Hi there,
My 5 month old daughter used to sleep like a champ! She has always gone to bed between 6:30-7:30, and used to sleep until anywhere between 3 and 5:30am, where she would wake for one quick night feed, and go back to bed easily.
Since 14 weeks, and what I thought was the "4 month sleep regression" she has had multiple night wakings. It has not ended after the dreaded wonder week leap, or since turning 5 months.
For the past week, her night wakings have been like CLOCKWORK. She wakes at 9:53 pm, 2:53 am, and 5:20 am, then up for the day between 7 and 7:30. The only time she wakes to eat is 5:20 am. The other times she just wants to be soothed back to sleep.
She has been going to bed mostly unassisted since she was 8 weeks old. I have witnessed her self soothe many times between sleep cycles by sucking her thumb. To go to sleep I lay her down in her bed awake, but drowsy. If she gets upset I go in and shush and place a firm hand on her belly, and occasionally sit beside her crib, but this is rare. This works to calm her at 9:53 pm, and 2:53 am if my husband goes in to calm her down. If I go in she wants a boob in her mouth to calm down, but does not feed. She will fuss and fight off the breast, and I put her back down in her crib and she sucks her thumb to sleep.
I have tried Wake to Sleep in the past, and did have some success with it. We got it down to two night wakings.. but since then, this problem has returned. Should I give Wake to Sleep another go? Does anyone have any other advice to share with me? Should I try Wake to Sleep for each nighttime waking?
This is our current schedule:
7:00 Wake and E
A
8:30/9:00 S
Y
11:00 E
A
1:00 S
Y
2:00 E
A
4:00 S
Y
5:00 A (no eating here or she will not eat at bedtime, we have tried)
7:00 E/S (I feed her just before we sing songs and story before bed)
I have tried to help her link sleep cycles with the 1:00 nap, with no luck. She does get a total of 4 hours of daytime sleep though.
Thanks so much for any help you can give me! I am desperate for a good night's rest!
L.
