I cant get my 5 month old to sleep through the night

Labova - posted on 03/28/2010

trying giving warm milk w/ a little bit of rice cereal or a warm bath and lotion down with lavendar. always works for my babe. Good luck!! ; )

Jackie - posted on 03/26/2010

Good luck Michelle. And like you said, you know she CAN sleep through the nite, just have to get her used to it. Hopefully the machine, or fan, or whatever device you use will help with the 20 month old.

Michelle - posted on 03/26/2010

i agree with Jackie about putting the baby in their own room asap! i know alot of ppl who have their babies sleep in their rooms for a while n it just makes things harder for them down the road with putting them in their own room. and my 5 month old has slept through the night a few times but its when my daughter is at her grammas, because we do let him just talk and complain a little then he goes right back to sleep usually. we just jump because once my daughter(20 month old) wakes up its so hard to get her back to sleep in the middle of the night. so im def. going to try the white noise thing. Thanks for the advice =)

Jackie - posted on 03/26/2010

Yes, sometimes they do need a feeding - which I addressed in my above post. But not necessarily, plenty of babies are done with nite time feedings by 5 mos...which is why I said it depends if they actually eat, or just have a snack. But many times they don't need you to tend to them, they just need to whimper, reposition to get comfy again, and go back to sleep...which if you leave them be you come to realize quickly. And the more you let them do it on their own the less it happens.

Lea - posted on 03/26/2010

BTW, Jackie, what you said doesn't make sense. Responding to your baby when they wake up, thats after they fall asleep. So, yes you can let your baby fall asleep on their own, and still respond right away when they wake up (since a baby that age needs night time feedings), those are two separate things.

Lea - posted on 03/26/2010

Jackie, I KNOW theres nothing "wrong" with it, if it worked for you, great! It just doesn't appear to be working for Michelle and I was wondering why she was doing it.

Jackie - posted on 03/26/2010

Lea - there is absolutely nothing wrong with a 5 mo old being in their own bed and room. It's very good for them. My daughter was in her own bed the nite she came home from the hospital and has been ever since. And by jumping to a baby the second they whimper they don't learn to fall asleep on their own...which is a very important skill.

Lea - posted on 03/26/2010

We didn't move my son into his own room until he was 6 months old. Even then, it was a while before he was sleeping through the night. And even then occasionally he will wake up. I'm curious why you moved your baby into their own room so early? Why do that when its just waking your other child up? Is there a reason you can't keep your baby next to you and get to them right away when they cry?

Michelle - posted on 03/25/2010

baby will sleep when baby is ready.. my son was 3 weeks when he started sleeping all night my daughter is 17 months and we are still up multiple times a night.. my son is 6 and their rooms are beside each other he's learned to tune her out at night lol

C.J. - posted on 03/25/2010

Your child may be teething.

Jackie - posted on 03/25/2010

Breastfeeding int he middle of the nite only becomes a habit if you let it. Once they are 3-4 mos old they shouldn't be falling asleep eating, they should be going to sleep awake. And if they get up at nite to eat and its a full feeding they need it, if they are just sipping its becoming a habit and you need to address it right away.

Michelle, a white noise machine is something that plays a quiet monotonous sound continuously. Like waves crashing, pouring rain, sometimes even just like the fuzz of a radio station that doesn't come in. But it ends up drowning out all (well most) the background noise basically. So if you put it in the 20 mo. olds room they will hear mostly that, and not the 5 month old babbling until he falls back to sleep. For instance, in my daughters room we run a humidifier every nite in the winter and fan every nite in teh summer...just so there is always some background noise to drown out the "house noises".

Tania - posted on 03/24/2010

Don't feel bad... my son is almost 3 and has yet to sleep through a single night! Ever!!!

I have read extensively on the topic!
They say that kids with active minds, battle to sleep through. I have no problem getting him to sleep. He is asleep before 8pm every night. But wakes at least 3 times, on a good night.
Others have said that breast fed babies will get into a routine that is difficult to break, of waking up for a feed... Troy (my son) was breast fed for 9 months. And he does not necessarily want bottle, but often asks for water. Has a few sips and goes back to sleep.
My only advice is to be patient. I was an insomniac for most my life.. I don't know if it could be genetic. Now I simply have no choice but to be awake a number of times a night.

Michelle - posted on 03/24/2010

Congrats Ashley!=)

Jackie~ whats a white noise machine? my 5 month old has slept through the night plenty of times but when my 20 month old was at her grammas so we could let him talk n play himself back to sleep. and thanks for the advice everyone =)

Jackie - posted on 03/24/2010

There are MANY MANY babies that do not sleep later just b/c you put them down later. It can have the opposite effect. You def. need to stick to a solid and consistent bedtime routine. But in my opinion no, if you continuously run into him at every whimper he will grow to expect it adn won't stop until you get in there.

Have you tried a white noise machine in the 2 year olds room to insulate them from the outside sounds....to help keep them asleep? THats where I would put my focus is how to keep the 2 year old asleep while the 5 mo. old works through it. The baby needs to learn to drift back off to sleep alone. THat said though - 5 mos is still young, if they truly need you you need to go, you can't correctly do CIO until 6 mos or older, but if its just a little whimper where hes not fully awake you don't necessarily need to run in right away.

Christina - posted on 03/24/2010

he will in time. what i did with my son when he was that age. i made sure his nap around 1 or 2 and i would let him sleep for about 2 to 3 hrs. play with him and then of course dinner....then i would play some more with him. by 9 or 10 is was going to sleep. by 6 he was up i would give him milk and put him back to bed.
the way i see it sometimes when they go to sleep a lil late they wake up later.

Ashley - posted on 03/24/2010

My 18month old doesnt sleep thur the night yet, but i bet i will be in the same place you are in about a couple months. My 2nd child is due end of may... so i wish you luck!!!!