Author Topic: 5 1/2 month old waking up at night every 2 1/2 hours  (Read 1932 times)

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Offline Linda74

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5 1/2 month old waking up at night every 2 1/2 hours
« on: November 08, 2005, 13:53:18 pm »
My son, Josh, who is now 5 1/2 months old and has been waking up at night almost every 2 1/2 hours for a month.  He was sleeping well before that time, only waking up once at 4 am.  When he first started waking up at night, I thought that he might have been hungry so I nursed him and then put him back into bed.  However, it turned out that he was teething because his two bottom teeth came out a couple of weeks ago.  Even though his teeth have come out, he's still waking up at night.  My fear is that I've done some accidental parenting and now he likes to wake up because he knows he'll be fed.  My plan is to record the times when he wakes up at night to see if they are at the same time or at random times to determine if he's waking up out of hunger or out of habit.  Is there anything else I should be doing to solve this mystery?  Also, my son is still on a 2 hour schedule during the day and is only taking 45 minute naps.  Could this also be the problem to his nighttime sleep?  Should I be trying to put him on a 4 hour schedule and do the PU/PD when he wakes up from his 45 min nap even though he wakes up happy?  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Linda

Offline Katet

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5 1/2 month old waking up at night every 2 1/2 hours
« Reply #1 on: November 10, 2005, 01:35:56 am »
I think at 5.5mo the 45min nap is not unusual (look at the thread in the EASY forum for APRIL/MAY 05 babies) there are lots of babies doing that.
I do think if you are feeding every 2 hours your lo is not getting a chance to do longer naps & also to feed more effectively. I think you do need to stretch out the awake time as if he sleeps to frequently in the day the acumulated "tiredness" is not enough for a good night sleep.
My 5.5mo always sleeps best when he has had a good 2+ hours of awake time & a good feed every 3.5-4 hours. & he sleeps well at night, most of the time (unlike my first)
dc1 July 03, dc2 May 05

Offline angela123

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5 1/2 month old waking up at night every 2 1/2 hours
« Reply #2 on: November 10, 2005, 23:27:27 pm »
I've been waiting for a reply on your post since my little guy is 4 months old and seems to be doing the same thing - used to sleep far better (and is now having several night wakings - he is also on a 2 hour EASY during the day.)  While waiting for someone to post a miracle solution:) for you (which I was hoping would also help me) I have tried the following things and they seem to be helping stretch out his EASY routine and to help him sleep longer in the night without all the wakings: 
- Not sticking rigidly to an EASY schedule - letting him do EASAE if he isn't hungry after having a short nap (a suggestion that was given in the EASY forum).  I was making the mistake of making him eat right after he woke up during the day even if he wasn't really hungry (this has also helped stretch his awake time a little bit).
- Swaddling with an arm out.  My son seems to go to sleep quicker and easier when his arms are swaddled up tight, and in his struggles to get his arms out he becomes unswaddled and wakes himself up.  After re-reading the book I realized I should let him have an arm out and this way he can soothe himself with his thumb if he wants and his blankets don't get too loose.
- Limiting soother use.  I think I was also using the soother as a prop for sleeping so when he woke in the night he needed the soother in order to fall back asleep - so I've been slowly weaning him from it as a prop to sleep.
In any case, good luck!

Offline kmetli

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5 1/2 month old waking up at night every 2 1/2 hours
« Reply #3 on: November 11, 2005, 18:31:10 pm »
angela123- How are you slowly weaning from the paci for sleep, I think mine has become a problem?

Offline angela123

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5 1/2 month old waking up at night every 2 1/2 hours
« Reply #4 on: November 13, 2005, 00:24:24 am »
Letting him have his arms out of the swaddle really helps since he *loves* his thumb and can soothe himself.  I wasn't really sure if I wanted to have a 'thumb sucker' (since the *advice* I've been given from my mom and mother-in-law was that it was a terrible habit) - but since then I've gotten over it if it helps him soothe himself.  When I put him in the crib for a nap I used to offer the soother every single time, but now I'm only offering it if the thumb isn't doing the trick (and I've been lucky so far - he seems to usually prefer the thumb).  I've also limited soother use during the day outside the crib.  Hope this helps!

Offline tokarchik

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5 1/2 month old waking up at night every 2 1/2 hours
« Reply #5 on: November 14, 2005, 23:30:04 pm »
My 5 month old daughter was also feeding every 2 - 2.5 hours at four months, but she was sleeping well at night. I'd feed her at 7pm and she's sleep until 2am when I'd feed her again and she's sleep until 6.30am. I finally gave in to the 4 hour easy though as keeping up with her 2 hourly feedings was getting hard, also I found that her feedings were more of a snack than a real meal, she would only nurse for 10 minutes or so. Anyway she's been on a 4 hour easy for almost a month now, however her "easy" is usually more of an "easy-a-easy" as her daytime naps are still around 45 minutes and I need to distract her until the 4 hour timeframe. She eats much better at her feeds now: 6.30am, 10.30am, 2.30pm, 7pm.
Hopefully once you get your little one to stretch out their feeds they will become more of an efficient eater and will be able to sleep longer at night.

Good luck and keep us updated!
Melissa