5 Month Old Wakes at 4Am and Won't Go Back to Sleep!

Yep, its a stage. There is a reason you said "I quit". You need to quit. She is fed, she is dry, she is demanding. Its time you let her do some working things out on her own. Easy to say, hard to do. She won't break and its not like a few weeks from now when she will be standing in the crib crying and screaming for you to come get her. Stop now before you really regret it. Don't worry we have all quit at some point in this crazy thing called motherhood. I once was up way too long with my first who wouldn't sleep without his "pacifier" (me!). I woke my husband up and he promptly said "What do you want me to do with him?" I said "Teach him to dance, I don't care, I am going to bed!"
Good Luck!
B.

I've been there and I know how hard this is, but I found a great solution that worked for us, and maybe it will work for you too! Sounds a little crazy, but when my daughter started sleeping from 8pm - 3am, I realized, that's 8 hours, and maybe if I change the feeding schedule I might have better luck getting her to sleep past 3-4am. So, I started a late night feed, at 11pm, before I went to bed. I picked her up from her crib, unswaddled her to gently wake her slightly, and gave her a feed. She hardly woke up but just enough to eat. After burping and re-swaddling, I simply put her back to bed and went to bed myself at 12pm. The first 3 or 4 nights, she still woke at 3-4am, but on the 4th night, it worked and continued to work until I started phasing it out, around 8 or 9 months. I began pushing the night-time feed back to 10-11pm, and began all sleeping from 11pm to 6am-7am. It was a miracle that it worked, so try it!!

Jamie & Natalie are right on...There are a few things you can try. Its not abnormal for your 5 month old to be waking up 'wanting to play'. But as Jamie says, let her talk to the ceiling or whatever and allow her to put herself back to sleep. You're sending her the message that its not play time. You may need to do what Natalie is doing. My baby was a little younger when he was waking up at 5am so I knew that he wasn't ready to drop that late night feeding. She may not be getting enough in that last feeding - is that a possibility? Also, there are some great books out there that give easy, quick answers/things you can try. "Healthy sleep habits, happy child" by Marc Weissbluth. Whether or not you are a fan of Babywise, you can check the book out at the library and see what it has to say about sleeping. There's some good wisdom in both of those resources.

And by the way, you did the right thing by letting your DH take her last night. Sometimes it just gets too hard and you knew your limit. I've been at that place sooo many times. Hang in there! You're doing a great job, Mom!

I am no expert on the subject because I am in the same boat as you are but here's what I am doing. When my 5 month old gets up around 4 or 5 and wants to "play" I do my normal routine to get her back to sleep and if that does not work I leave her in the crib to play by herself while I go back to bed. She usually rolls around for about 25 minutes to an hour and then starts crying. When I go back in she is ready to nurse and go back to sleep. It's not the best because it's hard for me to sleep when she's in there cooing and making noise but it keeps me from getting frustrated with her and usually I am so exhausted that I can sleep. I think the nap thing just takes time. Mine is doing better with the afternoon nap being on schedule (from 2 to 4) but the morning naps are quick cat naps and at different times every day. Just keep working on it!

It is a proven fact that children who wake up early are often not going to bed early enough. Sounds weird I know! :) I don't know if it applies to babies or not. I do know that by that age, all 3 of my kiddos slept 7pm - 7am. You can try putting her down a little earlier and see if it works. Good luck!

Also, have a soothing bed time routine of lavendar baby bath, bottle and bed or something like that to signal her brain and prepare her. You might already be doing that, but thought I would throw it in my post.

I hate to disappoint you, but some children just aren't good sleepers. My son has been like that for his entire life. He just never slept as a baby - didn't nap long and couldn't get to sleep until late in the night. He also woke early in the morning and never had a lack of energy through the day. He is now 19 and it never really changed. He's a night owl but he sleeps late in the morning - when he can. I think the most frustrating part of it all was that I wanted to change him and that never worked. We read all the books, watched all the videos and tried every way to change his sleeping habits. When we finally decided to accept him as he was and when we came to an understanding (when he was older) that he wouldn't try to have deep discussions after 10pm (I'm a morning person) and I wouldn't talk to him before 10 or 11am, things finally relaxed at our house. I don't understand it, but it is just the way he is.
I would try what you can to see if you can teach her to sleep, but keep it in the back of your mind that this may just be the way she is. Good luck!
By the way, my daughter is a great sleeper and has always been, so don't assume that if you have more children that you will never get any sleep.

Good day,
At 5 months their eating habits are changing! Milk/formula is not enough! Try mixing a small amount of cereal or fruit ( babys first steps) into her night time bottle. Just remember to open up the nipple just a little! It has done wonders for my sons sleeping through the night and my youngest daughter! It did wonders for Me also! I was able to sleep through the night also! Good luck! God bless you all...
Kathy N.

My 9.5 month old son has been doing the same thing, except he is babbling after he finishes his bottle. I continue to rock him and hum or sing. I put him back into his bed and when he starts crying, I'll go back in there and do the same thing. It usually takes me about 30 minutes to get him to fall back asleep.

That being said, there were a few months around the 5 month mark that he and my 2 year old daughter were getting up between 4-5am each day and I just sucked it up and got up with them!

I just wanted to say that I can relate to the last part of your post-the "I quit" part. I've been there, too. My second son hardly ever napped for more than 30 minutes, if that, and he cried most of the day for the first few months. I still have no idea why. I really don't have an answer for you except to say that when a stage like this gets too hard, it usually comes to an end soon. I'm sure you'll get many good ideas and I hope one of them works for you! Hang in there, she'll be sleeping better before you know it!! Good luck!