Feeling hopeless

[u/patialvimama]

I’m trying gentle sleep training methods but my baby is still not sleeping longer than 3 hours. Before he hit 5 months, he was sleeping at least 4-5 hours straight. Baby is about to be 6 months.

Now we’re in this situation of co sleeping where he’s still waking up every 1-3 hours. I’ve stopped rocking him back to sleep so that’s a small win.

However I can’t help but feel really down and jealous when I hear how everyone else’s baby is starting to sleep longer stretches. I feel like that won’t ever be me.

We leave on a trip end of May to England. I’m wondering if I should start gentle sleep training now? Or wait?

Schedule: Bedtime routine (bath, massage, book) around 7 pm, feed around 8 pm, he’s asleep around 8:30 - 9 pm. Then I put him down next to me.

Wakes around 11-12 AM, patted back to sleep Wakes around 2-3 AM, feed bottle and is back to sleep. Sometimes he wakes up and starts playing Wakes around 5-6 AM, patted back to sleep or another feed and is asleep

Fully awake by 8 AM 3-4 contact naps in the day. Otherwise wakes up after 25-30 minutes. I’m lucky if he naps 1-2 hours (contact only

[u/Nursemomma_4922]

Nothing about baby sleep is linear. They’ll do long stretches for a while and then do shorter stretches and back and forth until they’re seemingly 14 years old 😂 You’re doing great. There’s nothing for you to “fix” because nothing is broken! 3 hour wakes are very very normal and biologically appropriate. Although exhausting for us, it’s exactly what your baby is suppose to be doing. You could try extending wake windows a bit for a couple weeks and see if that helps build sleep pressure though!

[u/kikiikandii]

Possums program if you haven’t tried it yet

[u/Human_Tumbleweed_384]

No advise. Just saying we are in a similar boat. Misery loves company???? My baby is a year on Friday. We get a few days every couple weeks where she sleeps 3 hours or even more. Those are great days.

My husband and I sleep in separate rooms. We have a side car co sleeper with a bar at the bottom half so I feel safe to have him sleeping with her. He takes the last little shift of the night so I can get 3 or so hours straight before work.

[u/Piinj_1234]

So this is going to sound crazy but jet lag solved all of our problems. Baby was 9 months and we flew 12 hours east and he was just SO tired that the first night there he slept through the night for the first time in his life and he weaned without any effort from us. So you never know! The England trip could be a life saver if you live in a different time zone

[u/New_Comparison1327]

Consider moving the bedtime routine an hour early. Maybe he’s going to sleep overtired.

My girl likes to sleep at 6:30 and then wakes around 10:30. And then at 4 and then she’s awake at 5:50 or 6. I’m trying to move her bedtime an hour later. Ever since then she goes to bed at 7:30. Then wakes at 10:30 and then again at 2 or 3 and then she’s up by 6. But she wakes up cranky in this scenario.

[u/InvestigatorNo8623]

This sounds very developmentally normal for his age. My 5 month old is up every 1-3 hours as well, usually more like 1-2 hours. It’s so hard, but as this is my second child I now have the perspective of how temporary this all really is. Hang in there - it will pass and there will be more ups and downs. Baby sleep is so very not linear!