things I'd do in advance- watch the baby for sleepy signs and get a feel for when you think her natural time to try to fall asleep will be so you can try to schedule bedtimes so she might cry the least so it's less disturbing to your 2 year old.
Those are just ideas. Good luck.