5.5 month old waking every 1.5/2 hours at night

[treesa410]

Hi, I just transitioned my son 5.5 months from our bed to his crib. He goes down easily at night with a pacifier and my hand on his chest for about 5 minutes, but wakes up all night every 1.5-2 hours. Most of the time he settles down pretty easily with the pacifier...but is it becoming a prop? He didn't use much before but I introduced it about a month ago to cut down on night feedings.

Our schedule:
E: 7am
A
S: 9
E:11
A
S:1
E:3
A
S:Sometime between 5-5:30
E: upon waking up from catnap
A:
E:7
S:by 7:30

Then for the rest of the night he wakes up almost every 2 hours...I feed him twice at 11 and 3 in the morning. At around 5am...he shortens the time between wake-ups until I finally let him wake up at 7. Most of the time he resettles with a pacifier within 5-10 mins. But I just can't figure out why he is waking up so frequently...he also did this when we co-slept but I thought once he was in the crib...he would sleep in peace for longer periods.

[Tweakster]

HI there, it's likely a routine issue or development (new skills such as rolling?  is he teething?).  He doesn't sound OT because he's getting long naps.  Our biggest jump in A time was between 5 - 7 mths.  I think his A time is on the lower end...so how about an increase in A time?  I would try 2.25 for the morning A to start gently pushing it out.  Most 5.5 mths old are on 2.25-2.5 hrs A time by 6 mths.  Then a further increase to around 3 hours by 7 mths.

At this age is when the CN starts to disappear or they fight it...any issues with getting him to take the CN?  If you start pushing out your day slowly it will be an easier transition.

Is he sleeping a full 2 hours for both naps?  They start to need less day sleep around now too.  It depends on how much sleep he needs in a 24 hr/period.  Most LO's need 14 hours or so at this age but it has to be tailored to your LO and their temperament.

The paci could be a prop if he wakes when it falls out and needs replugging.  It's a tough call because you just transitioned him from co-sleeping so he needs something for self-soothing until he gets better at it on his own.  He will probably sleep well in his crib but it will take him some time because he's used to a different sleep association i.e. sleeping with you :-) 

[treesa410]

He usually does the full 2 in the morning, about 1.5 in the afternoon, he does seem to start to fight the catnap...perhaps we'll get rid of it and see if he is sleeping better. I'm not sure its a development issue as its been going on for a while ever since we co-slept. Although he settles a lot easier in his crib than in bed with us since I'm not picking him up out of his bed. Thanks, we'll work on it and see if it improves some.

[Tweakster]

Hi there, how's it going?  I have been on holiday, just checking in to make sure things are getting better :-)