Author Topic: 5 month old started waking at night again  (Read 2354 times)

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Offline esinclair

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5 month old started waking at night again
« on: February 01, 2015, 09:25:22 am »
My son is now 5 months old and about 3 weeks ago he started waking during the night again. He had only been sleeping through without feeding for a couple of weeks. I initially thought it was milk supply problem (I breast feed) but now not so sure. EASY is as follows.
7 am. Wake and breast feed then A time
8 am . Solids (around 2oz) (introduced solids just over a week ago)
8:50-9 am sleep (usually 2 hours)
11 am wake and breast feed
12 solids
12:50-1 pm sleep (usually 2 hours)
3 pm. Wake and breast feed
4 pm solids
4:45/5 pm catnap (30-45 min)
6:15-6:30 bath
7 pm breast feed
7:30 pm bed
11 pm dream feed

This past few nights he doesn't even make until the dreamfeed at 11 pm before waking upset. At night he now wakes 3.5-4 hours later. I feed him and sometimes it takes him a while to settle again. Tonight I gave him extra formula at the dream feed but he still woke up 4 hours later. I tried to get him back off to sleep with a soother, but he was quite fidgety and didn't settle until I fed him.  Any thoughts?





« Last Edit: February 01, 2015, 15:26:34 pm by esinclair »

Offline donvitol

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Re: 5 month old started waking at night again
« Reply #1 on: February 01, 2015, 15:08:06 pm »
The only thing I can think of is maybe he needs a bump in his A time?  Also that last A time looks a little long coming off a short nap. If you extend out those other A times by a bit that last A time will end up not being so long, like maybe 2 hrs instead of 2 1/2

Offline esinclair

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Re: 5 month old started waking at night again
« Reply #2 on: February 01, 2015, 15:28:18 pm »
Sorry the last cat nap is actually 30-45 min. He goes down around 4:45-5 pm. I could try extending his A times, but he does seem tired. Thanks for your response.

Offline newkidontheblock

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Re: 5 month old started waking at night again
« Reply #3 on: February 02, 2015, 14:52:54 pm »
Hi there. Brilliant day sleeper you have there! I do feel that perhaps that is the problem. Your A times are on the lower side (good catch, donvitol) At 5 months, A times are around 2.5hrs and it keeps increasing very quickly in the next month as you head towards dropping the catnap and being on 2 nice, long naps. So basically, it is a matter of day sleep taking away from night sleep.
Average A times- BOOKMARK ME!!

7-WU
Nap 1= 9.30- 11/ 11.30
Nap 2 = 1.30/2- 3.30/4
Bedtime - 6/6.30? - you will have to figure out how long he can handle to bed. My DD couldn't handle 3 hours at that point.

Basically, by extending your times by just half an hour, the last nap will end too late for you to get a CN. In that case, you could bring bedtime forward for a while, so that he doesn't get over tired by bed. What do you think?
All about the 3-2 transition- 5/6 months






Offline esinclair

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Re: 5 month old started waking at night again
« Reply #4 on: February 03, 2015, 03:41:26 am »
Thanks for your response. Yes, he is a great napper! We worked hard in the early days to get him there and he is now a star and putting himself to sleep. I had thought he was doing well with his A times, but see that he may need longer. Actually yesterday and today his first nap was shorter - tell tale signs..... Thanks so much. It is so great to have this support!

Offline esinclair

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Re: 5 month old started waking at night again
« Reply #5 on: February 10, 2015, 04:27:03 am »
So I've increased his A time to 2.5 hours, and he naps 1.5-2 hours. With 2x 2 hour naps there is no CN. Slightly earlier bedtime (feed at 6:30 pm instead of 7 pm). He does seem more settled but is still waking before the DF and wakes either at 2 or 3 am. I've tried soothing him in his crib, but he either wakes up immediately or lasts 30 min. If I feed him no earlier than 3 am, he doesn't wake until I wake him at 7 am.  Tonight he was particularly agitated at the DF. Should I increase his A time to 2.45 hours or cut off his naps to 1.5 hours?

Offline newkidontheblock

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Re: 5 month old started waking at night again
« Reply #6 on: February 10, 2015, 05:17:59 am »
How old is he now? Yes, an increase might be due. And then you will either have to cap naps or push BT later






Offline esinclair

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Re: 5 month old started waking at night again
« Reply #7 on: February 10, 2015, 14:03:05 pm »
He's almost 5.5 months. Last night I did a wake-to-sleep at 1 am, because it seems his night wakings are habitual (2 am for 2-3 nights or 3 am). He then woke around 2:30 am, but went back to sleep until 4:30 am at which point I fed him. I had to wake him at 7 am. Should I try that for another 2 nights? Also, his morning nap is going to clash with my daughter's pre-school pick-up, so it is going to be less than 1.5 hours 2 days a week now.
« Last Edit: February 10, 2015, 14:07:08 pm by esinclair »

Offline newkidontheblock

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Re: 5 month old started waking at night again
« Reply #8 on: February 10, 2015, 14:09:05 pm »
Hey!Good job:) Definitely continue in this direction. If the first nap becomes 1.5, then you should be good with a 2hr pm nap without needing the CN. What do you think?






Offline esinclair

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Re: 5 month old started waking at night again
« Reply #9 on: February 10, 2015, 15:24:06 pm »
Thanks! I'll try the wake-to-sleep for another 2 nights and see how that goes. I'll let you know.... 😄

Offline esinclair

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Re: 5 month old started waking at night again
« Reply #10 on: March 08, 2015, 13:43:24 pm »
Ok, so my little one is now just over 6 months and is still waking once during the night.  His wakings have become more random though.  Sometimes as early as 2 am (after an 11 pm DF) or as late as 5 am.  He feeds for 15 minutes and re-settles easily.  His A times are now 2.45 hr and moving towards 3 hours.  This past week though his naps have been a little unsettled and short, although sometimes I still have to cut him off at 2 hours (I am guessing this is due to teething, but could be wrong).  He still sometimes wakes early (around 6-615 am and babbles but doesn't go back to sleep.  I find this happens more often when his night waking is early, i.e before 3 am).  The catnap is pretty much gone except on days where his naps have run short.  He has had a cold, but is pretty much over that now and is definitely teething right now.  He is well established on solids (3 times a day and around 3-5 oz each time).  He started on solids at 5 months.  His EASY now looks like;

Wake 6:45-7 am and BF
8-8:30 am solids
9:45 am - 11:15/11:45 am then BF
12:45-1 pm solids
2:30-4pm nap then BF
5-5:30pm solids
6:15 pm bath
6:45 pm BF and bed by 7-7:15 pm
My husband tried PU/PD the past couple of nights, but after 45 minutes is very upset and shows no sign of settling.  I have then gone in and BF him,.  He drinks very little but settles down/passes out very quickly.  I will post this issue on the PU/PD forum, but thought I should mention it here.  Right now, we are not going to try PU/PD again for now anyway. 
The night waking isn't bad, and am happy to ride it out for a few more weeks, but I just don't want this to continue for months..... Any thoughts?

Offline newkidontheblock

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Re: 5 month old started waking at night again
« Reply #11 on: March 08, 2015, 13:47:40 pm »
1 NW is quite normal and if he is settling easily with a feed, them perhaps he's hungry. Your routine too looks good:) you could try b increasing his milk intake during the day, maybe that would help?