5 Month Old Not Sleeping as Long at Night

hi N.....i had that problem also with my now 10 year old daughter,,,i found if i gave her cerial in her bottle before bed time that help her stay asleep at night,,hope that help shell

I am a mother of 4. My youngest is 8 months old and small (only 6 pounds at birth). I began giving her rice cereal at 2 months of age. She is now 8 months old and eating almost everything that we eat at the table. Sometimes I process it and sometimes I just cut it into small pieces. My advice is "give the little (or should I say big) guy some food!!! He's hungry!!! I introduced oatmeal cereal within 2 weeks after rice cereal. I began baby food at 5 months (vegetables, then fruits, then meat). I still breastfeed at naptime and usually once through the night (unless its a bad night and she wakes up with her teeth). Have fun and get messy!

My three kids were very big, also and I started them on cereal (very watered down) at 4 months. They LOVED it and never had any problem with it! Maybe try it? I think as long as he's healthy, there is no reason not to. Is he teething? Sometimes, just the sucking feels good on their gums and it's soothing enough to make them go back to sleep. Does he have a pacifier? Good luck!

Your son definitely does NOT need to be eating throughout the night. He is most likely waking out of habit at this point. If he is hungry, I would suggest adding in a feeding or two throughout the day. Is he actually taking a full feeding at night, or just snacking and falling back to sleep? I would guarantee that if you let him cry a couple of nights (going in to soothe him after awhile so he's not beserk), he would stop his nighttime waking.

Hi N.! I have two boys one 3 and a half and the other just about 10mnths... who still doesn't sleep through the night. I feel your pain! It's not as bad as it used to be he really only gets up once now but at 5 mnths I would feed him before I went to bed and then he would be up around 1 or 2 and then again around 4:30-5. He was not eating much at this point either. When he did start eating on a regular basis he began doing much better at night it pretty much immediately turned to just one feeding in the early morning (around 4:30-5). He is still doing this one, and I have a feeling he'll be doing it for a long time. It becomes a habit after a while. I know he does not NEED this feeding, he just likes seeing me and he loves his bottle!!! I would go ahead and try some food with him see how he does. It won't hurt him that's for sure. He could also be teething, I know that can really bother babies at night. It's such a guessing game sometimes, you just want to pull out your hair! I am sorry that your husband is away I really cannot imagine. I also am a stay at home momma and I really enjoy it but I know how tiring and mundane it can be at times. So, I hope this helps you a little. God bless you and your little guy and husband. Leah

How much formula is he drinking? How often are you feeding him? I know it is hard to determine how much breast milk he is getting, but try to estimate how much you think he is drinking a day. If you think he his getting more than 32 ounces a day then you need to start cereal. I have 3 kids and I always started cereal when my girls needed more than 32 ounces of formula. They all started cereal around 4 to 5 months. Does he seem to want to eat your food when you are eating? Does he open his mouth when you put a spoon infront of his face after watching you eat? There are tons of signs to look for, go with your instinct. If you think he is ready than try it. When it comes down to it, you are is mother and you know what is best. This may help with his sleeping. However, he may be teething and just need some extra comfort at night. The same thing happened with my girls at 5 months and around 9 months. I made sure before I put them down at night that they had full tummies and clean diapers. When I was sure they were teething I would give them a homeopathic teething tablet at bedtime. Good luck.

Hi N.,

I have 2 boys, ages 3 and 1, and they both started rice cereal about 4 months old. They also both had rice cereal in their bottles by 2 months b/c of GERD. And both boys slept through the night from 8 weeks on, 12 hours. You son is most likely going through a growth spurt and does need rice cereal. It is not going to hurt him. Both of my boys are happy healthy and smart.

Hi N.,

When a baby stops sleeping through the night it can be from a variety of causes. He might be teething, or he might be going through a growth spurt. Your baby is also at the age where he is becomming more aware of his surroundings, so he may have always woken up at this time and just went back to sleep without you even knowing, now he may be waking up and realizing that he is alone and wanting to see you before he goes back to sleep. 4-5 months is when this typically happens. It passes, but it might take some time. Keep going in to comfort him as that will make him more secure and give him the ability to sleep on his own again later.

For introducing solid foods, the signs to look for are: 1) he watches you eat and makes mouthing motions when you put the food in your mouth 2) he tried to grab food when you are feeding yourself. If he is doing any of these things, then you can probably try solids. It is best to start with single foods so that you can look for allergies and they should be pretty soft or pureed until he gets used to eating. Food should not replace any of the breastmilk or formula, but should be in addition to it. For the first year of a baby's life, they only eat food for the "experience" they will still be getting the majority of their nutrition from your breastmilk and/or formula.

J.

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This is a really, really common thing although that doesn't make it any easier for us to get through. If you google 4 month sleep regression, you'll see it usually happens around 19 weeks. There is another sleep regression around 9 months. These regressions typically coincide with huge developmental spurts.

My 6 month old daughter went from sleeping 8p-8a getting up only at 3a and 6a to sleeping 8p-8a and up every 1-2 hours after 11pm. Last night, for the first time in more than a week, she slept 8-1 then was up at 4 and 6. I'm hoping that this means she's turned the corner and will be back to good sleeping habits soon.

I don't believe that sleeping through the night or lack there of is a reliable indicatior of being ready for solids. From the research I've done, developmental signs of being ready for solids include:

1. being 6 months old
2. able to sit up unsuported
3. having lost tongue thrust reflex
4. able to manage the chewing/swallowing motions
5. developing pincer grasp (not palmar grasp)

We're at 6.5 months and DD is not showing any signs of being developmentally ready. I'm not really stressing about, it's actually easier for me that she's not on solids yet.

S.

The key to sleeping at night is DEFINITELY a full belly. Eating a lot all day long, not only at night before bed. I would definitely add in food and cereal, but whatever you do, DON"T reduce his breast milk and formula. Don't let him eat so much that he won't drink those as often, but definitely add them in.

Hi...I went through the same deal with my daughter, with her sleeping about 5-6 hours thru the night then starting to wake up 1-2 times during the night right around 4 months of age. I'm a first-time mom who is exclusively nursing and would naturally get up to feed her, that is until the Doc said at her 4 month check-up that she didn't need to be fed thru the night...in fact the Doc said that doing so was conditioning her to need me when it wasn't necessary. The first couple of nights were tough and she cried on and off for the first hour before falling asleep (because she was now having to sleep in her own room), we just had to ride it out and now she's been sleeping a good 10 hours ever since. Also, the Doc had her start on cereal...he said 3x a day was fine, since it would get her used to eating when we ate (breakfast/lunch/dinner). You may want to go ahead with the cereal and see if that helps satisfy his hunger. Best of luck!

N. as a mommy to9 I am the first to tell you not to rush him onto solids. If you do decidee to do it ease him in very slowly by only giving him 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons to start or else you will have a very constipated baby. It could be that hes just going through a growth spurt they do that once in awhile! lol

T.
www.hiphopmamashop.com

Hey, I am an Army Mom too! My husband is in Iraq and I have a 6 month old boy and a 22 month old girl. Its tough, huh? As for your baby, I'd say you've hit a growth spurt and he needs to eat more. You could try to ride this out for a week or so, but if it keeps up I'd say start the rice cereal but NOT in a bottle, always from a spoon and bowl. Both my kids were really great eaters and I started my daughter on cereal at 5 1/2 mos because of night waking and my son at 4 1/2 months b/c he was also HUGE and I could not keep him full even with formula at night. His sleeping has gotten a lot better since starting solids. Its also a matter of head control- if your baby has good head and trunk control then I'd be more apt to start also. Just remember you are adding food IN ADDITION to his nursings NOT instead of. Here is our current feeding schedule:

7- breastfeed
8- cereal & fruit
11- breastfeed
12:30- veggies & fruit or 2 veggies
15:00- breastfeed
17:00- cereal & fruit or veggie
18:45- breastfeed
19:00- bed
22:30- 6 oz formula & nursing as needed to fill him up for the night

--cross my fingers and hope for 5-6 hours of continuous sleep and feed him again.

Hello, I just wanted to say I tried that with my baby, and it did NOT help him to sleep longer-

Hi N.,
Yes, definitely he is ready for cereal for sure! Boys especially go through growth spurts more frequently. You can start mixing rice cereal with formula and give him this throughout the day and then just before bedtime as well, and he should be good through the night. You will find that after he gets used to the rice cereal you will want to start him on the oatmeal cereal as it will fill him up more. I have 4 children and I had all on cereal by 2 months old and never had any sleeping issues through the night. Your little guy is also getting to the age to start introducing him to veggies first and then the fruits. Hopefully, this will help you both get a longer sleep through the night. Best of everything to you and your little guy!
~D. M~

Solids won't make any difference in how your baby sleeps. Also, most babies go through a tough phase with sleep at 5 months. It will pass!

Hi N.

You could definately consider starting cereal if you think he is hungry. I gave my little ones cereal before their bedtime bottle starting around 5 months, sometimes it helped them stay satisfied longer. Consider also a few things. Is he teething? Does he fall asleep in his crib by himself, or is he asleep when you put him in there? If that is the case, he may be waking and wanting Mommy back. If that is so, you have to decide how to handle that issue - sleep training may be in order for you both. My babies have been formula/bottle fed and after 4 or 5 months of age me pediatrician felt, and I agreed they did not need a middle of the night feeding. You might have to just do a little trial and error to see what his issue is. Hungry? Mommy? Bored (milestones?) Teething? If he's teething you can consider Tylenol, Orajel, or other remedies to get some sleep. Hopefully this too will soon pass. It must be so difficult with Daddy being so far from home at this time, Thank You and your family for you sacrifice and service to our country.

saying he weighs 19 lbs means nothing cause it depends on what he weighed at birth. Meaning if he weighed 10 pounds he right on target. If he weighed 6 lbs then too fast.

How about giving him water?

Also, try to supplement with formula more during the late afternoon evening, takes more then cause then he fuller to sleep. My 5 kids use to take over half of the formula after 5 pm. Just how it worked out.

N.~
That happened with us. We never used rice cereal; we just mashed up or pureed the foods we eat (within reason, of course). Feed him right before bed and LOTS so he has a happy, full belly! That worked for us! hth!
If you have any specific questions, feel free to e me directly.
smiles,
L., 39
Brianna 21m & yes! still bf'ing!
and baby
in Evansburg/Skippack/Collegeville
butterflylindamarie at yahoo dot com

He is definitely old enough to start on baby food. I remember being nervous with my first child. Rice cereal is a good beginning. At night before bed, you may want to add 1 teaspoon (or less) for each ounce of formula. It should help him have a fuller tummy and thus sleep longer. I would try giving him a little earlier in the day to make sure he doesn't have any problems with it.

My son is also a happy, nearly 20 lb baby who is a bit older than your son at six months. His dr. encouraged me to begin cereal after his 4 month check up. I did a bit of research because of the conflicting advice on starting solids (another dr. told me nothing until 6 months based on the recommendation by the Pediatric Academy), and decided to give him cereal around 5 months. If there are no allergy issues to worry about, and he's interested in other's food, can sit easily with a little support, and because he's healthy I'd go ahead if you want to.
Of course, I had also hoped that it would help my little one sleep longer but unfortunately he's still up to nurse frequently....he's working on sprouting his first two teeth....which could be another reason that your son wakes up....the pressure is comforting as their teeth start to move around, so if you've noticed extra drooling or chewing it might not be hunger that is creating the late night snacking.

I don't have much advice, but just want to say I also have a 5 month old and he is also not sleeping well at night. We cosleep and always have since day 1. He was a super sleeper his first 3 months and has just gotten bad lately. I am going to say that your guy may be going through a growth spurt. I also am waiting until 6 months to introduce foods. We shall see if that makes a difference!

Yes!! Give him solids! I just went through the same thing with my six month old son....it was a growth sprurt and he needed to eat more. We've added in two servings of baby food a day (one in the morning and one around dinnertime) and this has really helped. On the nights he naps through dinner, he wakes up starving in the middle of the night!! This is my third baby and they all have gone through this around this age. Just a heads up....it happens again around 9 months!! Something to look forward to, huh?!?

My son did the same thing around 4-5 months of age. At a friend's suggestion, we introduced rice cereal at dinner time and he began to sleep through the night again. (And we maintained his normal nursing/feeding schedule through the day.)
Another tip: Feed him with the cereal with a spoon, not in his bottle. Everything I have read strongly advises against adding cereal to the bottle. Plus it's so cute to watch them react to the cereal.

Hi N.-
The same sort of thing happened with my first son. It turned out that he was teething. It started around 5 months --- he got his first teeth (the bottom two) at 6 months. The first few times he was teething, he would wake up at night and I would give him a bottle because I thought that was what he wanted. After he got his first few teeth, I noticed that about a week before his tooth/teeth would pop through his gums, he would have difficulty sleeping through the night. Again, at first I thought he was waking because he was hungry, but it turned out that he was waking because he was in pain. From the point that I made that realization, when he would wake up at night, rather than giving him a bottle, I'd give him some Tylenol and rub some teething medicine on his gums. And, then, for the next few nights, I'd give him Tylenol and some type of teething medicine before I'd lay him down for the night. That would help him sleep through the night. I hope this helps! Good luck!

oh my gosh! I am going thru the SAME EXACT THING with my almost 5 month old! all of a sudden, after sleeping 6 hours straight, he started waking after 3 hours.... because of my lack of sleep again-it was like he was a newborn all over again, I started mixing my breast milk with rice cereal and feeding that to him at his evening meal (around 6 or 7). Now he is starting to sleep longer (working up to 5 hours last night). It took a few nights, but I think the rice cereal is filling his belly longer than the BM alone. I really wanted to wait on introducing the cereal until 6 mo. and rely on BM alone, but this seems to be working well. My ped said that increased waking at night is a pretty good sign that they are ready to start solids (even though he wasn't demonstrating any other cues- interested in my food, not being satisfied after breastfeeding, etc.)
Good luck to you! I'd be interested to hear how you (both) do!!
L.

I have the same problem and everyone tells me it is a growth spurt except mine has been occuring now for almost two months, quite a growth spurt huh? we were sleeping thru the night then on his 3 month b day he stopped . its a rare occasion maybe twice in the past 6 weeks that he has slept. My son is 4.5 months (at least 16.5 lbs) old and has been on cereal since 3 months and fruits and veggies now for almost three weeks, has not made a difference for us as he still gets up once during the night for a feeding.
Yours could be a growth spurt . If he goes back to normal in a few days that's what i'd say. The cereal does help some of them sleep a lil better thru the night but not all.
Hope my answer was not to discouraging, as they say they are all different and it certainly sounds from his weight he is defintely getting all he needs from breast milk and formula supplement.
I may not have a helpful answer but i am here to listen since i know what you are going thru...and maybe someone can help us both....
let me know how things go over the next few days, i wish you the best.

Is yor son working on rolling or crawling or some other milestone? Mine always woke more than usual when they were nearing a milestone. Once it was acheived, they returne to their normal schedule.

Is he beginning to teeth? It's getting close to that time and that can hurt and be disruptive.

My son is almost 6 months old and weighs 20lbs. We started him on cereal a week after his 4 month checkup. The doctor told us that as long as he was sleeping through the night he didn't need cereal. Sure enough he started waking up in the middle of the night and we started him on cereal and he has been sleeping through again. Now just last week he started waking up again so we are now giving him rice cereal for breakfast and oatmeal cereal for lunch and dinner and that seems to be working out. Our ped did ask that we not give him anyother solids until he is 6 months old. And luckily for us he'll be 6 months on the 10th of April. I say try the rice cereal. Good luck!

Hi N.,
It could be a simple as a growth spurt for him right now. I would definitely start the rice cereal.

Good luck, this will pass!

L.

Hi N.. Maybe he has started teething. Try a dose of tylenol and two teething tablets (hylands-)before he goes to bed and see of that makes a difference!
Good luck and thank you the sacrifices you are making while your husband is away. It's not easy holding down the fort while they're gone.

Hi N.,

I'm not a Dr. just a Mother of 4. All 4 of my children had to be put on cereal before 6 months old. My 2 sons where eating cereal in their bottles by 4 1/2 months of age. My oldest daughter was a premie she even had cereal by 6 months old.

A little about me I'm a 40 year old Mom married to my BEST FRIEND. I'm a work from home Mom with my own home based business that I enjoy very much because I get to be home with my children! They too enjoy helping me!

I. B.
www.trisharay.candlebizfromhome.com

Hello! I started my son on cereal at 3 months. Breastmilk just wasn't enough for my little tubby!!! i only added a little bit to his formula, & it kept him satisfied longer (& it gave my sore boobs a break!) BTW, how do u cope with being alone? My wonderful man is being deployed in June & i'm scared to death.