Advice for Getting 5 Month Old to Sleep Through the Night? Help!

The "Becoming Babywise" book. It is a miracle. It helped me to get my son to sleep through the night at 3 months. It doesn't matter if you start it later, my sister did and her daughter was sleeping though the night in a few months. It takes some maintenence and paying attention to eating time and schedules, but it's more than worth it.
Good Luck!
M.

Hi, I bought a sound machine from Walmart and it worked wonders. It was like $15 and it had 10 different sounds on it. I know you don't like to hear him cry, but that's really the only way to do it. If you continually go in his room when he starts to cry, then he knows that everytime he cries, you'll come. I would let my son cry for about 15 minutes at first, then I would go in and patt him on his back for awhile, then I would leave the room again. But I never picked him up out of his crib. whatever you decide to do, just make sure you are consistant with it. Good luck.

Is he taking lots of naps through the day?

Hi A.,
I had a similar problem and my docter said that since i usaully nursed her to sleep, she was not learnig how to put herself to sleep. so i had to make it so that i could not hear her ( very hard to listen to your baby cry) and let her just cry it out for a few nights and after that she slept through the night. that was at about 5 months too. also check out the sleep book by docter sears, excellent!

My daughter started sleeping through the night at 4 weeks old. I tried the cereal in the bottle trick and it worked, but you have to be careful not to put to much. Just a pinch. You are just boosting what's in the bottle. MANY Dr's and nurses and other moms say that it's harmful to the baby and that it changes the way they will eat or what have you. My daughter does not have any weight issues nor did she have trouble learning to eat cereal from a spoon.

At 5 months you should be feeding the baby cereal anyway. Not in the bottle but from the spoon. he may be going to bed hungry.

Take all the advise you get here with a prayer for disearnment.

what have you already tried? Do you breast or bottle feed. The key to this is remembering that you are setting trends for the future. Any habits you start now could hurt in the future. Is she cutting any teeth? How long is she sleeping at night? Most infants her age will only sleep 5-6 hours without feeding so you may just need to keep that in mind and feed her at the 6 hour mark and then put her back to sleep. Then as she gets older you can try extending this period of time. Alittle crying is ok but at this age I would not let her cry for more than 5 minutes at a time, this is a crucial age were they learn to self comfort but they are also still very dependent on their parents. Good luck...

I hate to tell you this and I still have a hard time with it on my 3rd baby. You have got to do it now the older the harder! I have heard from so many other moms doctors and therps, let them cry it out. I t will be hard I promise you that but you can do it. Just if you start stick with it. I never let my oldest cry herself to sleep and even now at 5 she still is terrible to get to sleep. We(my hubby) let my 2nd baby cry it out at 3 months it only took a few night, and now she goes to bed by herself. My 9 month old now thats another story....
Good luck to you. I know it's not easy.
also "white noise" is saposed to help soothe them to sleep. i.e-fans or even classical music.

Hi there,

I have worked with children my entire working life and I have some info for you.....

First I have to say....all babies sleep through the night when they're ready. My daughter was 10 months old before she slept through the night. There's really nothing you can do to help your son sleep longer. He'll do it on his own time.

Second, DO NOT give your son cereal in his bottle. This DOES NOT fill his tummy more AND it makes it more difficult for him to learn to eat cereal from a spoon becuase he's already getting it from a bottle. It has never been proven that cereal in a bottle fills the tummy and helps babies sleep and I would strongly advise against doing that.

Third, it is completely fine to let babies cry it out at night. Yes, they are new to the world but that's just what you have to do sometimes. It does not affect their independence. As long as they are being loved and fed and changed, their needs are being met. Crying it out does not affect them negatively. It actually helps them learn to fall asleep on their own. Something they need to start doing at about a year old.

The only thing you can do is wait. I know it's hard. I'm a single working mother and my daughter got up twice a night until she was 10 months (she's almost a year). I got up and rocked her the first time she woke up and let her cry it out the second time she woke up and she is the happiest, most independent child. It is ok to let him cry it out.

Another piece of advice....are you still feeding him when he wakes up? If you are, I would stop feeding him in the middle of the night. His body could be waking him up because it's hungry. If you get his body out of the habit of eating during the night, it won't wake him up and he might sleep longer. A five month old does not need to be eating during the night. He is old enough to sustain himself during the night. It will be an adjustment as he gets used to it but it won't take his body long to stop being hungry during the night.

I hope this helps. Good luck to you.

K.

I also have a five month old, soon to be six, who does not sleep through the night so I can totally understand what you are going through. I think you just have to take into consideration what others have said before me. Five month old babies are not meant to sleep what we consider long periods of time. It is stressful. Belive me I know. I am not sure if you work but I am going to have to go back in a month and am so worried about the lack of sleep. Anyhow, you just have to keep in mind this time will go by so fast and you will be trying to remember your child as a sweet baby. So, what I do, which is easier said then done at times, is try to think of all those sleepless nights as a blessing with my little one that will soon be over. Don't do the cry it out method. I have a background in early childhood education and I really believe not meeting the needs of your baby at all hours can possibly lead to attachment problems as well as self esteem problems. This will not last forever. Soon you will be saying to yourself where did the time go.

I am disappointed to read so many people let their babies cry it out. He is only been in this world for 5 months. That is perfectly normal for him to want reassurance that someone is there to take care of him or feed him if he is hungry. Just because he may eat formula doesnt mean he wont be hungry 4 hours later. I nurse my 8 month old and she still gets up twice a night. When she was 5 months we went though an intense waking up period and it passed after a few weeks. I depend on my husband to help me out so I can get a nap when I need it. I have 10 neices/nephews and none of them are forced to cry it out. Some slept thought the night at 3 months and some didnt until they were 1. All are normal sleepers without any longterm problems. I know its hard, i'm doing it too. But I firmly believe that as long as I take care of her needs at night for now she will eventually sleep through the night on her own time. ( Just as a side note, I and my siblings also rock/nurse our babies to sleep and that has not had any negative effects either.)

The key to getting a 5 month old to sleep thru the night is "Filling" the belly! Are you giving him cereal? Some doctors say no but there has never been a case where this hurt the child. Try diluting some cereal and possibly keeping him up at least 2 hours past his normal sleep time.

A.,
In all seriousness, 5 month old babies are not made to sleep through the night. And, you are made to hate hearing him cry.
How long does he sleep now?
It is through meeting our babies needs when they are babies that we raise confident, independent children.
Please, don't take a cry-it-out approach with your precious baby. Make the investment in parenting him through the night just as you would in the day.
Sleep training programs teach babies that their needs will not be met at night, so they may as well give up and shut down. All this really does is place a baby at greater risk for SIDs.
Here is a great article by Dr. Sears on sleep...
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T070300.asp
I hope you find it helpful.
L. G

A.,
I guess that the biggest question would be is he waking up to eat or just to wake up? If he is waking up to eat then try feeding him some solid food right before you put him to bed so that he will not get hungary during the night. If he is just wasking up to be awake, then the other suggestions are right, you need to just let him cry and try some music for him to help soothe him. Hope this helps.