Night waking

mavislohsp

Registered User
Hi,

Lately my 5 1/2 months son keep wake up at midnight crying out loud. I tried to nurse him and put him back to sleep but most of the time it didn't work. He would drink from my breast but if I put him back to his cot he will cry hysterically again.

I checked his nappy, thought that he was not feeling well, but as long I pick him up and cuddle him in my arms he will quiet down, but still, not sleeping.It could happen 2 to 3 times after I put him to his cot to sleep for the night. This has happen for nearly 2 weeks. Has anyone got any idea what could have caused this? Is it something to do with grow spurts? If this is a grow spurts, how come he doesn't seems to satisfied him after feeding?

Can anyone help me??!!
 
I couldn't feel anything hard on his gum yet. But yes, lately he like to bite on my nipple, even middle of the night feeding, besides, he will also like to put everything he got in his hand to his mouth and show us the face that he chew it very hard... Is this a sign? I normally put him down when he was drowsy, so normally he will whine or cry a bit before settling to sleep. What do you suggest me to do? Do I carry him or just let him cry?
 
It could be teething. The teeth start to come up bit by bit, so he may not actually get teeth for a while but they still could be sore. Re self soothe, not everyone is into that, and at this age its normal for babies to want to be close to their mothers. Babies have no concept of 'later' or 'mummy is coming back', to them its either now or never, so he may have just reached an age where he is more alert and realizing you are going to put him down and leave..
 
I am experiencing similar situation.

My 5 month old has been waking 4+ time in during his 11-12 hour night since he was about 4.5 month. Early was caused by his icthy eczema. After that is under control, He was waking up to practice rolling over. I was thinking just the other day that since he is quite good at rolling over, perhaps he won't have to wake to practice anymore...

But looks like he is teething too. Just have to accept it then. My older did not sleep through the night until he was 2.
 
Hi Carey, is he sleeping through his core night?

Mine wakes up a couple of times between 7 and 10pm (not sure why he just can't settle well and sleep in a stretch), but after the late feed his core night is ok, he only wakes once for his feed at 3+.
 
Yeah Carey, I did find my lil one rolling in his crib n wake up with his tummy down. I used to wake him up at 10.30pm for a feed but he couldn't get back to sleep after he woke up when he is about 5 months old. So I heed for the suggestion to let him sleep until he wake up by himself and he actually surprised us to sleep through the night till next morning! well, this only last a few days and now he is back to his night waking again....

So Carey, do u feed your baby everytime he/she wake up? Is it easy for him to go back to sleep after that? Actually I don't mind waking up to feed him but am really troubled when he couldn't sleep back.
 
Hi lali07,

My baby always wake up when I m about to put him back to his crib, so I hv to wait till he is very tired n b/feed him till he is very drowsy then put him down slowly.
 
hi Obiwan,
His longest stretch of sleep has been about 4 hours ( used to be longer, 5-6 hrs, before the itch and rolling over), usully between 9 to about 1ish or 11 to 3ish. I sleep trained him (attended CIO) when he was about 4 month. So, he knows how to sooth himself back to sleep when put down awake.

Perhaps non of the mothers in this thread would have done attended CIO at that yong age. But I was quite desperate: He woke multiple times to nurse and sleep cry about every 45 mintues. During the day, It took me close to an hour to rock him to nap for about 30 minutes. His weight is on the 90is percentile. It was backbreaking for me even if I did not mind doing all the rocking.

It turned out it was good that we trained him before his eczema turned itchy. At the most difficult time, he at least knew how to put himself to sleep although he woke to the itch.

I almost wanted to rock him to sleep or co-sleep with him just to stop him from scratching. But I knew neither of us will get to sleep if I do this. Somehow, we meddle through some waking every 2 hour at night until we get his itch undercontrol and started training him again.

When he stated rolling over, I was scared that he would rub his face against the bedsheet which would sure worsen his facial eczema. So I rushed in everytime I heard him crying for help to flip him over to his back.

With a combination of all these, I can't really expect him to sleep all that well. But he naps fine and has a very early bedtime ( 6pm or before).

Hi mavislohsp,
I try not to feed him everytime he wakes up. But with everything I explained above, I am actually doing it and hoping that he goes to sleep sooner. He does go back to sleep sooner if I nurse him. He only takes a few sips if he is not hungry though.

In the past two weeks, he stays awake after at least one feed a night to roll over, babble to himself or look around and even have a poop. He stays awake for about one hour before settling back to sleep.





,
 
I found both my sons went through a bad phase of sleeping at this age when they started to get teeth and to move around more. Especially when they rolled one way and got stuck and needed rescuing! I agree with the other posters about the importance of putting them down awake and learning to sort themselves out. I just did it gradually. Around this age I also introduced a small snuggly toy (really like the washable ones from Kaloo) which I helped them get attached to by keeping giving it to them at every sleep. I think this really helps too. When they go into the cot they start looking for their little friend and it helps in the night too. It's still early but over the next 6 months that can make a difference too.
 
Hi Carey, if you recall my earlier posts, my baby was fussy between 7 - 10pm and i was seeking help. All is good now, he is no longer fussy and is very chill and always smiling. Turned out to be a variety of reasons: (1) Rashes - we have hydrocortisone on hand for bad break-out and it usually takes a couple of applications for it to go away, (2) Gas/Reflux - was on Zantac for a few days, but stopped after he caught bronchiolitis and was on nebulizer, miraculously the reflux went away after just like that (fingers crossed), (3) Blocked nose (!) - we had no idea he had a blocked nose, cos it was pretty deep in the nasal passage.

Re CIO. I am a strong believer of sleep training and did the CIO method with my daughter when she was 9 months old. Best decision ever. Took a week and no turning back. She is happy and we are happy. Haven't decided when we are going to sleep train the baby (3 months now) yet, will think about it after we get him to drop his 3am feed first :) Will probably wait until solids is well established ....

Well, you know how it is, when you think you got them all figured out, they will up and change everything you have established :)
 
Hi Obiwan,
Happy to hear that things have improved with your little one. Was actually going to PM you and ask!
 
Hi, thank you for the experience shared above, baby keep changing and seems like there won't be a fixed schedule for a long time. Shall adjust myself to it.

Regards,
Inexperience first time mom
 
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