5 mo waking up all the time

amother

Thu, Sep 11 2014, 8:57 am

My baby is five MO. She has never slept through the night but used to only wake up for bottles.lately she's been waking up a lot so We decided to try and move her to a crib but it only made things worse: she's been waking up all the time -it can be 15 min or 30 or an hour after the bottle. It's impossible. She doesn't even want to eat half the time- just her paci and maybe some patting.
We are going crazy from sleep deprivation and im worried that I'm not doing it 'right' - and she'll have terrible sleeping habits like my older daughter who still wakes up at least once every night ,at 2.5 YO, and wants us.

In addition- she used to nap pretty well in her carriage but since we moved her to the crib we decided to also put her to nap there so now her naps are short. Right now she's been sleeping for over an hour in my hands because she slept in the crib for half an hour and kept waking up but has been sleeping so well In My hands that I feel bad putting her down but that's not a solution either.

What's the right thing to do here? Move her back from the crib? DH says she just needs to get used to it but I'm exhausted and nervous. What else can I do to help her? Am I doomed? Will all my kids wake up every hour at night?

I'll really appreciate any advice.

asp40

Thu, Sep 11 2014, 9:12 am

Start with nap time. If she sleeps for 2 hours with you holding her, then invest in a baby carrier and wear her around. My youngest child napped in a baby carrier until he was past 2 years old (at that point it was on weekends only when DH could hold him) If she gets more rest during the day, she will sleep better at night. I only had nursing babies at 5 months old, so when they woke (they were next to my bed) I would nurse them and either put them back in their bed or have them sleep with me. That way I was able to get some sleep. For me, it was normal to have my babies up every 1-2 hours for many months. They were small and needed me. My goal was always "do anything to stop the crying" Once they were older and were sleeping through the night (6months-18 months, depending on the kid) we rarely had sleep issues. IN fact my worst sleeper is now my best and just rolled out of bed at 8:15am.

chani8

Thu, Sep 11 2014, 9:21 am

Since she's bottle fed, you should be able to put her on a schedule. I have a 5 month old foster baby. She sleeps through the night. I've had over 35 babies and nearly all of them (except the drug babies) slept through the night by this age. The most important thing is to let those little nervous systems work it out by allowing three nights of crying. Sit in her room, or not, for three nights, and let her CIO. After three nights max, she'll dive into her crib with glee at bedtime.

Oh, ETA, the first night they may cry a lot, the second night, for about 10 minutes, the third night, about 3 minutes.

You may find it less painful if you or your DH sleeps in the room with the baby, at first.

Last edited by chani8 on Thu, Sep 11 2014, 9:25 am; edited 1 time in total

amother

Thu, Sep 11 2014, 9:21 am

asp40 wrote:

I do have a carrier and use it but then I have to stand up with her otherwise she won't sleep in it
And I find I can't play with dd 2 at all when wearing the carrier so she gets kvetchy and jealous...

And at night I have never managed with her sleeping with me in bed.
How did your kids teanaitiob into full night sleep?

Thank you . Op.

amother

Thu, Sep 11 2014, 9:35 am

chani8 wrote:

I can't hear her cry for a minute let alone one night, let alone three:(
She's so small.
I also think she still needs the bottles at night (1 or 2).

I sometimes wish I had the heart for this- id be a better mom to both kids if I slept more!

-Op.

amother

Thu, Sep 11 2014, 12:18 pm

Op here.I forgot to add that until a couple of weeks ago she didn't need her paci throughout the night- she would fall asleep with then not need it again the ought the night and only woke up for bottles. Now she needs her pacific to stay asleep .

asp40

Thu, Sep 11 2014, 12:31 pm

They just transitioned on their own eventually. I do not believe in letting babies cry. Of course, they cried. I mean - I could not get to them right away every time and sometimes I would shower and come out and find a hysterical baby in a crib who I thought was asleep. But none of that crying for an hour stuff. It was a natural progression. And you and DH should take turns since the baby is bottle fed.

amother

Thu, Sep 11 2014, 12:35 pm

asp40 wrote:

OP here, thanks for replying. We do take turns but end up exhasuted - both of us. On average we wake up 4 times EACH for her. I think it's insane but no idea how to change the situation.
My older DD - I thought would transition naturally like you're saying ( I also never let cry) but she's still a bad sleeper.

mandr

Thu, Sep 11 2014, 3:02 pm

Ok, that's a little too much waking up for a 5-month old. My baby also wakes up at night (still) but he's nursing so I don't want to deprive him of anything if he doesn't get in as much by day. However, I still have limits. If he wakes up before four hours since last feeding he is NOT hungry (only in specific instances, such as a growth spurt, or when he's sick/teething and needs comfort) and I won't feed him. Only once it's been 4 hours. It's heartbreaking to hear a baby cry but it's for their own GOOD. And it won't last longer than a few days. Then you'll have BLISS. Imagine. YOu just have to be strong. Running after her each time she wakes up is detrimental to her and to you, so it's best to nip it now before she's 2.5.

amother

Fri, Sep 12 2014, 2:03 am

mandr wrote:

Exactly
But how? She doesn't even want to eat half the time, only her pack but won't fall asleep without it,

mandr

Fri, Sep 12 2014, 10:20 am

amother wrote:

Exactly
But how? She doesn't even want to eat half the time, only her pack but won't fall asleep without it,

Right so what you can do is go replace her paci when she wakes up. She'll soon realize that you are not going to be feeding her and there's no point in waking up for a paci.

amother

Sat, Sep 13 2014, 6:50 pm

This method worked wonders for all of my kids to sleep throughout the night, or most of the night, by 4 mos.

Make a nice big bottle w/ formula and rice cereal. Put her in a swing (those fisher price swings w/ music) or rock her in the stroller.