How can i get my infant to sleep through the night?

Question

My 5 month old daughter wakes up for a feeding every 2 -3 hours. She was exclusively breast fed until about 3 weeks ago when we started giving her rice cereal with her last feeding. She has been on a routine of going to bed around 7pm since she was a few weeks old and she usually wakes up on her own around 7am. However, like I mentioned, she only sleeps for 2-3 hour stretches at night (sometimes she wakes up every hour or so). Once we feed her, we change her and put her right back to bed and she usually goes to sleep quickly. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

If the baby doesn't cry when she wakes up during the night, I'd agree with the other answer of letting her go back to sleep. I would NOT let the baby 'cry herself to sleep'.
Adding rice cereal to the last feeding is a good idea as it takes longer to digest than milk and keeps her feeling fuller longer.
Try feeding her the cereal at night FIRST and offer the breast for a little supplemental feeding and cuddling. This way, she'll take more cereal than milk.
Other than that, patience is the key word. The older she gets, the longer she'll sleep.

Answer 2

She's probably hungry! At 5 months she should be getting a little more solids. Try setting up a schedule for her of breakfast lunch and dinner. You cn give her cereal and try some fruit and maybe try a little veggie. Also, they do change their routine from time to time. My son does this every few months. He used to only take a 2 hour nap and now he wants to take a 3 hour nap. He's 18 months and I cna't tell you how many times he's changed around. I'm a big believer in not letting your child cry at night. It means something. Either hungry ,needs changing, or babies do have nightmares. I would only let my son cry for a few minutes to see if he would go back to sleep. You can tell by the type of cry too. My son didn't sleep all night till 12 months and off the bottle. I dont know how long you plan to breastfeed but it could be a while before she sleeps all night.

Answer 3

My daughter also had these same behaviors. We found that she didn't really need to be fed, it just soothed her back to sleep. We spent a few nights listening to her cry (because we didn't go in to get her) and within one week she slept through the night. Now, she still wakes up during the night, but now she knows how to put herself back to sleep. Also, your daughter probably doesn't need a diaper change in the middle of the night at this age. If she seems really wet, buy the next size diaper to put on at night. Changing her diaper could wake her up even more.

Answer 4

It sounds like she is having a growth spurt. She will want to eat every few hours maybe for the next couple of weeks and then she should return to normal sleeping patterns. She might also be ready for different sleeping times. Like less naps during the day or going to bed later than 7pm. My 2 year old went through this and she still changes her sleeping patterns every few months. Good luck

Answer 5

my daughter is also 5 months old, most nights she wakes up 2 or 3 times, but some nights she sleeps through the night (from around 9pm to 6am). we give her a bottle with cereal in it at night, and also around our dinner time we feed her a jar of stage 2 baby food. i have only fed her fruits though, not veggies or meats. we started her with stage 1 baby food at about 4 months. You can't stop the waking up, but the baby food with cereal mixed in is really great. her favorite is apples and rice cereal.

Answer 6

Definitely keep up on the rice cereal. And if she wakes up, check on her to see if she's dirty, re-wrap her if necessary, and then put her down and leave the room. If she cries don't run immediately back to the room. Let her learn to get herself back to sleep. I have a five-month-old who is going through the same thing. We feed her a big bowl of rice cereal before bed and she is still getting up in the middle of the night, but now we just check on her and she goes back to sleep. No feeding. Good luck to you!

Answer 7

Babies often wake during sleep and will drift back off to sleep if left alone. By going in and getting her, you're actually waking her up. Let her soothe herself back to sleep.

Answer 8

Lack of sleep in children can cause serious
health problems.If parents follow some simple
techniques for making their children sleep,
it can be avoided. I found useful information
at http://nosleep.in/sleepchildren.html

Answer 9

Try not to change her diaper unless it's soil as this wakes her up.... if you need to change her.... change her first and then feed her.... b/c babies sometimes fall alseep when they're feeding...