5 Month Old Sleeping

I just think that you are expecting too much from a 5 month old. Give it time...this too shall pass.

I have a 13 month old and he is still wakes up about 2 times every night. I have tried everything and it just did not work. I have talked to a lot a people and been told that some kids just need longer. Good luck

At 5 months old my daughter quit breastfeeding on her own. She just wouldn't take it anymore, wanted the bottle intead. She still woke up every 2-3 hours or so to be fed. As far as I'm concerned, it is normal. She is still an infant. Are you feeding her baby food any? I started Linzi on baby food and rice cereal about this time. What has your pediatrician said about her waking up so much at night to eat? You may want to check with them also.

Maybe you could try keeping her awake for a longer strech close to bed time and then put her to bed later. I would feed her just before I wanted her to go "to bed" and see if it helps. My kids also sleep better if they get a bath before bed too. Hope this is helpful.

One of my daughters had acid reflux and she got up every 3 hrs at night time. My other daughter who didn't have it got up every 3 hours. they say every 3 hrs is okay at this age. Every baby is so different so it is hard for advice even though people will give you plenty.

You might try oatmeal cereal instead of rice--however, my suggestion is to only use Beechnut brand cereal, it goes through nipples better than the other brands--Gerber is the worst!

Also, we did cluster feeding in the evening. She went to bed about 8 and starting at about 430 or 5 we fed our dd about every hour to hour and a half until bed time to help her stay full all night but not puke up what she had eaten with the reflux. She had a full meal of cereal and fruit about 430 or 5 as well...but we had to go to baby food because for a long time it was the only thing that would stay down.

M.

Is she eating baby food yet? My daughter is 9 months old. And it took her until she was 6 months old to sleep through the night, but she was only waking up once a night for a small bottle. The doctor also had me start putting rice cereal in her bottles at 2 weeks old for her reflux. Maybe she just isn't staying full at night. If she is getting constipated with the cereal try a little bottle of water and a Karo syrup or some apple juice. If she isn't eating baby food yet you may want to try they can start eating it around 4 months old.

My little girl did that and I talked to the dr about it and he said that she is not getting full before bed and that I needed to but rice cereal in her bottle. Maybe talk to the dr. and see if she is old enough to do that. Good Luck

L.,

Try reading Sleeping Through the Night by Jodi Mindell. Your baby may just be in the 'habit' of waking and may need some help to soothe herself back to sleep. Even though the book says not to I did and still do rock my child to sleep every night after her bottle and this is a part of her routine. Our child was waking repeatedly through the night until about 1 yr old - she's now 14 mos. She was breastfed and when we transitioned her to toddler formula along with sleep training her that got her to sleeping from 8pm-6am most nights. She still will wake if ill or teething but life is MUCH better now. Good luck and hang in there.

Hey L.,
My daughter is now 2-1/2, but she woke up to take a bottle at night through about 8 months (she also had acid reflux and was on prevacid). I tried the cereal in the bottle, but it didn't work. My doctor told me that her waking up was just a habit, that she didn't have to eat anymore at night, so we had to go cold turkey. It was hard but we just stopped all at once and it took about three to five nights before she started sleeping through the night. If you can handle lots of crying for just a few days, then you might could try this? I know how hard it was, so good luck!

My baby did the same thing. I breadst fed exclusively for 10 months. I also started feeding her a little cereal at night and she also became constipated. What I did and it worked was, the first time she woke up, I just didn't go in her room to get her like I did. I knew that if she was only breast fed that she may be hungry so I would just go into her room and feed her one time during the night. As she got older, I would feed her a little cereal (when she would eat it... and sometimes she didn't always eat) and then when she cried I didn't go and pick her up. I realized that she didn't cry that much or that long and I still think that maybe she wasn't really crying, she was just turning or rolling. You know how you will get tired in the middle of the night and you will roll over and you will wake up but go back to sleep immediately. I think that maybe she was doing that. I just left her alone and she was fine. Sometimes she would wake up and stay awake for a while but she had several things in her bed to occupy her like her mobile and stuffed animals. I always kept a night light on so she could see all her animals and mobile. To this day, she wakes up and just plays in her bed, doesn't cry for me to come and get her. And for the constipation, my pediatrician said to use a 1/2 cap full of Miralax in her bottle. Said that you could give that every day and it wouldn't hurt a thing. It isn't a laxative but a softener. It worked and we still use it to this day when she gets a little constipated.
Depending on how much your baby wakes up, just cut out one of those feedings out and stay in the bed. Later, when he/she gets use to that, cut out another feeding and get a little more sleep. Pretty soon, he/she will be able to go all night long without waking you. And if he/she wakes up, it is ok for he/she to get up and play and talk to him/herself. It makes him/her a little independent that way too.
Oh one thing... I never gave my baby cereal from a bottle. I would sit her up, at 4 and 5 months and feed her with a spoon. She was messy but do very well. She also wanted a cup at an early age so I would put apple juice in it and she did very well at that. Now she is 15 months old and wants a "real" cup. She has been so advanced that she is now taking the cup and drinking just like a 5 yr old would. I think that when you advance your kid at something that they automatically move on to the next step regardless of their age. I don't know.. that is just me.
Good luck

Take this advice for what you think it's worth. I can tell you that I have 6 children ranging from 10 years to 1 year old. 4 of them have had problems with reflux, 3 requiring medication. All of them have were breastfed and slept through the night no later than 8 weeks old (the youngest was 4 weeks). I have shared this with many friends who have also used it and had babies sleep through the night shortly after trying it. The way I see it, you can let her try to work it out, or you can guide her into a feeding and sleep routine/schedule that works for both of you. What follows is the quick and dirty idea from the Babywise book.

It sounds to me as though you need to stretch out feeding periods during the day and encourage her to eat more at each feeding. If a baby just gets little frequent snacks throughout the day, then it will be hungrier at night and wake up to eat, because they need more food. Based on that idea, a newborn needs to feed every 2 1/2 to 3 hours, 6-8x a day (similar to when a hospital would feed them). These babies usually sleep through the night between 6-8 weeks, unless reflux or something else is limiting intake.

Sufficient sleep is also important. Tired babies do not eat well. They eat enough to make their tummy feel better, and then fall asleep before finishing(encouraging more snacking). If you can feed her as soon as she wakes up from nap, she'll be well rested and eat better. Then try keeping her awake to play some before putting her down for nap to rest until the next feeding. The exception would be before bed when you don't want a play time.

By 5 months she should be able to go 3 1/2 to 4 hours between feedings and having 4-6 feedings a day. Sometime during that time, solids are usually started. They should occur at the same time as 3 of the liquid feedings, instead of creating new mealtimes, AKA snacktimes. Once she gets the calories her body needs each day, she is free to sleep at night.

Since she is now 5 months old, you may also have to deal with habitual waking at night. It usually takes 3-4 days to reprogram the habit. To do it, first you need to be sure she's getting enough to eat during the day. Then try to not feed her at night. Change her diaper, hold her, or even try a little water. Then, put her back down. You can let her cry if need be, to see if she falls back asleep. If she's not really hungry it won't usually last longer than maybe 20 miutes. If she doesn't, then try either nursing or a bottle of milk/formula and keep encouraging the larger meals in the day. Keep discouraging a night feeding and encouraging better daytime feedings, and soon she'll not need it anymore.

It does take some work to get it started, but it's worth the sleep you'll get!

good luck...my first slept through the night starting at 4 wks, my 2nd also had reflux, and didn't sleep until 9 months, the dr said, swallowing is what helps the reflux feel better, so i think thats why they want to eat/nurse, then it probably becomes habit. we used to give her mylanta and that helped a little....but my 3rd is one year old today actually, and he'll sleep through the night for a day or two, then wakes up once or twice a night for a couple weeks, i think he may have a bit of reflux, but not on anything, but the dr. says its just a habit now, and to let him cry it out. i have a hard time with that since sometimes he's wet (his diaper leaked) or other times he was sick and had actually thrown up, so i can't just let him cry. i've tried for 15 min. or so, but end up going in there. sorry i don't have a quick fix, hopefully the medicine will help her and the habit of waking up will eventually go away. Trust that it WILL pass and try to have patience, as they grow up so fast. Good luck.

try putting baby cereal in her formula. I'm not sure when the pediatrician say to give them cereal now but i gave my kids the cereal in the bottle before the suggested time. It definately works....

good luck

Oh, you're describing my child!! He woke up several times a night, too, and I would nurse him back down (who wants to bother with a bottle in the middle of the night...). We were determined not to give him bad sleep habits. We half-heartedly tried sleep training methods, but hearing him cry was going to turn all my hair gray. It was easier to just nurse him already than listen to him cry. You've been at it for 5 months; we finally gave up at around 10 months. I work full time and was just too exhausted to keep getting up all night. So I...brought him to bed with us. I know, I know! It's the last thing you're supposed to do! But you know what? We slept sooooo much better that it was worth it. Turned out his issue was a nighttime separation anxiety thing. Which he grew out of all by himself eventually. I could nearly nurse him in my sleep if he woke up, so it became a non-issue. I was glad that I didn't ignore him at night, like he stops needing his momma when the sun goes down or something. And, because we both work out of the home, it was really nice to be able to rebond with him at night. We ended up loving sleeping next to him. It broke my heart when he moved to his own bed (he's two now). But he sleeps through fine now and is too rowdy a sleeper (rolls around a lot) to keep in our bed with the new baby. Yeah, that's right. I got pregnant again, so clearly not interrupting my husband and I's married activities, despite what people say about co-sleeping.

So I'd suggest putting her down like usual, and the first time she wakes up, after you guys have gone to bed, just tuck her in with you. That way you both get what you need at night. Sleep! Cause you got to do what works, even if it's unconventional.

I am not sure. My first son started sleeping at night at 2 mos. and quit taking the night time (only one) bottle at 6 mos. My second son is seven mos and is NOTHING like my first son. He still has night time bottles, like two most nights and I am going bananas too!

I gave all three of mine rice cereal with a little bit of applesauce in it. The applessauce should have enough fiber in it to keep her from being constipated. I would fix it in a bowl that way it is a little thicker and will stay with her longer and she should sleep better. I'm a 41 year old mother of 3, ages 19, 17, 11. I know that the doctors tell new mothers different things than they told me, but sometimes the new things are not as good as the old way of doing things. Hope this helps.

1st. talk to her doctor, try a little cereal in her bottle
or 1 tble spoon of cereal by spoon befor bedtime.

the rice cereal is a good idea, and to counter to constipation problem, just a few ounces of apple or prune jiuce should help out. my daughter didnt like the rice cereal at all but loved the oatmeal cereal and she didnt have any problems. good luck!

just wondering if you have any noise going in the room...that may help her stay asleep...and yes more than likely it is out of habit if she is still gaining weight...my son is 6 months old now...goes to bed around 7pm....get ups around 7am...he has been sleeeping thru the night at about 2.5 months..how much does your baby weigh?

M.

Get the books BabyWise and BabyWiseII from the library or bookstore. These will help you immensely, not only with the sleeping problem, but with future issues as well. They've helped me and many of my friends.