5 month-old Help!

[Teemom]

Hi everyone!
 I am new to this message board, but have been reading all of your comments about your 5 month old babies not sleeping well, and I am having some issues myself right now with mine.

I came to this site looking for answers myself. My little boy is actually 5 months old tomorrow. He used to sleep between 5-7 hours before waking for a feeding, but now wakes up all of the time! He also fights going to sleep.

I haven't yet put him on a regular routine, or a schedule, because it was just working for us to put him to sleep when he was tired. Usually around 8-8:30. My Husband and I are not very scheduled people ourselves, so we just kind of go with the flow. It was working, but now is not!

I have made the mistake of letting him sleep in our bed in the early mornings after he had slept 5-7 hours, because then he would go back to sleep and allow us to sleep longer because we are not in bed by 8pm. He sleeps REALLY good when he is in our bed! Now he ONLY sleeps good in our bed, and the minute we put him in his crib, he wakes up 20 min. later crying. I have tried letting him cry it out, but after 2 min. of that I feel horrible and I just can't do it! Everyone is telling me to do it that way, but I just don't think it's for me. So I am trying to find alternatives.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I would like to stop the Co-sleeping, and teach him to fall asleep easier, and stay asleep longer.

Oh and I am breastfeeding exclusively, he is definitely getting enough to eat, he is not sick, although may be close to getting a tooth, and his naps are different everyday. Sometimes he naps for an hour and a half, sometimes 30min. If I nap with him, he'll nap for like 2-3 hours! I think he just wants to sleep with me next to him! I've created a monster! HELP!

[Bryony]

Hi there Teemom and welcome to the boards!

It sounds as though you have a few potential things going on...

- if he's not on a routine it may be difficult for him to get the right amount of daytime sleep - and the right amount of daytime sleep is key to avoiding NWs.  Some LOs seem to be able to regulate their sleep so that they get the right amount anyway - others don't.  So you might want to think about putting more routine into your day so that he gets consistent naps.  How much daytime sleep does he typically get at the moment?  What time does he wake up in the morning?

- the sleeping in your bed - if he's used to this, he is going to find it really strange to sleep on his own. Have you read Tracey's books?  They explain how to go about teaching a LO to sleep in thier own bed, but without CIO. Here at BW we agree with your mummy insincts - CIO is not the way to go. Tracey believed it could affect the trust between parent and child.  At five months old, he is probably old enough for PU/PD, which is a much kinder approach.

- If he is waking after 20-30 mins after bedtime or into a nap, this is most likely due to being overtired, so if this tends to happen I would try putting him down a  bit earlier.

Hope that gives you a few ideas to be thinking about - let us know if you have any questions!

Bryony