Almost 5 months E.A.S.Y all over the place !!! help !!!

[Mami S]

My DS will be 5 months old on friday July 5   He has never really STN without walking once or twice, usually a little shush / pat gets him back to sleep quickly ( mommy on the other hand takes longer to get back to sleep waiting to see if he gets up again)
He is waking up diffrently every day but always between 5-6:30 (the latter hour is good for me because i leave early to work)

Our days goes more or less like this

6:00 am wake and feed
8:15 -10:00 sleep
10 am Bottle of BM he is taking 8 to 8.5 Oz
12:00 - 2:00 pm sleep wakes up really hungry
2:00 pm BF
4:00 -5:30 sleep he gets up a bit cranky
6:00 pm BF
6:45 bath, massage, PJ´s
sleep by 7:30

I got to Tracy´s book a bit late ( 3.5 months old) By then i rocked to sllep, i would wake him up at 8 pm for the last feed then bath and bed by 9 but he was sooo tired

So when he was 4 months he put himself and i help him to get to 4 hour easy batheing him at 7 pm but then i added the DF which always waked him up, and still he would wake around 1 and 4 am, back to sleep with shush pat
I took away the DF and left a bottle of my milk 2 nights ago, that day started 5:30 am so last feed was 5:30 pm, he woke up around 12 gave him the bottle and ate almost 4 Oz and was asleep, woke up at 4 and when back to sleep but tossing and turning till 6 am BF and day started

he had 9 Oz bottle at 10, BF at 2, and woke up starving at 5 i BF played a little bath at 6 pm and bed by 7. Woke up 9:30 pm i BF and back to sleep.

He woke around 1 and 4 but went back quick with little patting, he woke at 5 frantic and hungry i BF and he did not sleep again i tried but he was wide awake, so we started the day, at 6:30 i was hoding him and he bended to my breast and started screaming so i BF, he went down around 7:20 with a little trouble, woke up 9:50 and wanted to feed at 10 am, the sitter gave him the bottle 8.5 Oz

Now i´ll go home to feed him at 2 then be home before 6 to feed him, bath and BT

Why is he eating like this? 5 and then 6:30 am? he is eating desperatly, keep NW, don´t know if i should change something, if he sleeps longer nap at 4 should wake him?

Help, everyday goes diferent i just don´t know what to do,

Thanks a lot

[Mami S]

Yesterday ended up going for a nap at 4:40 after 2.5 A hours, nap ended at 6 pm, BF, bath at 6:45 in bed by 7:15, he tossed ands turned and did not sleep until 7:45, then he woke up at 8, shush /pat and back to sleep, woke up at 9, 9:30 went back to sleep. Woke up hungry at 11, ate 4 Oz bottle i have defrosted, probably would have eaten more but i did not leave more out, my husband gave the bottle and after a litlte he went back to sleep.

Woke at 1:40 and 4am went back after a little patting, then up again 5 pm and poop, 5:30 he was still not asleep and hungry so we BF and day started he was wide awake. Went down at 7:15, OT

what am I doing wrong?

[Ima shel Alon]

Hi there!
I hope I understood your questions
I think you are coming across some problems at night because your LO has relatively a lot of day sleep. At this age babies usually have 2 full naps of 1.5-2h long, each and the afternoon is a CN of 45min. So your day ends up around 12h long and so does the night.
If he is still BF or partly BF it's still normal for him to wake up at night for feeds. My DS was FF and still had 2NF at this age.
I think that once his day is better and he doesn't nap so much then your night will be better and then possibly he will only wake up at around 5AM for a feed, and that's ok. When he grows older he will push that feed later and later. And until your day routine is better I would simply feed at night if you don't manage to settle him quickly with pat/shh, just so the night is easier on all of you.
It was also the case for us that DS would have an early morning feed, like at 4 and then would feed again at 6 when he woke up, some babies are just hungrier than others.
And I could swear we had 5m GS even though it's not in the books .
Does that help?

[Ima shel Alon]

Also forgot to mention that it helps a lot with the night if there is a BT feed, right before LO goes down for the night.

[Mami S]

Toda Ima shel Alon, i was searching if there was a GS at 5 months LOL, he just seem hungrier. DS is EBF, i will start with cereal this sunday to get him fuller during the day, he is always looking at us when we eat and spits up what ever paci or toy in his mouth to reach for what I´m having so i think he is ready.

So if I BF him 6 pm, bath, massage and the BF again at 7? am i going to have milk for then? If he is asleep longer than the 45 min CN should i wake him?

again thanks for taking the time to answer

[Ima shel Alon]

DS is EBF, i will start with cereal this sunday to get him fuller during the day, he is always looking at us when we eat and spits up what ever paci or toy in his mouth to reach for what I´m having so i think he is ready.

I'd be very very careful with that. The WHO recommendation is to wait till 6m with solids, but if you think he is ready already cereal might mess things big time. Despite what many parents think cereal is very hard on a LO's tummy and can easily cause constipation. IMO, it's much better to start with a fruit, like a pear, which is pretty easy to digest.
I am afraid it's also an urban legend that cereal makes babies sleep better

So if I BF him 6 pm, bath, massage and the BF again at 7? am i going to have milk for then? If he is asleep longer than the 45 min CN should i wake him?

I would try and have the 18 feed earlier if you can so like you say you have more milk at the BT feed.
And yes, I would wake him up after 45min from the third nap.

[Mami S]

So now we are at 2 naps usually am nap is 1.5 hours and PM nap is 2 hours plus de 45 min catnap, i have to feed him after waking him up from CN because he seems frantic and hungry, he comes down once he eats and we keep activity on low till time to bath, pj and sleep

He goes to bed around 7 then wakes up between 10 and 11 but goes back fast with patting, then he is up again between 1 and 2 AM he takes between 5 and 6 Oz BM bottle then he wakes 4 am and starts fussing, he goes to sleep, wakes after 10 min, goes back, and up till 5 am when he is hungry and up for the day, he wont go back to sleep once i feed him so we end up in something like

E   5 am wake and feed
A   5 - 7.00 am
S   7.00 - 8.30 am
E   9 am
A   8.30 - 11 am
S  11 am - 1pm
E  1 pm
A  1-3.15 pm
S  3.15 -4 pm
E   4pm
bath 5 pm
sleep by 6 pm

Sometimes i mange to feed him till 5:30 or 6 am but because he sleeps a little more between his 4 am wake up and 5:30 but he sleeps very agitated. # noghts ago he woke 1 am, 3 am, 4 am and up 5 am for the day, he was up but quiet till 5:45 when i BF him, all schedule got pushed back and to bed 7 pm but then he got up 1 am (ate 5.5 Oz), 4 am and restless from then till 5 am

Why is he waking up so much? 5 am is too early for me i would like to push it to 6 am

HELP !!!

[Ima shel Alon]

If he goes down at 18 for the night you can't expect him to wake up later than 5AM. We somehow need to push BT to 19-19:30 if you want a 6AM WU.
I think what happens now is that he is treating the 7-8:30 sleep not as a nap but as a resettling after a NW and then only has two naps a day, one of them capped, which is not enough sleep for him.
IIWY I would try to settle him at the NW, feed if needed, and start the day at 6-6:30 even if he didn't go back to sleep. You then offer a little bit less than a full A time, so perhaps 1:45h A time and have a full nap. Your day will not look a whole lot different than it does now but you will be more clear with him what is night time and what is a nap. If after a couple of days you still didn't manage to push BT to 19 then I would push the whole day by 15min (yes, you'll probably have an OT day) and then BT will be at your desired time. From then on you stick to taking out of bed only at 6 and putting to BT at 19.
The restlessness at night can be either a GS or if you he still has wind after the middle of the night feed or he needs a bit more A time during the day. Even 10min can make a difference.

[Mami S]

Here´s what we are up to, afeter bedtime 6 pm, he woke at 12, had a 5 OZ bottle, then woke at 3 pm, tried PU/PD after shus/pat didn´t work and never got to PD becesuse he did not stop crying, i BF and he had a full feed, the he was quite but did not sleep till 4:30 am, from then i let him sleep he woke at 6:30 am, BF anda day started, he has 2 2.5 then 2 hr nap, i woke him from his CN he was not happy at all, BF one side then bath; pj, BF second side and bed by 7:30 pm

last night again he woke around 12, ate 5 Oz bottle, then up by 3 crying no way to console him, full BF, and asleep in 5 min, woke up 5 am and started playing, did not want to sleep again, BF at 6 am
 Is he 12 and 3 waking habitual? he really seems hungry, but he eats a lot during the day, don´t know what to do I really need more sleep

[Ima shel Alon]

It sounds to me like he is trying and for now, IIWY, I would feed till the routine is better.
Did he sleep 2.5h and then 2h for his first two naps? That might be a lot of sleep for him and he either needs a bit more a time or less day sleep so he can sleep better at night.

[Mami S]

He usually sleeps 1.5 hr first nap and 2 hrs the second one, but I always have to cut the 3rd one short if i wanted to be a cat nap, he would happily sleep more. We at least has a better night yesterday, bed time was 7:30 pm, last feed was 7, he woke 9:30 i fed him, at 12 he woke but went back to sleep easily, woke again 2:40 am, crying but he only ate 3 Oz of bottle. then slept till 5:20 am, i waited till 6 am to feed he was calm and day started,

thanks soo much, i´m crossing my fingers we will get better,

[Ima shel Alon]

If he still has NW (not out of hunger if he only takes 3oz) and this EW then I really think he needs an increase in his A time and slowly dropping the CN. All about the 3-2 transition- 5/6 months

[Mami S]

Thanks !! i will start this transition and up his A time, but I have one question if I´m on 4 hour easy and it get to 3 hour A time, there is only 1 hor for nap between A and E, or how should it be?

[Ima shel Alon]

The EASY cycles are not black and white anymore. For one baby it can 4.5, for another 4:15. The right A time that gives you a restorative nap (1.5-2h) equals his EASY cycle.

[Mami S]

So as Tracy says, once you think you´ve go it... it all changes

[Ima shel Alon]

She WAS a very smart woman

[Mami S]

She WAS and you all keep her present with this site 

[Ima shel Alon]

And you as well