Need help resettling

[toddbobsmum]

I've been using Tizzie Hall's routine on my 5 mth old for the last 2 weeks, a vast improvement, he'll go down to sleep with minimal or no protestation. However, I still can't resettle him when he wakes.

He typically sleeps from the 10pm dreamfeed to around 4am, sometimes 5am, once he even made it to 6am! He will resettle fairly easily if I get him up for some milk (BF). Problem is he might wake every hour from 4am - feed for 10 minutes, go back to sleep for one 40 minute cycle, then wake again, until 7am 'getting up time'.

He was/is catnapping during the day. Yesterday I kept him awake for 3 hours between sleeps instead of 2 hours, and as a result he had two 80 minute sleeps - best ever!!

Today he had 80 minutes this morning, but woke screaming hysterically after 40 minutes at lunchtime. He seems to not even recognise us when this happens. Takes me 10 minutes to calm him down, but when he 'comes out of it' he won't go back down for another sleep. He won't even take the breast, or lay down for a nappy change, without screaming hysterically - just wants to stay upright.

Do I just need to wait a few more weeks for this baby who is supposed to sleep through from 7pm to 7am and have 2 multiple sleep cycle daytime sleeps to 'get with the program'...or am I doing something wrong?!

Why does he wake hysterically screaming when he hasn't slept long enough at lunchtime???

[punkbaby]

To have him sleeping from 10-5am is pretty good really, i know its hard lack of sleep etc but thats a pretty good stint for a 5 month old, All babies are different and some will sleep though at an early age. My two girls didnt sleep through till they were about 12 months old they always woke at around 4-5am.

Hes on the right track and his still quiet little really :)

[toddbobsmum]

Thanks for the reassurance Punkbaby:), I'll hang in there. I agree that 10pm - 4am is pretty good, I just wonder whether there's a resettling technique (other than leaving him to cry which I'm not keen on) to help him string together multiple sleep cycles, rather than just getting another 40 min nap.

[punkbaby]

At the moment my bubs is really just getting into a routine shes younger though...when my others were 5 months they were all totally different. DS would have cat naps all day, i couldnt change his ways at all and it was really hard. Basically this is what the girls did though if it gives you a few ideas, they had 3 day naps though then grandually went down to 2 at around 10 months.

Wake 6am
BF, change, short play back to bed 8am
Wake 10am BF short play chnage etc sleep 12noon
The afternoons they were a little different and would wake about an hour later then i would settle them again for another sleep, they usually woke around 4pm
I would then stretch it out a little with bath time etc it seemed to work really well they would seem to sook for an hour but i put it down to the witching hour but they were in bed by 7pm. Mind you that hour they hung off the boob I would give them a dream feed around 11pm (dd9) and she would sleep through. (the dream feed didnt work for dd3 she slept till 5am though)

I guess just watch for his tired signs, but around that age i would say about 1 and a half to 2 hours is a good time frame to keep him awake, depends on the child of course though but most of mine seem have seemed to stick with this. I didnt force it upon then they did it at their own accord and it worked :)

He will eventually stretch that 4am slot out though. Can you pop him into bed with you to lay so you can sleep an extra hour or to would that work? I guess i would try a few different things make a note of what your doing and what works and go from there, its so easy to forget what time you put them to bed etc so if you do a chart of something you can see what works :)

Good luck