HELP!!! My 5 month old is waking SO much at night!!!

MY DS who slept through the night at 6 weeks started to wake during the night at 4 months. I was able to stick a pacifier in his mouth and he would go back to sleep. Now at 5 months old he plays with the pacifier so I can't do that. I even went back to swaddling him which was working well for a few nights but not anymore. The swaddling soothed him AND he was not able to pull the pacifier out. Last week if he would wake I would turn the mobile on and he would usually fall back asleep. He then slept through the night 4 nights in a row...well.....last night was the worst night YET. He kept waking up screaming. I gave him teething tablets, pacifier, rubbed his stomach. Finally on the fifth time I had to go in a pick him up because he was screaming. I sat with him in the rocker (not rocking him though) and he fell back asleep with the pacifier in his mouth. I was able to put him down and then he slept the rest of the night. He SUCKED down his bottle this am. Do you think he might have been hungry at night?? I heard that it is bad to start giving them a bottle at night at this age because then he will depend on it. What should I do??? I'm a walking zombie.... . TIA!!!

Re: HELP!!! My 5 month old is waking SO much at night!!!

i dont know if he is hungry- he has been going without it for so long, why would he want it now?? Maybe try giving him an extra few ounces before his bedtime to hold him over.

do you think he is in pain- teething wise? Maybe some tylenol?

Re: HELP!!! My 5 month old is waking SO much at night!!!

Babies go through a growth spurt at *around* 6 months. Is he sucking down his bottles during the day? Maybe up the ounces per bottle.

Has he started solids yet? I was adament to wait til 6 months to start solids with #2- and it was not long after that that she started to STTN.

Re: HELP!!! My 5 month old is waking SO much at night!!!

Thanks girls!!! I try to stuff him before he goes down for the night but he is sooo tired and falls asleep drinking the bottle and doesn't finish. He is eating solids and has been for about a month and a half. Praying that tonight is better. He ate a ton today!!! I think I have to start CIO .

Re: HELP!!! My 5 month old is waking SO much at night!!!

I think he is waking b/c he is hungry...he is probalby having a growth spurt. If he is falling asleep while finishing his last bottle he is not getting the whole thing so it is not enough to hold him over. I used to dream feed DS before I went to bed just to top him off.

Re: HELP!!! My 5 month old is waking SO much at night!!!

i think our babies are in snyc! my 5 month old also used be to be an amazing sleeper! ever since she started teething (3.5 months) all went out the window.

i was on the fence about CIO and i am glad that i decided to comfort her during those times b.c now i look back and know for sure that it was the teething that bothered her.

some nights are good and some are bad. some nights she needs me to nurse her whether for comfort or for hunger. i go with the flow and try to judge her crying. if she seems to be waking frequently through the night and crying alot, i know its teething and do what i can to comfort her.

i will be starting her on cereal soon so i think that will also give her a nice full belly!

good luck! from what i hear, babies constantly change up their routine. they sleep great one month and the following month you have no idea who they are...

hth!!

Re: HELP!!! My 5 month old is waking SO much at night!!!

Posted by Ladybug3

Thanks girls!!! I try to stuff him before he goes down for the night but he is sooo tired and falls asleep drinking the bottle and doesn't finish. He is eating solids and has been for about a month and a half. Praying that tonight is better. He ate a ton today!!! I think I have to start CIO .

Re: HELP!!! My 5 month old is waking SO much at night!!!

Last night was a better night. He woke up crying twice but I watched him on the video monitor and didn't go in. He went back to sleep after about 10 mintues of crying. Not holding my breath. Who knows what tonight will bring. I do think that I'm going to try putting him to bed a few minutes earlier each night. Thank you so much ladies!

Re: HELP!!! My 5 month old is waking SO much at night!!!

Sasha started waking up extra times at 3 months. At first I thought it was a growth spurt. It didn't stop-- so that ruled that out.

Then I thought, well maybe she is hungry-- and she always got a bottle of BM in the middle of the night-- but the second time she woke-- she wouldn't drink much of the bottle. When I got up to nurse her-- it would only be for a few mins and she would pass out.

NOW, she is waking even before the time we give her a bottle- which is so out of the ordinary-- I give her a pacifier and it seems to work.

Last night she woke up twice-- then got a bottle around 11. She is all over the place. Any patterns in her sleep are GONE.

I am afraid she is too young for CIO (4 months), but I want to nip this in the bud. My doc said to wait a couple of weeks-- as of last week. I don't even know what to do since she just keeps waking up MORE and MORE-- I don't know what she needs-- paci/food/company.