5 month old wakes up every 20-30min at night.

[belltree]

Help!

The last 3 nights were just horrible. My guy (just turned 5months old) wakes up every 20-30min nothing but my boops will calm him down, not shushing, singing, holding is enough. So he suckles for 2-5min drifts of asleep, I dislatch him or fall asleep myself and 20-30min the game starts all over again. My body aches from sleeping on my side, I feel exhausted.

He had been waking up only every 45-75min, and I thought that was bad, but this is just getting unbearable.

Is there anything I can do? I cannot stand him crying (which I tried, because I was so exhausted for 2min, but his cry just gets to me, I cannot do this and I don't want to either). Will this get better anytime soon? My husband would love to help out, but he only accepts me at night for comfort.

Is there anything I can do? I haven't changed my diet or anything else.

[momma-z]

Belltree - I don't have a solution for you but I am right there with you! Your son sounds like my son (turning 5 months on 4/7). We've even had a couple nights where he woke every 5-10 minutes for a couple hours, until I just gave up and crawled into bed with him. We're going to try the No-Cry Sleep Solution. I'll keep my eye on this thread and will let you know if I learn anything useful.

[MeepyCat]

I have a couple of suggestions, and I don't know which, if any, of them will work.

- Do you swaddle? Would you be willing to? Get one of the velcro-wrap swaddly things (we got ours at Target - it really helps hold the swaddle, especially on kiddos who are starting to get seriously wiggly), and see if it helps.

- It sounds like the baby is sleeping with you. Would you consider changing this arrangement? Some babies really are badly suited to co-sleeping and sleep longer and more deeply in their own crib in their own room. Try putting him to bed by himself, and see if that makes any difference. If he's up every 20 minutes as usual, go ahead and bring him back to bed with you.

- Would white noise help?

- Can you get a neighbor or a grandparent or a friend to cover for you so you can nap during the day? It does nothing for the nighttime sleep problem, but it would hopefully make you feel better. It sounds like you need it.

I'm sorry you're going through this. I hope it's better soon.

[belltree]

momma-z , at least I am not the only one. Maybe someone else has a good idea

Edit: Sleepycat:

We've tried swaddling, and it only ended in screaming fits of our little guy, he hates anything that's too tight around him, only loose fitting cloths, and no swaddeling. People said, often babies cry initially and calm down after a little while, not our guy, he would scream up a strom, tears running all over his face, coughing from the crying etc.

We usually put him to bed around 5pm and I don't go to bed before 9, so there are at least 4hours, were he could sleep by himself. But he wakes up and cries and I go in and nurse him back down.

White noise is a good idea, which we haven't tried since the early days. I will give that a shot! Thanks!

I actually am back at work full time, dh and I have flexible schedules and as long as we each get at least 40hrs in, we can work anytime. dh has been great about giving me another 1-2hrs in the morning after little guy wakes up around 6. It still is stressfull though.

I keep thinking once he goes off to college things will be better ...

[jennklogan]

I'm there too mama! We've been in this mode for a couple of months now of baby waking up to nurse for a few minutes throughout the night. Guess it's a comfort thing.
Subbing for suggestions!

[MeepyCat]

Okay. So swaddling and sleeping alone are off the list.

I hope the white noise helps. It occurs to me that one other thing to look at is whether he's maybe teething? That can kind of make babies hard to live with, but orajel (or anbesol or Hyland's teething tablets, or whatever you like) can make life much easier at night.