5 month old - hasn't ever slept through the night yet

[Sophia's mom]

Jenny here -- I have no idea how to even define the problem we are having.  My little one is just 5 months old, and she has become very difficult lately to put down.  She was taking great naps during the day, but now it may only be 45 min, if we are lucky.  Also, she never sleeps through the night.  She wakes around 2/3 and 5/6 during the night.  I try to sooth her back to sleep, but she won't have any of it until I feed her.  I am breastfeeding, so I am not sure if she is taking in enough during the day.  I try to make sure she eats fully on each side, but lately her eating is sliming down during the day--I've noticed, and like I said she isn't sleeping well either.  Our routine is getting so crazy.  I think she is going through a growth spurt, so my husband and I figured that we should start her on cereal, hoping it would help.  She loves the cereal and took to it right away, but nothing has changed.  Any advice is appreciated. 

Mother of Sophia

[monsi]

My LO is the same age and still needs a feed during the night (she is breastfed). The feed is usually between 2 and 3am but can vary and she wakes between 5 and 6 to start her day (goes to bed at 6/6.30pm). I think at 5 months it is very common for them to still need a feed overnight.

[Sophia's mom]

I wasn't sure if it is normal for her to get up twice during the night.  I try to put her down at 7:30 and am sometimes successful.  So many of my friends share how their baby is sleeping through the night. 

[fleadle]

Neither of my LO's slept through until about 6/6.5 months & even now ds thinks sleeping through means waking between 5.30 & 6am 

I think it's pretty normal to still be doing feeds & struggling a bit with settling baby at this stage??

[ethan david's mommy]

Sorry, no advice here but just wanted to share that my son is almost 5 months and we are going through the same thing, only he is waking way more than that.  For the last two nights he has been down by 7:30, has woken up every hour until about midnight, then again at 2:30 and then at 4:30 he has been up for at least an hour (last night almost 2hrs!!) before falling asleep again.  And his daytime naps have also been a nightmare!     So know that even though it's totally frustrating at least you're not alone in this!

[elmarie]

Hi j_holten and welcome to BW 

Would you mind posting your routine for us, it may need some tweaking..

[Sophia's mom]

At 6:45 p.m., we have bath, read a book, and feed, then it's off to bed by 7: 30 (hopefully). Around 11:00 p.m., I give a DF.  She usually wakes around 2/3 and 5/6 and I feed her at both wake times after trying to soothe back to sleep first.  She falls back asleep and wakes around 7:30/8:00.  I try to start the EASY then, and when we were on a good 3 hour easy, she did well.  Now that she is growing, I have been trying the 4 hr easy, but it has been hard, because when she should eat, she won't.  Then when it's time for her to sleep again, she will wake up because she is hungry.  It has been frustrating.  She was sick for two weeks and I think hit a growth spurt in the midst of it all, which has thrown us threw the loop!!  She is a very happy baby until it hit nap and sleep time. 

If you can help, I'd be so thankful

Jenny

[elmarie]

It sounds as if you are having a hard time at the moment, it will get better 

The 5/6 wake up I think is normal, it is 2/3 feed that you need to try and get rid of.  You can start by trying to get more calories in during the day with a possible clusterfeed in the early evening.  What does her day time routine look like?