5 month old wakes up to 4 times a night

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loriannewalsh@gmail.com - 28 Jul 2007 23:13 GMT

My 5 month old wakes up to 4 times a night. He drinks 5 6oz bottles a
day along with 2 tbsp of rice cereal in morning & night and 1-2 tsp
veggies twice a day. We try our best to keep a routine B4 bedtime.
Also I have tried to let him cry himself to sleep but he seems to cry
for 45mins to an hour then I give in and rock him. I guess I need a
no cry solution. Has anyone read Gina Fords The Contented Little Baby
book? I am a new mom and feel lost in this sleep area otherwise I
have a very happy baby!! Any help would be great!!!

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Clisby - 28 Jul 2007 23:57 GMT

> My 5 month old wakes up to 4 times a night. He drinks 5 6oz bottles a
> day along with 2 tbsp of rice cereal in morning & night and 1-2 tsp
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> book? I am a new mom and feel lost in this sleep area otherwise I
> have a very happy baby!! Any help would be great!!!

Is this a change in behavior? If so, he might be teething.

Clisby

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Sarah Vaughan - 29 Jul 2007 00:38 GMT

Does he have any bottles during the night? If not, at what age did you
stop them and did he seem all right without them at first?

All the best,

Sarah

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http://www.goodenoughmummy.typepad.com

"That which can be destroyed by the truth, should be" - P. C. Hodgell

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Sarah Vaughan - 29 Jul 2007 21:49 GMT

>> My 5 month old wakes up to 4 times a night. He drinks 5 6oz bottles a
>> day along with 2 tbsp of rice cereal in morning & night and 1-2 tsp
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> Does he have any bottles during the night? If not, at what age did you
> stop them and did he seem all right without them at first?

Sorry, thought of a bunch more questions...

What's his daily routine - what time are his feeds and naps, how long
does he sleep for at each nap, what time is he put down for bedtime &
what time does he wake up in the morning? (Approximately. I'm not
expecting the times to be too precise.)

Does he finish his bottles, or is there still a bit of milk left in them?

Has he been gaining weight steadily? How much does he weigh now?

How does he fall asleep at naps and bedtime - i.e., do you rock him to
sleep, put him down awake, or what?

What sorts of times does he wake up in the nights - any pattern?

The first step is to figure out whether he's getting approximately the
amount of milk and sleep he needs in each 24-hour period, so that we can
be reasonably sure that he's not waking due to genuine hunger, or not
needing much sleep during the night because he's had too much during the
day, or, conversely, being overtired through not getting *enough* sleep
during the day - which, paradoxical as this may sound, can actually
prevent a baby from sleeping well.

Having done the best to make sure that none of those issues are
physically preventing him from sleeping, the next step is to get him to
go back to sleep of his own accord when he wakes instead of needing
rocking to sleep each time - ideally, by cutting down gradually on the
amount of input he needs to get to sleep, which may not be a no-cry
solution but can minimise crying. You've already had some good
solutions as far as that's concerned.

All the best,

Sarah

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http://www.goodenoughmummy.typepad.com

"That which can be destroyed by the truth, should be" - P. C. Hodgell

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Jeff - 29 Jul 2007 02:11 GMT

> My 5 month old wakes up to 4 times a night. He drinks 5 6oz bottles a
> day along with 2 tbsp of rice cereal in morning & night and 1-2 tsp
> veggies twice a day. We try our best to keep a routine B4 bedtime.
> Also I have tried to let him cry himself to sleep but he seems to cry
> for 45mins to an hour then I give in and rock him.

Congratulations you, have taught him that when he cries for 45 to 60
minutes and come in and rock him.

> I guess I need a
> no cry solution.

There isn't one. You taught him well.

You really need to let him cry himself to sleep for a few days. That
will solve the problem. Otherwise, you will going to his dorm room in
college.

Jeff

Has anyone read Gina Fords The Contented Little Baby

> book? I am a new mom and feel lost in this sleep area otherwise I
> have a very happy baby!! Any help would be great!!!

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toypup - 29 Jul 2007 03:29 GMT

>> My 5 month old wakes up to 4 times a night. He drinks 5 6oz bottles a
>> day along with 2 tbsp of rice cereal in morning & night and 1-2 tsp
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> will solve the problem. Otherwise, you will going to his dorm room in
> college.

That's not true. I don't see all those co-sleepers sleeping with their
adult children. If it gets to that stage, she can deal with it then, but
it is highly unlikely.

For the OP, for the most part, my kids were extremely good sleepers, but
they would get into jags every once in awhile. I am not a CIO type parent,
but I did finally do CIO for a few nights out of sheer desparation at least
once per each child. It worked by day 3 and I wouldn't have given longer
than that if it didn't.

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Penny Gaines - 29 Jul 2007 09:38 GMT

>> My 5 month old wakes up to 4 times a night. He drinks 5 6oz bottles a
>> day along with 2 tbsp of rice cereal in morning & night and 1-2 tsp
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> Congratulations you, have taught him that when he cries for 45 to 60
> minutes and come in and rock him.

I think you're being a bit harsh here, Jeff. Although it is true,
the OP's baby expects that an hour of crying means that Mum comes
along to get him/her.

> > I guess I need a
>> no cry solution.
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> will solve the problem. Otherwise, you will going to his dorm room in
> college.

And I don't think that is good advice either. I think this approach
might mean a baby crying continuously for up to four hours.

Personally, I would approach it completely differantely: for a few
nights go to the baby as soon as s/he wakes up, go and rock the baby,
thereby breaking the long crying cycle.

> Has anyone read Gina Fords The Contented Little Baby
>
>> book? I am a new mom and feel lost in this sleep area otherwise I
>> have a very happy baby!! Any help would be great!!!

I haven't read that one. However a book that used to be recommended
a lot was "Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems" by Richard Ferber. He
is a specialist in sleep disorders, and the book starts by explaining
how sleep works. It also has a number of alternate methods for babies
who aren't sleeping.

One method would be to go into the baby after s/he has been crying for
a minute or so. You calm the baby down, and then leave. If the baby
starts crying again, you time two minutes and go in again, and
calm the baby again. Then you leave, and wait three minutes, before
going in again.

HTH

Signature

Penny Gaines
UK mum to three

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Clisby - 29 Jul 2007 13:23 GMT

>> My 5 month old wakes up to 4 times a night. He drinks 5 6oz bottles a
>> day along with 2 tbsp of rice cereal in morning & night and 1-2 tsp
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
> will solve the problem. Otherwise, you will going to his dorm room in
> college.

Oh, phooey on that. Not that it's impossible that some form of crying
it out might eventually be useful, but that's certainly not clear from
the OP.

I let each of mine CIO once or twice in their lives - only because I was
so exhausted or sick that I couldn't deal with them right then,
and their father didn't happen to be there at the moment. They sleep
fine now.

There are other things to try before CIO:

- rock him to sleep, or almost to sleep, before putting him in his crib
- lie down with him until he falls asleep, then move him to the crib
or not, if you don't mind co-sleeping). I'm not crazy about
co-sleeping, but it beats listening to crying.
- I wasn't sure from the original description how many times the baby
eats during the night. Based on my two (one bottlefed, one breastfed),
I'd expect a 5-month-old to need a couple of night feedings. (This
depends on your definition of "night" - I put mine to bed around 7 p.m.,
and they'd usually wake up around midnight and again around 4 a.m.)
- if you want to try CIO, you have to be consistent, and I wouldn't
start by leaving him to cry for 45 minutes to an hour. I never used
Ferber's methods (Penny mentioned this in her post), but he's
a well-known sleep researcher, and he recommends a much more gradual
approach.

Clisby

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Nikki - 29 Jul 2007 17:19 GMT

I have not read that book. There is also a book called "The No Cry Sleep
Solution" but I haven't read that one either.

Is he eating at night? If he is you have to decide if he is really hungry
at night or not. It doesn't really matter what he is eating during the day.
Some babies are just not ready to go many hours without eating something.

Ferber has the CIO (cry it out) book and I have read that one. He doesn't
recommend doing CIO until the baby is at least 6mos old. If you decide to
do a CIO method I really recommend reading the book. Jeff was a bit harsh
and unrealistic IMO. I woke up withy my older boys for *years* and rest
assured, I won't be going to college with them ;) As a matter of fact they
both slept through the night last night at the young ages of 6 and 8, lol.
But the basic point he was getting at is true. If you eventually pick him
up he will just cry longer and harder the next time so you have to commit to
CIO for it to work.

If he is eating at night the first thing I would do - before any kind of CIO
is to slowly reduce and then eliminate his bottles. That way you don't have
to worry that he is crying from hunger. Again, at his age he may really
need one feed yet so you'll have to use your best judgment. When I did CIO
I made a deal with myself. I would *stick to the plan* (meaning I wouldn't
cave in and get them out) for at least 2 weeks but I had a limit to how
long I would let them cry. If they went past 30-40 minutes I would bail on
the CIO and try again in a month or try something different. Lucky for me
they never went past 40min. They were 10mos at the time. Things were a lot
better after 2 weeks but it did take at least 3 weeks so while some babies
get there in 3 days, mine sure didn't. I also let one of them have one
night feeding for another 3 months because he seemed to really need that
one. I eventually did a CIO for that one too and it only took 3 days or so
so he was ready for it.

For no CIO at all you could try something more gentle like giving him a
bottle and rocking him to sleep (or whatever you are doing in the night),
then laying him down. Slowly reduce the bottle until it is gone - then get
up with him as usual and rock him but lay him down before he is completely
asleep. Eventually just go to him and not pick him up to rock (may be
crying but it won't be so cold turkey), then start waiting 5-10 minutes
before going to him. You will know your own specific situation best but
that is just some ideas. It also has to 'fit' with your personality and
situation. I did the slow weaning from milk but was pretty cold turkey
after that because the slow stuff didn't fit for my personal situation.

Good luck!

- -
Nikki, mama to 4 boys.

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Family Forum / Parenting / Parenting / July 2007

5 month old wakes up to 4 times a night