5 month old routine tweaking to help MOTN wakings? frustrated mom

[Kpop]

Hi

so my LO is just over 5 months old and we have transitioned to two naps that are about 1.5 hours each relatively well... but I am not sure how to work her routine and make sure she gets enough food, the reason why i am concerned is because we are still having several MOTN wakings. here is a sample routine:
7am is "WU" time, though she wakes up sometime around 640-645 i believe the not 100% sure, i dont go in till 655-7, sometimes she wakes at 630 and i wait 15 minute to start the day
7am eat
A- 7-930 (2.5 hours)
S 930-11
11 Eat
A 11-2 (3 hours)/ sometimes she is cranky/ hungry ( not totally sure which) and I feed her at 1 which is probably a snack . . . .
S 2-3:30
E at 330 ( for the sake of staying on EASEASEAS)
A till bed time
bed time is sort of a mess- somewhere between 730-830, i can't seem to narrow down a bed time, she does get cranky around 6, but we push through which is prob not ideal but i cant get her down for a catnap btw 5-530 . . .
DF at 1030
 MOTN waking are sometimes btw 1-3 times, we shush pat down, no feedings, sometimes she is awake for 1-1.5 hours, not always crying but just awake, sometimes whining.  we admittedly have a prop problem with the paci, but are probably going to ride it out till she is independent with it . . .

any ideas/ thoughts, also we started rice cereal yesterday btw naps 1 and 2 in hopes that will help smooth things out?  we tried it for the first time yesterday and she had a 2 hour 2nd nap which i think made her less cranky during the evening.  I am feeling pretty discouraged and am admittedly ready to do cio at night which my husband is against, but I am just tired.  sighh, any advice is appreciated!

[jessmum46]

I think probably she's overtired going to bed.  It's not unheard of to be on 2 naps by this stage but usually when you drop a nap the day needs to shorten (i.e. bedtime needs to come earlier) to compensate for the lost daytime sleep.  My suspicion is if you put her to bed closer to the time she gets cranky, say asleep for 6.30pm (i.e. 3h A time after her pm nap), you may well get a much better night.  I would also reconsider the rice cereal - it's harsh on little tummies and not particularly easy to digest.  Perhaps if you feel she is showing signs of readiness for solids (though I'm sure you know exclusive milk feeds are recommended until 6 months) you could try something a little gentler such as pear or a vegetable puree instead?  CIO isn't the answer to all night wakings, and certainly not something we can support or recommend.  I know it's exhausting (been there!!) but looking at reasons why she is waking is likely to yield far better results

[Lindsay27]

Completely agree with pp, but one other thing is that at 5 months it is still perfectly normal to need a NF, so it might be worth considering that 1 of those NW is hunger related.  Many LOs don't drop night feeds until well established on solids, around 8-9 months. 

[Kpop]

 Hi, thank you for the response. So I agree she needs an earlier bedtime but my concern with putting her to bed at 6:30 is that she's going to wake up at 5:30 in the morning? T

[jessmum46]

You never know until you try!  My DD would do far longer nights when put to bed earlier, and would wake up at normal time or sometimes later.  It never worked quite so well for DS but when it does work, it's brilliant and at least worth a go