Are There Any Other Breastfeeding Moms to a 5 Month Old Out There?

Hi S.,

I am a mom or 4, with my youngest being 4 months. Yes, a child that age is perfectly capable of sleeping through the night. It is entirely possible to sleep train a child as early as 7 weeks old. I have fed and napped 3 of my 4 kids on a schedule and they all slept through the night by 8 weeks. This last one was a little slower on the up take, but she was sleeping through by 3.5 months. By sleeping through, I mean I feed her at 9:30/10:00 and she sleeps until 6:30am. The last 2 have been exclusively breast fed until 7-8 months (it's just my preference to start solids later, rather than sooner) and this one will be as well. The key is to make sure they are getting enough sleep overall (at this age, 14-16 hours in a 24 hour period) and that they are getting plenty of daytime sleep. Sleep begets sleep. The schedule way has been so much better for us than the demand way. I did my first like that and it was a nightmare compared to the schedule way. Love it and would NEVER do it any differently. Oh, and 3 of the 4 have also slept in the crib from the moment they came home from the hospital. They have done great! Two of them shared a room as babies with an older sibling and they still sleep very well, even with the potential for disruption. We've had my older daughter have a nightmare (or need a drink of water!)and wake up crying and the baby just sleeps on...hope this helps! Blessings to you!

I was always told that "sleeping through the night" for a breastfed baby meant a stretch of 5-6 hours. My son is almost 11 months old and still nurses a couple of times a night. I don't worry about it.

Is he actively nursing? How long do the sessions last? If it's more of a habitual thing and he's just comfort sucking...then just wake him up about 10 minutes earlier than he usually wakes and soothe him back to sleep (suggested in the Baby Whisperer).

Good luck.

My son is 8 1/2 months old and he is breastfed. He still wakes up throughout the night to nurse. At 5 months he would sleep about a 4 hour stretch then wake up to nurse, then sleep another 1 to 2 hour stretch and then wake again. We now co sleep so I can get some rest and don't have to get him out of his crib. It works great for us.
I believe breastfed babies have a much harder time soothing themselves back to sleep because they are used to you. Whereas a bottlefed baby may take a pacifier. Breastfed babies are not necessarily waking because they are hungry, but for comfort. When I would get frustrated about his waking, I would just think as I drowsily nursed him at 2 am how much he is comforted by the nursing and me. I could never let him cry because I thought about him cold and alone wanting nothing more than his mommy for reassurance. Many babies do not sleep through the night, we just hear about the ones that do and begin to think that is what is supposed to happen. After I realized that sleeping through the night is not necessarily the norm, I was able to enjoy night time parenting!
Good Luck K.

I have a 21 1/2 month old son and a 4 1/2 month old daughter. I breastfed my son until I found out I was pregnant again then I weaned him. He would wake up 2-3 times per night to nurse until 11 months old. His schedule during the day was good and he got plenty to eat and plenty of sleep during the day. Our doctor said that everyone is different and often breastfed babies are harder to get off of night feedings. To stop the night feedings with him I just slowly decreased the time that I allowed him to nurse by a few minutes each night.

My daughter had colic so we are just getting on a schedule. I started her on solids three times a day (as well as continuing breastfeeding) at the beginning of this week and it was like a light switch. She sleeps much better and longer for naps and at night.

Good luck!