5.5 month old, started solids 3 weeks ago but still DOESN'T sleep thru the night

[luv2swimbikerun]

Help

First I want to mention that my boy has for most of his life been a tummy sleeper. And he has never slept through the night, mostly cuz my midwife instilled this fear that I had to feed him every 2 hours.

Now he's on the 4 hour EASY and started solids (as per his paediatrician) b/c he didn't gain weight for a month. I thought this would eliminate his night wakings, which now happen to be almost every 2 hours!

His problem from what I gather is that now since he's so mobile, he's flipping himself onto his back and it's waking him up. SO I tried PU/PD with him sleeping on his back and was not successful!!

I've tried using a wedgie thing/body positioner thing and that didn't work.

Help, I don't know what to do and I 'm not getting ANY sleep!

[ryates71]

Hi,

My LO is a tummy sleeper too so we play this game most nights too.  I do PU/PD and then put him back on to his front.  Often he will roll over again so I give him his lovey, wait a few minutes and then try again.  Sometimes he quitens down and then settles, other times I have to do PU/PD again a few more times.

Can he roll over on to his front again on his own?  e.g. during the day when he's having tummy time?  If not try to encourage him to "learn" how to do this with lots of tummy time.

Also, how does he go down to sleep?  Does he put himself to sleep and if so how does he get on his front for this?  I have been working on independent sleep at bedtime and seem to be making progress (50% of the time he manages it, the rest of the time I have to keep going in and rolling him over).  I'm hoping if he can learn how to do this at bedtime he will eventually figure it out when he wakes in the night.

Hope that helps
Rachel

[anna*]

The rolling thing really messes with sleep. It WILL pass. When he wakes, how do you resettle him?

[luv2swimbikerun]

Hello! Thank you for replying! 

My LO can't roll himself back onto his front yet when he has tummy time during the day. I figured that I should help him learn it so that he can roll himself back over at night if he needs to. Most of the time when he does want to roll at night he ends up on his side and he easily falls back asleep or continues to sleep. Which is great! It's just when he rolls ALL the way to his back is what wakes him up.

So for a couple of nights I did PU/PD but not back onto his front, I laid him down on his back and we were up for 2 hours doing PU/PD and I think he just finally gave up. But because I didn't want to go through  that again, I just went back to rolling him back over onto his tummy when he wakes up. I seem to have to do this A LOT!

So I am glad to hear that this doesn't last forever.

When it's bed time I hold him for a little, patting him on his back, and shushing him at times when he is really not wanting to settle down. Then when I feel him totally relaxed on me, I lay him on his tummy and he drifts away nicely. I need to start independent sleep to, or is what I'm doing ok?

Thanks again for your guys' help!

Viviana

[anna*]

It sounds like what you're doing is great! To encourage even more independence at going to sleep, you could start to lay him down once he is calm but before he is totally drowsy.

[luv2swimbikerun]

Hi Anna

Ok, I will try to do this. I was doing it before but he would just push his head up and look around and he'd stay that way for awhile. So I just started to hold him a  little longer, but I can try that again.

If he looks around again, any suggestions on what to do?

Viviana

[ryates71]

Hi Viviana,

As long as he is calm even if he pushes his head up I would just leave him to it - maybe keep your hand on his back if you think he needs the reassurance.  You could even leave the room if you felt Ok to do that and see if he settles ok without you.

Let us know how you get on.
Rachel

[anna*]

Agree with Rachel. He really only needs your help if he's crying.

[luv2swimbikerun]

Ok ladies,

I will attempt this tonight. Poor little guy also has a cold, gooey runny nose etc and is not sleeping too well during his naps. 


Thank you for all the help and I'll report back tomorrow.

Viviana

[luv2swimbikerun]

Hello

Good news, my lo slept for 6 hours straight last night! Hooray! I'm not sure what made him do it, but after I did the df, he was out until 5 am and then I sh/pat him to sleep and he woke again @ 7! I'm thrilled.

As far as starting his independent sleep... a couple of times, I laid him down when he was just about asleep and he cried soon after I left the room, I went back in and sh/pat him and he was off to dreamland in no time! I'm also very thrilled about that!

Thanks for all your words of wisdom!

Viviana   

[anna*]

Hey that's great news!!! Well done

[ryates71]

Brilliant!  Well done you.