night wakings for a 5 month old.

[StephC]

Just wondering how many night wakings the average 5 month should be having?  Anyone out there still get up with their LO at this age, and if you did, how many times and when did it stop.  What is the best method to encourage longer night time sleeps?  When she wakes at around 1am she is not hungry but has a hard time falling back asleep, at 4am she is hungry so I give her a bottle and she usually will take 4-6 oz.  She goes to bed fantastic on her own at about 7ish and during the day she is on a 4 hour easy
(not always taking good naps though) and eating solids 3 x a day.

Any words of wisdom for a desparate mommy?

Thanks,
Steph

[Jo-FrasersMum]

Hi Steph

Yes, my DS still woke during the night at 5 months.

In fact, he still wakes during the night at 11 1/2 months (sorry, don't mean to scare you!)

It is VERY common for babies to wake throughout the night during their first year (and even for their first 3 years).  It is VERY common for babies up to 9 months to need up to 2 feeds during the night and babies up to 12 months to still need a feed during the night.

The best "words of wisdom" I can share is that you need to lower your expectations about your baby sleeping though and that way she won't disappoint/frustrate you.  KNOW that night wakings are common (more common than no night wakings) and KNOW that your DD is not the only 5 month old waking and feeding during the night.

She will get there in her own time (they all do)

The other thing I would say is do what you can to resettle her back to sleep but if she is struggling then she is probably hungry and you will not do ANY damage by feeding her.

Good luck to you
Jo

[htoews]

Hi Steph,
My boy just turned 5 mths and he is up at night too.  We dreamfeed him between 10:30 - 11:00 pm and then he is up at 2 am.  I am trying to give him his paci to go to sleep again .. which he ususally does easily.  Then we are up for a 4:00 am feeding.  After that he is usually ok till 7:30 am when he's ready to wake up for the day.  When my lo wakes up in the middle of the night, sometimes I feel like I'm going crazy.  But the babywhisperer forum has given me some great advice.  I'm going to start wake 2 sleep for the 2 am wake-up.  Have you monitored what time your baby is waking up at?  Is it always the same time?  Maybe she's waking out of habit one of the times?  Or do you know for sure that it is hunger related?  I have also learned on this forum that not all babies are great sleepers.  This is a fact of life that I am slowly getting used to.  My baby only naps 2-3 times each day for an hour each time.  And he is a happy little camper.  But I'm always open for suggestions on how to get him to sleep better at night.  If you get any other suggestions, let me know.
Heidi