Author Topic: 5 month old waking every two hours  (Read 1101 times)

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Offline momtoK

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5 month old waking every two hours
« on: July 28, 2014, 14:58:22 pm »
My 5 month old has been waking up every two hours at night. I'm exhausted. He goes to bed around 9/9:30, although I'd like him to go to bed earlier but he usually isn't tired enough. He first wakes around midnight (he sleeps in his crib in his room), I nurse him in the rocking chair then put him back down. He'll wake again around 2am, then 4am, then my oldest gets up for the day around 7am so I have to get up. Each time he nurses and falls back asleep. He doesn't seem to have a problem going back to sleep as long as I nurse him but I'm thinking he's using it not because he's hungry, but because it's his way of soothing himself. I've tried to just rock him to sleep or let DH do it but he only wants to breastfeed and that's it. Due to this, DH can't help me and I'm the only one who's getting up at night with the baby. What can I do? I desperately need some sleep!

Offline mommamo

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Re: 5 month old waking every two hours
« Reply #1 on: July 29, 2014, 05:14:52 am »
I am in the same situation here exactly! Cant wait to hear the feedback!

Offline momtoK

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Re: 5 month old waking every two hours
« Reply #2 on: July 30, 2014, 01:48:07 am »
No one has any advice???

Offline jessmum46

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Re: 5 month old waking every two hours
« Reply #3 on: July 30, 2014, 08:42:52 am »
Hi there, sorry you've not had any replies yet.

It sounds like he's both OT and has a prop issue - that is, he doesn't know how to fall asleep without your help.  I'm guessing if he's up at 7am, he's tired way earlier than 9pm and what you're actually seeing is him getting wired with a second wind.  Does he nap well?  Can you post his usual daytime routine?

The thing that is most likely to improve his sleep is teaching him to fall asleep on his own.  Have a look at these links and then see what you think will suit you in terms of sleep training.  Hopefully we can then help you with a plan :)
Shush-pat - How to
How to PU/PD (inc age adaptations)
Gentle Removal Plan

Offline momtoK

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Re: 5 month old waking every two hours
« Reply #4 on: August 03, 2014, 12:08:06 pm »
He normally gets up around 7am but these past few days, he's been getting up much earlier. Yesterday he started his day at 4:30am and today at 6am. He takes several short naps during the day but I know what he probably needs are two long ones. I feel like he's always tired but he has trouble napping because my two year old makes noise and it wakes him up. I've tried getting him to fall asleep and then putting him in his crib or swing for a nap in his room where it's quieter but he never naps for more than 30 minutes or so that way. If I let him nap in my arms, he could sleep for a couple of hours. Due to this, he doesn't really have much of a schedule. He always ends up waking up from his naps before he wants to and ends up being tired. In the past few days, he's been ready for bed between 6:30 and 7:30pm, which is a better bedtime than 9pm. He doesn't have a feeding schedule either since I nurse him on demand. I know that's not much help not having a set schedule but I'm trying to work something out!

I was looking at the different sleep methods and I think the "shush pat" method is out because he seems to get annoyed by anyone making noise when he's trying to fall asleep. It stimulates him too much. If there's another way I can do this method, let me know. The PU/PD might be worth trying but I just don't know if it will work or not. I'm willing to try either method though.

P.S. Jessmum, you were the one who helped me when my oldest was waking 4-5x a night at over a year old. He's two now and has been STTN for many months. Thank you so much!!



Offline jessmum46

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Re: 5 month old waking every two hours
« Reply #5 on: August 04, 2014, 11:12:52 am »
You can adapt shh pat to however it works best for you.  My DS doesn't really like the shh or the patting ::) but will settle with a firm hand on his tummy/upper thighs and stroking his head.  At five months probably the less you do the better as too much can be distracting as you've said.

PUPD is great if shh pat doesn't work.  It will work if you are consistent, but only if you are aiming for an appropriate routine too.  An OT or UT baby is much harder work to settle and will tend not to sleep for as long.

Can you use white noise in his room to stop the toddler waking him?  Or put him to nap in the furthest place you can from where your toddler plays?

Could you keep track of your routine (don't worry if it's all over the place) for a day or two?  It would at least give us something to start with and then we can see what might be a good routine to aim for.  Do you have any commitments eg nursery run etc that you have to fit around?

Great news about your oldest!!


Offline momtoK

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Re: 5 month old waking every two hours
« Reply #6 on: August 06, 2014, 04:07:42 am »
Alright, so I tried my best to keep track of his schedule and write it all down. I did forget to write down a small part of it though.
This is what I have so far (about 2 days worth)

7-7:15pm—bath
7:30—feeding
8pm—quiet play
8:30pm—feeding then asleep in crib
12am—feeding
3am—feeding
5am—feeding
6am—feeding

8:30am—woke up
10am-11am—nap in crib
11am-1pm—eat/play
1-2pm--nap in crib
2-4pm—eat/play
4:15-5pm--nap in crib
5-6:30pm—eat/play
6:30-7pm—quick nap
7:15pm—bath
7:30-8pm—quiet play
8:30—feeding then asleep in crib
9pm—woke up
9:30—back to sleep
11:30pm—feeding
3:30am—feeding

7:15am—awake
7:30-9am—eat/play
9am-9:30am—nap
9:30-10:30—eat/play
10:30–11am—nap
11am-12pm—eat/play
12:15pm-1:30pm—nap
6:30pm—bath/feeding
7:15pm—asleep
7:30pm—woke up/feeding
8:30pm—asleep
12am---awake

Every time he fell asleep, it was while nursing except for tonight when I did the "shush pat" minus the shhh sound. I did use the word "nite nite" to start using as his keyword for sleep. It took him about an hour to fall asleep with that method (my back is killing me! lol).
As for nap time, I do have a fan going and a sound machine with lullabies to help drown out the sounds of my wild toddler. I think the main reasons why he has trouble napping for long is because he feels like he needs to nurse to get back to sleep and because he's overtired. He spends most of the day tired and I know it's because he doesn't get a decent stretch of sleep during the day and then he's up a few times a night. I'm trying really hard to get him on a schedule but it's difficult because he's never tired at the same times each day. I need to figure out something though. I don't usually have any commitments during the week other than my oldest having a playdate once per week (the day varies).

Offline jessmum46

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Re: 5 month old waking every two hours
« Reply #7 on: August 06, 2014, 08:33:03 am »
He's probably OT overall from a combination of short naps and NWs.  But I think a lot of his A times are actually on the short side which won't be helping either the nap length or the nights.  At 5 months you would expect he could handle 2h as a minimum, even up to around 2.5h.  There can be rapid A time increases at this age and by 6/7 months many babies are only on two naps. 

My suggestion would be to push his first A time fairly quickly (15 mins every 3 days) up to a consistent 2h.  If the nap is a good one, use the same A time again for his second A.  If it's a short first nap, do a shorter second A but definitely no shorter than 1h30.  And so on for the rest of the day.  Do what you can to get through but go back the next morning to pushing that first A time to something age-appropriate.  Often when the first nap sorts itself then the rest of the day can fall into place much more easily.  Sleep cues can become less clear as LOs get older so if you're struggling to establish a routine, watching the clock a little more may help you. 

Unless all naps are completely disastrous, I would try to stick to just three naps in the day and use EBT rather than shooting for an extra nap.  Having too many naps on a regular basis can actually cause more trouble as LO never has enough A time at once to settle well and be tired enough to sleep soundly.