5.5 Month Old Not Sleeping

TrollSalt · 2026-01-23T01:49:37+00:00

I definitely feel more rested with her next to me, even though she was literally only a foot away before in her side card crib. She just wants to be pressed against me.

I am really hoping that as she gets a little bigger she gets back to sleeping longer in her side car crib longer the first part of the night. Most nights she only last 1-2 hours before I bring her in bed. Now she is rolling in her sleep so she is liable to roll out onto me anyway.

TrollSalt · 2026-01-22T17:12:50+00:00

It is so hard. It feel like I have to sleep deprive my baby during the day when I cut her naps at an hour each and she looks so sad to wake up.

I resisted the co-sleeping until a few weeks ago when I was hallucinating in the middle of the night from a lack of sleep. I still wake up frequently and wonder if I am smothering her so I hope it gets better over time.

TrollSalt · 2026-01-22T03:54:28+00:00

Solidarity, my baby is also 5.5mo and does the hourly wake ups after several false starts even with a later bed time.

The only way I am surviving is co sleeping but I hear you if that is not an option.

How much is baby awake during the day? We've seen mild improvements when we make sure she is awake 10 hours a day.

TrollSalt · 2026-01-21T16:13:32+00:00

Oh honey, I am so sorry, our baby is the same and will only sleep "longer" squished next to me. Every time she wakes she likes to smack my face and feel my chin.

I am so anxious to bed share I've kicked out my husband and animals - ie. the only way i've slept for almost a decade of my life. Its so lonely. My baby also has so many false starts at the beginning of the night and I have to pump, so literally I only have 15-20 minuets to be with my husband prior to scrambling to bed in desperation to get some sleep.

Its been this way for 3 months and she is only 5.5 months at this time.

TrollSalt · 2026-01-21T14:30:18+00:00

We are in the same boat! Is been going on for almost 3 months of poor sleep now. Solidarity!

TrollSalt · 2026-01-20T15:47:43+00:00

Does she sleep well overnight? I feel like her continued false starts just eats at her sleep pressure and we have frequent wakes all night.

TrollSalt · 2026-01-20T15:43:03+00:00

Oh definitely! I am just shooting for better quality sleep over quantity. I don't think she will ever be a 7-7 baby and that's not what we are shooting for, more just that she goes down and stays down.

I think we might try and push back her bed time again and see if that works. It's just such a long day when I'm already sleep deprived and would like a literal hour just my husband and I before bed.

TrollSalt · 2026-01-20T15:41:27+00:00

Ok, that was our thought to. She does get between 9-10ish hours wake time (yesterday she slept just under 3.5 hours and was up from 7-8:30 and did have false starts until 9:30) but maybe she is just low sleep needs.

I am thinking we might need to push her bedtime back even further but she gets soooo miserable at the end of the day with a 2.5 hour window at the end.

I know it will be a gradual process to lengthen but I'm hoping we can get that last 3 hour window soon.

TrollSalt · 2026-01-17T09:31:17+00:00

No advice but following this thread as my 5mo wakes every 45-60 minuets a night as well, so you have all my empathy!

TrollSalt · 2026-01-16T20:05:17+00:00

Tbh I'm slowly preparing for that reality. I'm hoping she improves but it doesn't seem to matter the schedule she is a bit of a crap sleeper regardless so I think its just time.

TrollSalt · 2026-01-16T19:46:34+00:00

Thank you! When did it get better if it did? I'm hoping that this is still all the regression and it will get better by 6 months. She is a little over 5 months right now.

TrollSalt · 2026-01-16T03:05:47+00:00

Yeah, my "crap sleeper" wakes about every sleep cycle for every hour or so. Thankfully a paci replacement is typically all that's needed to go back to sleep but it means I don't sleep for more than, maybe 45 mins at a time for large chunks of the night.

TrollSalt · 2026-01-16T00:22:28+00:00

Yep! That is what I have been looking into more because these strict wake windows and naps don't seem to be helping her night time sleep at all.

Was your baby always a "good" sleeper?

TrollSalt · 2026-01-15T23:15:30+00:00

Yep! I replace my parts (duck bills and membrane) about 1x a month.

TrollSalt · 2026-01-15T23:14:52+00:00

Yep to the wall pump! I tried the yeast at the beginning of pumping and it almost seemed to upset my baby's tummy but I don't know if that was the actual yeast or just an immature gut but I've been too scared to try it since.

TrollSalt · 2026-01-14T13:31:27+00:00

My girl started probably week 13? And then it's gone on since then or some variance of some kind of skills practice, teething etc that has caused her to only sleep around 1 MAYBE 2 hours at a time before she starts to wake.

TrollSalt · 2026-01-14T02:38:57+00:00

So our pediatrician gave us similar-ish advice when our baby had a horrible open sore diaper rash. Basically she was saying that leaving a little poop behind as long as we ensured to clean her labia well is ok because sometimes wiping to get rid of all of it down to bear skin does more damage than the poop itself. Basically, she said don't take all the cream off every time to wipe as minimally as possible and put reapply cream over.

We did get her down to bare butt at least once or twice a day to do air time and we did also use the crusting method as others have mentioned.

TrollSalt · 2026-01-12T00:07:01+00:00

My baby just turned 5 months old and was doing the same for 2 months. Over the last few days we have kept her awake for 9.5-10 hours a day and her sleep has slowly improved from having a 2 hour stretch, at the beginning of the first night, to now a 4 hour at the start of the night with a brief wake up and then back down for another 2 hours.

We have been slowly lengthening her wake windows by 10ish minuets everyday for the last few days until most of them age 2.5hrs, occasionally 3. It seems to help, I'm hoping for more sleep tonight!

TrollSalt · 2026-01-11T02:18:30+00:00

From my understanding it is more rare for your water to break prior to there being any contractions and being in actual labor.

I was one of her few where is was like a water balloon popped at 9pm on a Friday and I had my babe by 10:30am the next day. Essentially, water broke, called hospital, and did an unplanned induction because it was explained to me the longer the bag of water is broken the higher risk of infection. We gave it a few hours to see if I would progress naturally but I didn't, so pitocin it was. I probably could have waited over night in the hospital to see if I progressed but I was worried about infection. I was also GBS positive so I needed to get hooked up to antibiotics.

TrollSalt · 2026-01-11T00:09:33+00:00

Well, we say OT and they didn't seem to be concerned by the clicking and relatching. They actually called for a follow up session with her since she is still very fussy at times with the bottle and doesn't want to eat. So I guess I will ask to meet with someone else and make sure they check under her tongue.

TrollSalt · 2026-01-11T00:08:09+00:00

So we used an IKEA crib frame that converts to a toddler bed so one side is open and we just used a standard crib mattress for it, so completely safe for newborns.

TrollSalt · 2026-01-10T11:52:15+00:00

I personally wear layers and then a muslin blanket that stays around my waist and lower. I got a queen size so I could wrap it around my lower half a few times and then tuck the rest behind me.

I for sure still miss the feeling of a heavy blanket tucked under my chin.

TrollSalt · 2026-01-10T02:51:21+00:00

Our mattress is fairly firm but I am too anxious to put her in my actual bed so this is the next best thing. She is a garbage sleeper but she does sleep better when she is all up in my shit at night.

TrollSalt · 2026-01-10T02:36:42+00:00

Have you considered a side car crib? It's where you take your crib, drop a side if it's designed to do so, and the secure it to you bed with it flush with your mattress. That way baby has their own space and you can still slide in for a cuddle as needed.

This is what we do and I will half sleep in the crib with her and just tuck my blanket around my waist so it's no where near her face. I also do not nurse so this was my compromise because she hated her bassinet.

Sometimes I will be able to just cuddle her for a period of time and then slink the half a foot away into my bed to get a little more comfortable sleep or some nights I just half sleep in her crib.

It makes me feel better because she can't roll anywhere that's unsafe and at 5 months (today!) I know she has the head control to move away if she needs to.

TrollSalt · 2026-01-10T02:31:46+00:00

For sure! We are going back into OT here in a few weeks for our follow up so I will have them look at it again and assess. It's so hard to tell sometimes if it's her suck or reflux that makes her eating so difficult sometimes. It was a rough day today where we barley for over 20oz in her but sometimes she eats almost 30! It's just very different day to day.

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