5.5 month old NW. I'm so confused.

[cdnmomto2]

Hi everyone,  below is more or less my son's schedule

E  7
A  7:30-9
S  9-9:45 or 10  (short naps I know, but he will not sleep for any longer)
E  10:30 to 11  (I also give him some solids about 1/2 hour to 1 hour after he breastfeeds)
A  11
S  12:30 -1:14 or 1:30
    I try to put him down again after he wakes but he fights it.   I do a little bit of A and then get him down again around 2:30 -3:00
E  3  (including some solids, as above)
A 3:15 - 5
S 5 - 5:30
E  6 -7   (cluster feed, including a bottle a formula right before bed)
A  6:15  (bedtime routine - bath, story time)
S  7 or 7:30

He will wake up for the day at 7 the next morning, but between 7pm and 7 am, he wakes up at least 3 to 4 times.     The thing is when I put him down around 7 or 7:30, he is able to soothe himself to sleep, but he can't or won't do it during the NWs.     I am still mostly breastfeeding and just wondering if I should keep nursing whenever he wakes up or should I try to cut them out.   
His normal wake up times are around 11pm, 12:30am, 3:30am, 4:30am.    I've tried dreamfeeding and that hasn't helped much.  I also tried W2S but still unsuccessful.   
I was in tears last night trying to make him to go to sleep.   I did shh/pat and pu/pd and he was doing great with that until this week, something snapped and he cries when I do the put down.   
His daytime naps have always been short and wondering if that has anything to do with it.  He just will not sleep any longer.
I've tried extending EASY to 4 hours, but he just gets OT and grumpy and harder to put down.
Sorry if this is all over the place, but I'm just lost.

Thank you so much if you got this for and if you have any input. 

[Jenn+Ethan+Emily]

Hey There,

As you know from reading my posts, I am having your same issues!!! Just wanted to let you know that I would try really hard to get him onto a four hour easy. I know you said you have tried this and he gets worse but at this age I think he should be at that point. It might be bad for the first bit and help in the long run. I don't know but that is the only thing I can think of for you! Otherwise, hang in there. I would like to tell you it gets better but as you know, I am not at that point yet!!!

[brenda2]

Hi
it looks like you are on a 4 hour EASY except for the short naps?  Based on your routine though and his age, I think you are getting a short first nap due to UT and then short naps the rest of the day due to OT. So I would increase the first A time a little bit. At his age he should be doing 2 hours 15-20 min. Increase slowly by 5 min every 3 days and watch his cuestoo.
And then if he still does a short nap the next A time should be 2 hours or so, not 2.5 hours   They are not as well rested after a shor nap so the following A time should be shorter than usual.
Are you bf at each nw? He may still need one or even two bf over night but not every hour at these wakings. If you are not bf at each nw how are you getting him back to sleep?  I would not bf unless it's been 3-4 hours since his last bf. If it's been less than this you should try pupd or shh pat to get him back to sleep
hth

[charlie'smummy]

Hi
I have the same probs with my DS (nearly 5 months).  He is on the 4hour easy which works well but no matter what I do he will not nap for more than 45mins at a time.  I think some babies are just that way and I just work my day around this.
Each night he does something different but normally sleeps really well until 2am and then is awake every hour and wont resettle himself.
If I could cure the short naps during the day I am sure this will change but it just doesnt seem to be happening!

When I start tearing my hair out I just try to remember that it wont be forever.  (not so easy to say at 3/4am)!

If you manage to work through your short naps and NW - please let me know what worked for you!

[LinziB]

I am totally with all of you and went through a terrible patch of short Naps and NW (every 1-2hrs) between 4.5 and 5.5 months old. Thats when I went onto 4hr EASY (only started EASY here) and with some persistance with combination of self soothing and W2S (during naps) and Sh-pat and PUPD (NW) I managed to get my LO to sleep 2hrs in mornings again and back to 1 Night BF.  Afternoon Nap still a bit short so working on that and occasional NW but at least 90% better than it was during this period.  So my advice is stick to it be consistent and persistant and hopeully it should come right.

[junemum]

I feel your pain!!!

Honestly it sounds like you are describing our son he is the EXACT same. He is almost 5 mths now ( I had put a post on this forum about it already). It is so hard isn't it. I am beginning to wonder is it just what happens around this age? Or maybe that is just me trying to accept it rather than put it right, as anything we do seems to make very little difference. Our little guy sleeps ok till about 2 but from then on it is anyones guess, we are in with him 2,3,4,5,6,7 times during the night trying to get him back to sleep ( and he can do it himself as we have heard him do it on the monitor in the early evening, but just not late at night). We use pat ssh to get him back to sleep, but sometimes it takes ages. Seems to be he cant resettle himself. As to why he wakes so often, I have no idea. He takes short naps too ( 45 mins, only very occasionally longer). At the weekend he did actually extend his naps, but it made no difference to the night on either occasion. Maybe it is just the way they are!

Is your LO in their own room yet? We moved ours a few weeks ago just to see. Hasn't seemed to make any difference to us, but some people really say it does, so that might be something to try. I guess other things you are probably doing, like having a consistent bedtime routine etc etc. Are they getting enough calories in during the day to see them through the night??Not sure if I have anything else to offer you but just to say you are not alone. Sometimes it is so hard when everyone else has a baby who sleeps well, it really is exhausting. I guess eventually they will just do it, all in their own good time.

[cdnmomto2]

Thank you all so much for your replies.  It does help to know that I'm not alone.     Misery loves company, I guess.

Thanks, Brenda, for the tips.  I will try varying the A times as suggested.  I'll try anything!!

During the nights, I only bf at the dreamfeed, at his 2:30-3:30 waking, and at his very early waking  (5 - 6am).   In all honesty, I do the 5-6am one because I am just too exhausted to fight.  I know I shouldn't.
At the other times, I do shh-pat  and/or  pu/pd.

Thank you all for your support and kind words. You ladies are amazing. 

[cdnmomto2]

I forgot to add that my LO sleeps in his crib 99% of the time (naps and at night) though I often do bring him to my bed during the very exhausting 5am wakings.   Very bad, I know.

[brenda2]

Well good you don't feed to sleep at each NW. I think what you are doing is appropriate in terms of when you are feeding and when you are not. I do the same thing when my dd2 has an ew: feed her even though she's probably not hungry and lether fall asleep in my bed where she usually sleeps in a little bit. Hey you do what you gotta do. It may be perpetuating the ews a little bit but we have had no ews some days even though I do this. I figure they're still young enough to break this habit later.

[~Lori~]

We are still having night wakings here too.  The past 2 days we are back to every nap being only 35 minutes, so I am going to try adding A time...we are at 2 hrs right now, tried 2hr5min today and same thing...sigh