5 Mo. Old Not Sleeping More than 2-3 Hrs Between Feedings at Night

I stopped feeding my baby at right around 3 months, I started by giving her a pacifier when she woke and patting her on the back to soothe her but never take her out of the crib. For like one week my husband and I were doing the pacifier run 8-10 times per night and then after that she jsut started sleeping through the night. 8pm-6am. Now she's 4 months old and wakes occasionally, as long as I know she isn't sick or anything I just give her the pacifier and she falls fast asleep. We have a definate bedtime routine at the same time everyday and we put her to bed awake she falls asleep on her own. I hope this helps. I was also nursing, what made me stop feeding is that she would wake I would nurse, she ate for like 1-3 minutes and go to sleep, which meant she was not hungry it was just a habit so I broke as soon as I could! Have you asked your pediatrician for advice?

It's completely normal for some babies to still be waking up during the night for feedings at 5 months old. Have you considered co-sleeping/family bed? There's lots of great info online about it or see if your library has any of Dr.Sears' baby books. I've co-slept with all of my children- my eldest I tried to get to sleep in a crib for the first 6 months or so and it was awful. Neither of us ever got any sleep. Then by chance I saw a family on some talk show that co-slept & gave it a try. What a difference. Humans, (like every other mammal) are just not naturally inclined to sleep alone. Newborns particularly probably just feel vulnerable when we try to get them to sleep in cribs or in another room. It made breast feeding so much easier, wake-up enough to help baby latch on and then both of you can slip back to sleep.

S., I understand. My daughter is 4 now. But she was always waking up as an infant. I actually had to switch from nursing to a bottle b/c of it. I could not handle all the feedings. Unfortunitly Their is not much you can do at this age in my opinion. She is way too young to let her cry it out, and I do not believe in that anyway. She is hungry, and maybe b/c she was early she is having more of a growth spirt. I know that you are prob getting worn out. Maybe you can pump and have your husband share in some of the feedings. I am a SAHM, but my husband would always still get up and help me. We are in this together, and even though he has to go to work, I am working at home too, and we need our sleep just as much as they do!! Make sure you sllep during the day too while she sleeps. hopefully she will break out of this soon!! Hang in their!!

My daughter did the same thing. It was a growth spurt and then it was because she was teething. I hate to say this because I hated hearing it, BUT remember babies do develope at thier own pace. So just because other babies do it doesn't mean she will. It was closer to 7 months before my daughter started sleeping atleast 6-8 hours straight. She is now 9 months and still wakes up once or twice. Since you have already tried feeding her rice cereal, try giving her some before she goes to sleep. It seemed to help my daughter. Oh and another thing that REALLY has worked for me, the Johnson & Johnson Sleep Better bath products and lotion. The new lavender stuff. I started bathing my daughter before she went to bed and used the stuff and within 20 minutes she was fast asleep. Hope some of this helps! Goodluck-I am sending sleepy baby vibes your way!

She may be hitting a growth spurt and need a little extra milk. It is tough, but it will end soon enough. Good luck!

Have you tried having her sleep in her car seat? I swear by this when they are little. I have 3 boys, 2,4, and 6. I nursed them all for about 14 months each (loved it). It's possible she has a little bit of reflux, and when nursing, then laying down, some of the milk/acid comes up and irritates her throat? Then they want to nurse to get the acid back down. I think they also like how the car seat is cozy, they are kind of closed in a little. This really did save me. If you find this helps, you might want to call the doctor and see if she should start some type of antacid. Hope this helps! Let me know if you can.-N.

I know that everyone says don't do it but my son was 10 weeks premature and the only way I could get him to sleep soundly was to have him on my chest or close to me, I nursed as well and so there was also the convience of just feeding him.I believe thats what they need they are out of the womb early in a hospital give her sometime close to you she should start sleeping longer and you'll be able to move her to a crib once she's secure. My son his 2 now but he stayed with me till 6 months and then in a crib across the room then to his own room. Give it a try and let me know

I can tell you that I had a similar problem with my second son, Jackie. He constantly wanted to eat during the night and it drove me nuts. He is sleeping in our room, so I would always get up to feed him so my husband could get up the next morning for work. I was bringing him into bed to nurse and he would fall back to sleep. Sometimes he would wake up at 3:30 and be wide awake, so I was not sleeping that much. Finally, we decided to set up a mattress in the hallway, (we are doing construction on the house, so we don't have alot of space and my two year old, Phoenix is in the other bedroom) and we only feed Jackie once during the night around 2:00. If he wakes up during any other time, we let him cry himself back to sleep and my husband sleeps on the spare mattress. It has been much better. It is very hard at first to listen to them cry, but after a while, it doesn't happen as much.
Good Luck.

Hey S.- my little one did the same thing and my pedi told me it is normal for them to start waking up at night around 5 mo. She went back to sleeping through the night until about 10 mo and then did it agian. unfortunately it is just part of the wonderful experience of being a mom. :) God Bless- D.

Some babies just take longer to get their routine set, but she will eventually. I have heard from friends and people who have had babies born early that they can take a bit longer to sleep through the night, not necessarily due to size, but just immaturity. Is your baby really eating actively every 2-3 hours at night, or could she just be looking for closeness and comfort because she can't put herself back to sleep? It can be so hard to tell! You might want to try not feeding her the first time she wakes up just to see if maybe she's simply tired but wants you to help her calm down. With my second daughter, she had a lot of trouble getting settled at night to sleep, so we would just stand by the crib and give her the pacifier, rub her belly, say "shhh" just so she knew we were there, and let her try to figure it out. She didn't right away, but we only took her out when she was really very upset, or seemed hungry. Eventually she learned to suck her thumb, and that helps calm her now. She does it all night, even in her sleep, so it's comforting for her. It's so hard when you are exhausted and having to be "on" and available to the baby constantly, I know from experience! So much of this is trial and error. It sounds like your baby is getting enough food to get her through, but only you know what works best for her. Good luck and try to remember that it WILL pass!

Hi S. -

Ah, the good old days - no REM sleep, baby up for a feeding every few hours - it's no fun, and most of us have been through it!!! (And it's really no fun to have your friends and acquaintances say, "Wow, your child isn't sleeping through the night yet? Mine slept through the night at one week/one month/since birth/whatever.")

I have a now 16-month old son, who was up twice a night until he was on rice cereal at 5 months, and then at least once a night until he was 6 1/2 months old, when we finally decided to turn off the monitors and let him cry for a few minutes each time he woke before going into his room (he wasn't waking up because he was hungry - he just hadn't figured out how to sleep through the night.)

One thing we did was to give him added rice formula (in addition to nursing), which helped fill his stomach a little better, so he wasn't quite so hungry. We also started using Huggies overnight diapers, so that he wasn't waking up feeling wet in the middle of the night - these really helped (I think the smallest size they carry is a 3). However, most books will tell you that the majority of babies don't sleep through the night until 6-7 months old (despite everyone you meet saying otherwise). Your daughter also could be going through a growth spurt, which may be making her hungrier. Peter (my son) went through one where he needed to feed every 90 minutes, round the clock, for a week and a half. I have never been so tired in my life!

Now that your daughter is starting on solids, you might want to give her both the cereal and milk right before she goes to bed, so that she has a full stomach.

If your doctor isn't worried, I wouldn't be either - although that's easy to say at 3:15 in the afternoon - it's harder advice to follow at 2:00 in the morning!

Best of luck,

B.

hi S.,
she may begoing through a growth spurt at around this age and that sometimes wakes them up and babies are more hungry during growth spurts. the other moms offered great advice as well.

S.,
It sounds like Lily is a little sweety! I wonder- is sleeping in bed with you an option? I took one side of my dd's crib off and attached it to my bed like a side car, and put the mattress at the same height as my own. When she would wake up, I would slide her over, nurse her, and slide her back if I was still awake. So many babies at such a young age are still waking to nurse out of need. If it works for you, and feels natural, let her sleep with you. There's research that shows links between mom and baby's sleep patterns and breathing patterns when they sleep together and I believe it! Many times, I would wake to find Maia nursing and I don't remember waking to put her there. We both got a lot better sleep than many new moms getting up at night to nurse. And having the crib as a sidecar allowed that much more room for us to move around, and made dad less nervous about squishing her. As for how long she "should" be sleeping between feedings, all babies are different, and some simply sleep better than others. And as she grows, remember this: children can only control a few things in this big grown up world- their eating, their sleeping, and their pottying. You can guide and nudge, but in the end, Lily's in control! Good luck to you!
Blessings,
H.