Sleep habits of 5 month old?

Question

My son is 5 months. I feed him about 8 tbs of rice cereal before his bath at 8 pm and then at 9-930 I top him off with formula. He is out by around 10 pm. He wakes up hungry at least 2 times during the night. I will have to get up and put soothers in his mouth at least 6 times a night because he is fussing. What gives? Oh and I'm pretty sure he is teething aswell which would explain the soother but twice for food? he will polish off a 10 ounce bottle easily. Should I feed him rice cereal more then once a day (Ijust started him on it a week ago)???

Answer 1

My son is almost 6 months old and he sleeps from 8pm to 7 pm. He has been doing this for 3 months or more. We used the cry it out method. I know there is a lot of controversy out there on this method, but it was a life saver for us and all 3 of our children. After 3 months of age (unless a preemie) getting up in the night for a feeding is no longer for nutritional value. This is a habit. Baby hasn't learned how to fall asleep on his own. Thus the problem with the soothers. He needs to learn how to fall asleep without sucking on anything. I suggest the cry it out method. It will only last a few nights, I promise. And the older baby gets, the harder it will be. If you think that is not the way for your family to go, try feeding him water during the 2 night feedings. Eventually he will decide it's not worth getting up for water and will drift back off to sleep. I hope this helps. I know I will probably get some thumbs down because of the controversial topic, but it worked for me and many other parents. Good Luck.

Answer 2

when my kids were  this age, the doctor simply told me when he is hungry feed him 3 to 6 ozs. at any feeding, and givehim as much as he drink, which really wasn't much until he got older,when he was cutting teeth, it made him miserable, me miserable, for awhile everyone in the house miserable, but it got better,baby oragel did the trick,then when he got older, it wasn't nothing for him to put away a 10-12 ounces, none of my kids could drink any of the formulas, their bodies were allergic to it I guess,at a early age ( in which most parents would have said, don't give that your child, but I was told to, big people milk,Vitamin D,and the baby's cereals, and the fruits, we skipped from no formulas right to mashed potatoes, soft stuff we adults would eat but pureed!

Answer 3

I've only just started to wean my 5 month old with very small tasters and she is still sleeping through from 7pm to 7am.  Sometimes food/feeding is not the answer to why they are wakening up.  I suspect your baby is dependent on their soother to fall asleep and this is the area you could maybe concentrate on.  Have a look a 'Sleep Sense Programme' on the web to read more about getting babies to rely on things they can control to go to sleep rather than relying on their parents who end up just as tired and irritable as their baby! Good luck.

Also can I suggest that your son should have their bath by 6 pm at the latest and asleep by 7 with a late feed around 10.30 pm.  I would suspect that after bath time there may be a few tears due to tiredness?

Answer 4

My son is 6 months nearly and he wakens up twice for food during the night.  Saying this I give him his dinner at 6pm and he is in bed for half past 7 at the very latest. He wakens at 11/11.30 for a bottle and will only take 3 oz and then he will waken up a few times for his dummy(he is also teething) or to be tucked back in again and then about 3 or 4 he wakens for anothe 3 oz of milk!! I dont know what to do.  When he was 5 months old he was waking up a lot more as they go through a growth spurt.