5 month old waking up frequently at night

[Myoho]

Hi Everyone

Can someone help - I have read innumerable articles, books, got doctor's advice etc etc. nothing works! My 5 month old suddenly started waking up veryf requently at night (been almost 2 months now!) By very frequently I mean anywhere from 20 minute intervals to 1 hour intervals! On a good night she may go 2 hours without waking. When she wakes up, she just has milk or gets rocked and goes right back to sleep. the doc says medically she is fine. I changed her bedtime to be between 7-8PM, have a daily nighttime routine of bath and massage, give her cereal at night, to fill her up, trying to stop night time feedings - But all this is still not helping!! And I absolutely cannot do the cry-it-out method?

Why is this happening and what can i do? Will it ever get ok? I am so tired - I have to go to work all day also. Here is her day routine:

Wake up - 530-6AM
Nap - 8-930AM
Play - 930-1200PM
Nap - 12-230/3PM
Play - 230-430PM
Nap - 430-5PM
Sleep for night - 730/8PM

I would appreciate any help/advice

[teezee]

have you tried taking lo off of cereal and see if that could be the problem. starting cereal early can cause gas, constipation and many other tummy troubles as the lo's digestive system may not be able to handle it yet.  i was pushed by fam and dr's to start and it was the biggest mommy mistake i have made! it took a week or so for it to take effect so i didn't realize that this was the problem at first. when i cut it out, it took about a week or so for everything to get back to normal. never let lo cio as she NEEDS you or wouldn't be up crying...trust me - she wants her sleep too!

i would give it a try and after a week or so if it hasn't made any difference at all - then look at some of the other things in lo's routine (although it look pretty good to me ). in the meantime, while stopping def give lo grip water or something of the sort to try and help make her more comfortable, and also try bicycling legs to get rid of extra gas..good luck!

[Gage and Sophie's Mom]

I would try the gettign rid of the cereal first as teezee is right. Are you feeding her other meals? If so how much? Is she getting enough? How late is last her feed? Could she be teething?

Have you thought about increasing A time a bit and/or limiting nap lengths. Maybe leave first A time between 2.0-2.5 then 2nd to maybe 2hrs 45 miin and then last to 2.5hrs. I would do this gradually and play around with the lengths. If I am reading your routine right it looks like your lo is getting around 5 hrs of naps a day. This maybe a little much for her now. It may be that she is compensating for lack of night sleep thus a never ending cycle. Anyhow, Gage did this exact same thing when he needed more A time as he wasnt tired enough to sleep through the night. Also, could you lo need to be rocked or fed to go back to sleep. If so she may be contunually waking because she needs these things to fall back asleep. If so the gals at the Prop forum can help with that.

Just some thoughts,
Alice

[teezee]

def agree with alice - lo probably needs more A time and less naps at this age. extend slowly the A time until youfind your happy medium. i would def limit naps as lo is used to getting thismuch sleep during the day and not NEEDING the sleep at night kwim? things should fall pretty much into place once you find a good balance for your lo. if lo is already not tired enough to sleep through the night and is only lightly sleeping - then if the cereal is in fact upsetting lo's belly he is more apt to wake as he isn't in a deep enough sleep...

[cheriec]

my 5 month old is now having a lot of night wakings after a week of pupd.  i hope we can find answers soon....i don't know about you, but i'm getting pretty worn down.  good luck, it can't last forever, right....

[teezee]

cheriecoco - if you could maybe post your routine or better yet start a new thread and answer the questions posted at the top of the night waking forum that would be great!..hopefully we can help!!

[cheriec]

teezee,
i posted our schedule under "help, i'm losing steam"

thanks so much!!

[Elphyrafire]

Same prob over here. Teezee recommended a 4 hour EASY  instead of the 3 Hour we were on and it helped a lot with the nightwakings.We also cut out cereal.  Not sure how often your lo is being fed. It didn't eliminate all the wakings but at least now I don't have to feed him. Wakings were about every 2 hours and last night he only had 3. Plus, before he would stay wide awake and now he just needs a change in position or his paci. Yes, a prop, I know, but i would rather get up to pop a paci back in that rock and feed him for hours. (((HuGS))) I knwo it's exhausting and frusterating!