baby suddently waking often at night

Hi all, i'm feeling slightly desperate.

My baby (just turned 5months), has suddenly gone from sleeping though the night or occasionally waking up just once for a 5-10minute feed, has suddenly started waking up every hour!!!

He goes to bed at 8pm, and used to have a dream feed at around 11.30, and usually sleep till 6.30 occasionally waking up at 3am for a quick feed.


About a week ago he started waking twice.

Now he doesn't want his dream feed anymore, and keeps waking up every hour or so.

He actually actively fed for two nights, but now he doesn't really feed, just nibbles and goes back to sleep.


It's really driving me nuts.


He naps for 2.5 hours in the morning and half an hour in the afternoon.


I have started him on a tablesppon of rice cereal in the morning and inthe afternoon - morning mixed with breastmilk and cooked apples/pears (just the water). and in the afternoon mixed with water cooked with carrots.


he's really happy to eat, normal during the day - smiling and playing -not cranky or grumpy, but just waking up often at night.


he absolutely refuses to have formula. and wants only breastmilk.


Any ideas on why? and how i can sort this out?

It's hard when a baby who has been doing great at night suddenly turns around on you - your world certainly does go upside down!


Is he teething? Have you noticed an increase in drooling suddenly? Fitful only in the evening - a lot of moms talk about how they realize their kids are teething - the babies notice it more since they don't have much else to focus during their normal active waking hours...could this be a cause?


Any tummy upsets? Have you noticed any reactions to the foods you are giving? Maybe he's not ready for solids yet? Any changes in his stool? Rashes? unusually gassy?


The other question - is how does he go to bed - does he lie down in his crib drowsy but awake and then happily drift into sleep, or is he being rocked, held, cuddled, breastfed to sleep?


What is the current sleeping arrangement - co sleeping? In his own room? In his own cot in your room?

HKCC: he's been sleeping in his own cot in his own room since he was two months old.

He's had no tummy upsets, no rash, normal poop (colour and consistency wise), not unusually gassy: if he did have any of these problems i would conclude he's definitely not ready for solids and stop. but he loves his rice cereal.


he doesn't cry unless we leave him unattended at night for more that 2 or 3 minutes after he wakes at night. i try to avoid rushing to him as soon as i hear the first whimper.. but sometimes i jsut sleepwalk and i'm there before i know it.


He does fall asleep while breastfeeding or by being rocked in a kind of indian baby hammock - he falls asleep without any fuss (has been doing so for quite a while). but after i put him in his bed he has started to wake up. we got used to him either waking up just once breifly or not waking up at all that we are now a bit horrified at this turn of events.


I have tried to put him down in his cot awake, so he can drift off to sleep, but this hasn't worked so far.


He was never very regular with the dream feeds, he'd take one ounce one day, four ounces the next, so i was using formula as i hate warming up 4 ounces of EBM and then throwing most of it out. now he just spits the formula out and will occasionaly drink if it's EBM.

Sorry for asking the questions - just wanted to clarify before I offered any advice.


You didn't answer my teething query - no teeth coming in? It does, for some babies, upset them at night. (mine never seemed too bothered... but many friends have had kids who screamed.)


Most sleep experts would say that babies like to wake up in the same conditions that they fell asleep in - so if he fell asleep breastfeeding or in the the hammock swing - when he woke up - he would want it. A lot of people notice that babies become a bit more aware at around 3 or 4 months and say things like, "my baby used to sleep through but now they don't" and it's because they start transitioning into less sleepy babies - and have more distinct alert and sleepy patterns. So what used to work, often doesn't anymore.


Given you baby's age, I think you're going to have to go with Pantley's Gentle Removal Method. I used it quite effectively when my 1st was 3 months, as she was absolutely addicted to breastfeeding to sleep. Koreans are NOT ALLOWED to cry the babies out - until they are at least 100 days old - and so I wasn't allowed to try more "quick" approaches. I also know you're not keen on Ferber, and your baby is too young anyways.


Pantley's method is slow - but if you're consistent, you should see an improvement in about 2 or 3 weeks. (does that sound long?) The concept is that you get the baby good and drowsy and before they actually FALL asleep, you take away what ever it is that they rely on. So - for example, if you're breastfeeding to sleep, you notice that he's getting drowsy, right before he totally knocks off, gently release him and lie him down in his cot. It will be VERY hard at this stage, given the fact that he has fallen asleep in your arms or in the gently swinging hammock to simply be able to fall asleep in a big cot all by himself, so you have to teach him.


If he's in the hammock - by all means, use it and then before he drops off, again take him out and lay him in his crib.


Her method states that if the baby starts crying or fussing, you have to return him to his prior condition (breastfeeding or the hammock) and let him get drowsy again and then put him back in his cot. Sometimes this can go on back and forth for quite a while, but at SOME POINT he will fall asleep in the cot. The first few days are really really exhausting for you - but the goal is to teach him that the cot is where he SHOULD fall asleep. Improvement is generally very very slow - but after 10 days it is noticeable. The more consistent you are (NEVER letting him fall asleep on you or on the hammock and ALWAYS making sure he is in the cot - and able to go back and forth often) - this will make the improvement faster.


Alternatively you could try Tracy Hogg's pick up put down method - which I am not an expert on, but I'm sure other people here are.


also - final question - at night - you're giving formula or EBF? why not direct BF? It'll be easier and more efficient and less disruptive...just curious.

hi hkchoichoi, what is pick up put down method? if i rock my baby to sleep, it's hard to put him down without crying.

Honeypie -


Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg. I don't have her book (one of the few I don't have) so I can't give specifics about the method. But - I read about it online - sort of like the Pantley gentle removal. BEFORE baby actually falls asleep, put her down - if she cries - pick back up and soothe, and the after relaxation, put down, and if cries pick back up. You can probably do a search on it.


If you're having problems with the sleeping thing - Pantley would work - and I think your baby is old enough - you could try Ferber as well.

HKCC: thanks I will make an effort to try pantley's method. I did look at her website last night.

But it seems that he has somekind of separation anxiety due to the fact that he's growing up and becoming more aware of his surroundings and also (according to an italian parentling website) due to the introduction of solids. apparently some babies take it as a rejection of the mother and start getting more clingy. I don't know, so many theories around.

Last night he started to do the same - fall asleep and then once i moved him to his cot he woke up every 15min to half hour. So a bit out of desperation i just left him there (his hammock is in our room). he stayed sleeping and at 2am he woke up for a feed - i fed him and put him in his cot, but with one of my husband's pillows and one of mine. He just stayed asleep, one arm over one pillow and his leg over the other, waking up once more for a big feed and then woke up at 7.30 this morning. I did stay awake for about 30 minutes obsessing over whether he was going to get smothered and not breathe - and went to check on him twice - but he was ok.


I am going to get hold of tracy hogg's book.


We tried putting him down awake quite a few times in the past. but he just stayed awake. we had a baby monitor with a camera - so we were watching from the living room. he stayed awake for like 2 hours.

anyway i will try to teach him to sleep on his own soon, definitely without CIO.


I just need to figure out how to reduce his night time feeds


Thanks so much for your patience and advise.

Hi Goddess -


based on last night - your baby definitely needs an "aid" to fall asleep. And I would say start with sleep first - my guess is that if you get him to sleep without an aid, gradually the need to feed all the time will also go.


Babies have light and deep sleep (so do we as adults) and so it's not one night of solid sleep that they do - they actually have mini wakings all night long - and when they do - if they are WHERE they were before - then they just go back to sleep again. BUT if the environment has changed, that's when they begin to cry. Based on last night - when his environment stayed the same - in the hammock - he slept more deeply. I'm also sure that the slight movements and rocking motions also helped as well. so weaning her gently off of these will help her sleep better.


Try Pantley - her method really does make sense - it's the idea to slowly teach your baby how to fall asleep on your own...

i'll try ferber AGAIN later, it did work magic last time, but he was spoiled with his grandma carrying/rocking him to sleep when she was here, so it's back to zero again.

If you can get some Hyland's Teething tablets, they work very well for teething fussy nighttime babies.



Also, how often are you nursing during the day? Try to increase that to see if he'll go longer at night. Make sure you are drinking enough fluids these days too. How about the room environment? Is the temperature right for your baby? Try cooler or warmer to see if that makes a difference.

Hang in there...this too shall pass!

hi thanks all for all the replies.


HKCC: it seems that i've just gone from one aid to another. he woke up just twice last night sleeping from 8pm till 7.30am. The pillows seem to be working like magic for the moment.


A friend of mine with a one yr old baby came today. She had a look and said his teeth are showing under the gums (i had a look before her and said- see he's not teething??!!)

Ruth: I nurse him around 6 or 7 times and he gets one EBM of 6ounces in the afternoon when i'm at work. I try to nurse as often as possible, but unless he's hungry he'd rather play or look around than nurse.

I think maybe his room is a bit warm. I keep the temp at around 28 degrees in his room.

Cara: before i had the baby i read somewhere not to rock baby or interact when they woke up 4 nightfeeds. And infact i just fed him and put him back and he would fall asleep by himself. It wasn't a problem until these days.


He's been rolling over for a month now, but the pillows are postioned in such a way that he can't roll onto them.