Good bedtime routine for 5 month old

justinsmommy · #1 (**permalink**) 01-28-2007, 08:36 PM

Hi, I'm new and my son is 5 months old today. We are cosleeping and he is not sleeping through the night. Recently he was waking up every hour through the night. I started using the gentle removal and started to see some progress but then he started with the waking every hour again. Just looking for some suggestions since I'm exhausted. Also what would be a good bedtime routine at his age? I don't want to bathe him every night especially in the winter. Also I know the book says to darken the room for naps but shouldn't the baby know a difference between daytime and nightime sleep?
Thanks,
Lisa

Zennifer · #2 (**permalink**) 01-30-2007, 06:58 PM

Recently he was waking up every hour through the night.

Is he also drooling a lot, red cheeks, fussy, trying to chew on things, any of those things or even just one of those things? He could be teething... a baby of 5 months old who recently changes sleep patterns could have teething as the culprit... they tend to need more comfort when that happens, hence more night wakings.

Also what would be a good bedtime routine at his age?

I had quiet reading or quieter playtime in a dimmed room starting after dinner, then bath, then massage with songs, then bedtime books, then nurse, then nighttime words with a cuddle, then sleep. I had a soothing lullaby cd quietly playing so that's what he'd hear if he woke... i know what yyou meab about bath in the winter, so that's what I had massage for too, so I could put baby Aveevo Baby creme on him to moisturize his skin after.

shouldn't the baby know a difference between daytime and nightime sleep?

Yes, but I found even with a heavy blind pulled down, it still looked different than nighttime...

hope this helps!

justinsmommy · #3 (**permalink**) 02-03-2007, 05:57 AM

Thanks for the ideas. He has never slept more than 2 or 3 hours at a time so I am just really tired at this point. I do think he may be teething. I am going to start the gentle removal again but I was so tired that I kept falling asleep. I'm just wondering if it really works. I would really like to start transitioning him to his crib because he is soo active in my bed but he won't sleep there for more than an hour.
Thanks.

Zennifer · #4 (**permalink**) 02-03-2007, 11:28 AM

Lots of people have had success with the removal method (you can read a lot of success stories by clicking HERE) but if memory serves me correctly, I believe she says that when teething is occuring, you may want to take a break and just be there for comfort... what is good about this plan, though, is that you can continue the bedtime routine throughout all of this and even though you can't see it working during teething, you may find when the teething stops that suddenly he's able to sleep because he's been getting used to your gentle bedtime routine throughout. During the teething you may not see it because no matter how soothing you and your routine are, it doesn't stop his mouth from hurting, but he will appreciate the comfort and trust you so that when the teething stops it should seem to have helped...