Help for 5 1/2 month old!

[sleeplessinFredonia]

Hello,
 I am looking for some nighttime help! My LO is 5 and a half months old. From about 2 months on, he was sleeping 4-6 hours in a row, but when he turned 4 months the wheels came off-he is now up sometimes every 2 hours. Last night was the first time he did 4 and a half hours in a month in a half, but then I nursed him and he was up 2 hours later, my husband did pu/pd, he went back to sleep for another hour and a half and was up again-he did pu/pd again and then got up at 6:30, so I brought him downstairs to nurse. Are we doing this right? I nursed him when he woke up at 12:30 since the last time I feed him was 7:15. I am not sure what to do and I am so cranky I feel bad for everyone around me, including out 6 and 4 year olds!
Is he getting confused because when he cries sometimes I nurse him if it has been 4 or 5 hours and sometimes we do pu/pd-we always wait 5 minutes to see if he can settle himself
Rough Schedule
6:45is nurse
4Tablespoons of oatmeal-just started this one week ago
9ish nap-sometimes 45 minutes or sometimes 1 1/2?
11 30 nurse (I have to pick up  my son from pre-k at 11)
2 nap- almost always 45 minutes
3 nurse
5:30 4 tablespoons of oatmeal
645 bath every other night, then nurse at 7:15 and bed....

Help, advice-suggestions!! Please

[momma.bear]

I'm not going to be of much help here, but I can definitely sympathize with you. My almost 5 month old has been doing the exact same thing for over a month now.
The only thing I would suggest is to work on his naps. He should be doing two naps of 1.5 to 2 hours a day plus a cat nap. Perhaps he is over tired?

[amayzie]

Hi hon,

At 5.5 months some babies are on 3 naps as momma bear suggests- but others are on 2 naps. Mostly though you would be looking at 2 naps of at least 1.5 hours- or one nap of around 2 hours or so and a second sorter 45 min nap. If your LO is only having 2 naps of 45 minutes he may be over tired. Does she usually have longer naps than 45 minutes?

[sleeplessinFredonia]

Thanks for responding-I am at a loss here. He usually does one good nap-1.5 or so but the other one is really short 45 minutes-do you think I should try waking him gently after 30 minutes. He is a big guy, almost 19 pounds, and while I wish I were in better shape, I cant do pu/pd for too long before I feel like my arms are going to fall off! What do you think?

[becj86]

I think you probably need to increase the first A time to reliably get at least 1.5 hr nap first up, then work on the second A time. Are you working around dropoffs and pickups for the older children? Have out found shush/pat doesn't work? I ask because PUPD is a last resort sleep training method and sleep training is a lot more effective if you're working with a suitable routine rather than expecting LO to sleep when UT or OT.

You may also want to reduce the solids a little, that's a lot for just starting and it can be quite hard on the little tummy.

[sleeplessinFredonia]

The only time I have to work around is the 11 am pick up from pre-k-I have to leave at about 10:45-how long do you think I should make his first A time?

[becj86]

Start with increasing from 2:15 to 2:30 and see what happens. That you sometimes get 1.5hr probably means you're close. TBH, there's a big variety of A times that work at this age depending on the child, so you could have to increase further but it's something to do gradually.

If you're struggling to get a long nap in the morning due to pickup, you may find that a catnap in the morning and two longer naps after that works better. It's not ideal, as it may leave her OT early in the day but it might be a way to get the routine to suit everyone.