Shattered Mam - 5 month old not sleeping

lil old me

Hello!

My 5 month old lil lady hasnt been a bit of bothered since she was born i was constantly telling people how lucky I was she had her nap during the day and went down at 9.30 at night and slept til 7 in the morning. has All of a sudden, but also round the same time i started solids she has started to wake every 20-30 mins during the night crying. i give her her dummy and she sleeps again for same amount of time and this happens over and over. She is not cold and not hungry as I finally gave in last night and brought her in my bed at 4 and she slept soundly til 7.30 but this is not a habit i want to give her. I also bathed her just before bed and she was so tired we could barely keep her awake to wind her but again after a couple of hours her nightly rountine starts. I am so tired and a back to work in 3 weeks. Has anybody experienced this and may have some ideas.:D

Thanks xx

rylie

Hey there, the only thing that sprung to mind was that you've recently started solids- could there be a food that isn't agreeing with your daughter? How is she doing with the solids during the day?

Also what time does she go down at in the evenings?

lil old me

Hey there, she is fine she has a nap for about 2.5 hours in the afternoon and then a 10-20 min nap later in the day she has no problem sleeping at all during the day. i give her a bath and bottle around 9 and she is in bed for 10. she used to then sleep until the morning. Now iam lucky to get to maybe 1 and then she cries every 20 minsorso. alotof the time not even awake and when you put her dummy in she sleeps again but onlyfor another 20 or so and this continues

kmick

Here are some tips my wife used.
1) When you are feeding them and they are falling asleep this is not good as they dont end up full. You need to keep them cool by removing blankets and everythinp up to including a babygro to keep them awake while feeding.
2) Not sleeping during the night is affected by the amount of time they spend sleeping during the day. Cut the daytime nap down to 90 minutes and eliminate the evening nap.
3) Dummies fall out of their mouths easily and there is no way to keep them in overnight. Even the fact it is falling out could be waking the baby. It might be time to phase out the dummy. Not so easy but if you are back to work then waking every 20 minutes is going to get old fast.
4) Dont bring her into your bed again if you want to reatin your sanity. Two or three times of doing this and it will be an expected norm.
5) Controlled crying worked a charm with our two. Its not fun but it teaches a baby to fall back to sleep themselves which is something most babies dont know how to do naturally.
http://www.askbaby.com/baby-sleep-training.htm

lil old me

kmick wrote: »

Here are some tips my wife used.
1) When you are feeding them and they are falling asleep this is not good as they dont end up full. You need to keep them cool by removing blankets and everythinp up to including a babygro to keep them awake while feeding.
2) Not sleeping during the night is affected by the amount of time they spend sleeping during the day. Cut the daytime nap down to 90 minutes and eliminate the evening nap.
3) Dummies fall out of their mouths easily and there is no way to keep them in overnight. Even the fact it is falling out could be waking the baby. It might be time to phase out the dummy. Not so easy but if you are back to work then waking every 20 minutes is going to get old fast.
4) Dont bring her into your bed again if you want to reatin your sanity. Two or three times of doing this and it will be an expected norm.
5) Controlled crying worked a charm with our two. Its not fun but it teaches a baby to fall back to sleep themselves which is something most babies dont know how to do naturally.
http://www.askbaby.com/baby-sleep-training.htm

Thank you.

I had thought of reducing the sleep during the day but it is so hard when they are that smallto keep them awake. i have tried cuttingout the evning nap and i am playing with her while she falls asleep. its impossible.

The dummy I do agree with and after i give the controlled crying a go for a few nights that will be my next step.

Fingers crossed somethin works... Im starting to run out of ideas

RubyGirl

Hi,

Would she be having night terrors, she cant get into her deep sleep. Maybe try leaving the bath out for a while, and put some lavander drops on a tissue near her pillow.

Is she in her own room or still with you? Have you tried putting her a sleeping bag, I used to find them great, never worry about blankets falling off.

I think if you go to her every time she wakes, she will get used to this. At 5 mts she should be able to find her own dummie, start putting 2/3 spares under her pillow, so she'll know exactly where to find them.

Greystoner

RubyGirl wrote: »

Hi,

Would she be having night terrors, she cant get into her deep sleep. Maybe try leaving the bath out for a while, and put some lavander drops on a tissue near her pillow.

Is she in her own room or still with you? Have you tried putting her a sleeping bag, I used to find them great, never worry about blankets falling off.

I think if you go to her every time she wakes, she will get used to this. At 5 mts she should be able to find her own dummie, start putting 2/3 spares under her pillow, so she'll know exactly where to find them.

Not sure a 5 month old should have a pillow?!!! Also, Lavender can be quite powerful for a small baby.

I would contact a public health nurse for a chat. Best plan. It's probably something that will pass, but won't hurt to ask.

Hope you get some sleep soon!

RubyGirl

Greystoner wrote: »

Not sure a 5 month old should have a pillow?!!! Also, Lavender can be quite powerful for a small baby.

I would contact a public health nurse for a chat. Best plan. It's probably something that will pass, but won't hurt to ask.

Hope you get some sleep soon!

Well it did no harm to my two, they also slept on their tummies, which they slept better for:eek:

Have a look at this site aswell.
http://www.pantley.com/elizabeth/

bulmersgal

is 9/10 not very late for a 5 month my little girl goes to bed between 7/8 she only has one nap during the day sometimes she gets tired in afternoon and i let her sleep around 5. Also you might need to feed her some more or cut back and give her more milk. I found at the start my little girl was getting too much food and not enough milk it takes a while to find correct balance.

3DataModem

kmick wrote: »

Here are some tips my wife used.
1) When you are feeding them and they are falling asleep this is not good as they dont end up full. You need to keep them cool by removing blankets and everythinp up to including a babygro to keep them awake while feeding.
2) Not sleeping during the night is affected by the amount of time they spend sleeping during the day. Cut the daytime nap down to 90 minutes and eliminate the evening nap.
3) Dummies fall out of their mouths easily and there is no way to keep them in overnight. Even the fact it is falling out could be waking the baby. It might be time to phase out the dummy. Not so easy but if you are back to work then waking every 20 minutes is going to get old fast.
4) Dont bring her into your bed again if you want to reatin your sanity. Two or three times of doing this and it will be an expected norm.
5) Controlled crying worked a charm with our two. Its not fun but it teaches a baby to fall back to sleep themselves which is something most babies dont know how to do naturally.
http://www.askbaby.com/baby-sleep-training.htm

1 and 5 excellent advice. I personally disagree with 2 (I think a napping baby sleeps better at night) but ...

... teaching a baby to settle themselves is the best thing long term. It pays off immedately when they are waking like yours is. It pays off when sick or teething. It pays off when travelling or having them babysat. Get out of the habit of rocking them to sleep. My twins are 14 months and he is now waking 4-5 times a night with teeth, but he settles straight back down himself. Thank JAYSUS.

rylie

Would you try putting her down earlier in the evening? She might be overtired which would affect her sleep pattern, baby rylie was asleep by 7pm when he was 5 months old. Even now at nearly 2 he's in bed by 8pm.

clouds

I have heard of a lot of babies age 4/5 months who suddenly regress their sleeping - it passes though. So it mightened have any cause really you can fix only ride it out.

I'd cut out the evening nap and put her down a bit earlier and see does that help.
Another thought she has not started teething has she? Soemtimes the dodie gives theeir gums relief.

I wouldn't be trying controlled crying for another while, especially now if she associates dodies with sleep. I wouldn't think it's fair to expect her to put herself to sleep without being able to manouvre the dodie for herself. Even the doctor that invented controlled crying (the Toddler Taming guy Christopher Green) says not to use it so young.. At least 6 months he said, I think.

sun child

My LO is 5 months too and we have had a horrid time over the last few weeks. She has gone from waking once or twice a night to waking every hour to 45 min. This is a very important time for them (4-5 months) They go through A LOT of development according to my health nurse. It can be a very tough time for mom and dad.

I would be careful not to try quick fixes now. Cry it out in my opinion is not a good idea, they are crying for a reason (in my case mostly hunger) My little girl can self settle at night so I know it is not that she just needs attention. I have started her on a little baby rice every day and that seems to have helped.

Babies need daytime sleep, don't try to keep them awake. They sleep better at night if they are not overtired. I have brought my daughter into bed with me every morning at 5am just to get a little more sleep. We co slept for 4 weeks when she was 2 months old and we had no problems getting her back to her cot when her newborn sleeping pattern settled down.

You will need to have a bit of patience at the moment. I am told it will pass (we are well into week 3) I know it is exhausting.

SlimCi

Ten is too late I think for her bedtime....hope you don't mind me saying this. Babies need a certain amount of night time sleep.

I would recommend putting her down around 7 to be honest. I used to give my little man a dream feed around 11 with the bottle and found it did the trick to keep him sleeping through the night until 7. The daytime naps seem good lengths so I'd say she's going down too late.

Have to say it also gave us time for ourselves in the evening! My little guy is nearly 7 and still is in bed at 8 lol, we only changed it last year!!!:rolleyes:

I think she is too young for controlled crying yet a while....

soc

Controlled crying shouldn't be done before the child is 12mths... as at such a young age they don't know difference between 'good' & 'bad' behaviour.

By the sounds of it your little one is teething - babies usually are great sleepers until 5months... this is when teething kicks in. Note, teeth may not appear until your child is 8months... but the teeth will be slowly shifting about in the gums and this is VERY painful for baby. Give your LO Baby Nurofen before bed & see how you get on.

If she continues to teeth during day, alternate giving your little one Calpol and Nurofen every 4 hours (i.e. Calpol at 9am, Nurofen at 1pm, Calpol at 5pm, etc). This way you aren't overdosing your child with the medicine plus providing pain relief at the same time.

BTW my LO used to go to bed at 11pm, then we slowly started to bring our routine forward to an earlier time, 10pm... and now at 12months we start getting him ready for bed at 8pm, and he's usually in bed between 8:30pm and 9pm, depending on how tired he is from the day.

Terpsichore

A lot of advice on possible physical problems: teething, digesting, sleep patterns…
It is equally important to consider your baby’s emotional needs.

You're little one is around the age when babies start to understand that they are their own little person and that they are not physically attached to you, hence the beginning of fears that they perhaps could loose their main carer. I think it's absolutely vital that you go and show your little girl that you're there every time she starts to cry, not for the doddy (should go in my books), but to give her complete assurance that you are here for her. Little hug, little caress on the head, perhaps hold her a few second in the dark without talking and put her back in her bed. It will last a few weeks, but it’s well worth it. Put a chair near her bed if you need to stay a little longer.
Once your baby has complete trust in you being there for here, she will feel less stressed and she will settle down very soon to longer periods of sleep.

After doing this with my son for a few weeks, I only had to go and sit down next to his bed. We would smile to each other, without a word. Fantastic moments! Now he sleeps through most nights… well he has a cold now, which is another game altogether!

Your very young baby use crying as her only way to communicate with you. I think it’s well worth investing in your baby’s attachment and trust for you, especially if you’re going back to work soon, it will only help when you have to leave her in day care, because she trust you will always be back for her.

It’s working wonders with my son who is very sociable and loves discovering new people and doing new things. And I understand he can do this comfortably because he is not spending his time being stressed.

I consider automatic "let the baby cry it out" an inhuman method, even if “it works” for some. This is not taking into account the emotional need of the baby. So baby might be asleep, but might also be stressed, deprived, misunderstood…

keano_afc

We are having similar problems. Our daughter is just over 4 months and breastfed. Up to about 2 weeks ago she was going down at 8:30 and sleeping soundly until 3:30am/4am. The last 2 weeks have been a nightmare, she goes down at the same time but is waking at 11:30pm-12am and then every 2 hours after that. Each time she is awake she cries until my wife feeds her. We have recently started her on baby rice as we thought this would fill her but we're actually going backwards.

Any ideas?

sun child

Just an update on my daughter (I posted above with similar issues a good few weeks ago): It took almost 4 weeks for her to settle after constant night wakings, but she did. I did not allow her to cry it out at night and I let her sleep with us if that settled her. She now sleeps better than she did before. I put her down at 7pm, feed again sometime between 9.30 and 11pm and she sleeps(!!) in her own cot in her room for anything from 6 to 8 hours after last feed. She is three weeks into weaning, 2 meals a day.

I honestly believe the 5 month growth spurt coupled with sleep regression is what caused our problems and it does end. Don't do anything drastic, don't try to "fix" sleep issues just be patient. It is hard but when we were going through it I kept telling myself how lucky I was to have a healthy happy baby.

DM addict

Again, I wouldn't agree with controlled crying under 12 months. Reassurance can work if your baby is emotionally insecure. But there's been a lot of changes around five months - teeth, starting solid foods, lots of developmental jumps. I'd definitely recommend an earlier bedtime and if need be waking at 11pm for a feed to get through the night.