Sleeping FAQ: 4-6 Months – Night Waking

My 5mth son has begun to wake three or four times in the night but will settle with his dummy. What can I do?

My son who is 5mths has just started to wake 3/4 times in the early hours. I am a single mum and am finding it difficult to cope without the sleep I have now become accustomed to! I know he is getting enough milk as a dummy seems to settle him and this is the first time since 12 weeks that he has decided to awaken. I seem to now be in a vicious circle as he awakens to find his dummy and although I am giving it to him I do not want him to associate sleep with the dummy. He has always settled straight away but recently he has only been down for 45 minutes and then he wakes.

Five days ago he came out of hospital whereby he got spoilt with cuddles and his dummy as he had bronchiolitis. He is still very wheezy and his lungs will still be full of mucous for some time to come – or so I have been told. So I am reluctant to give him his dummy as I want to maximize on his oxygen intake. But I am frightened that letting him cry will mean he will work himself up and this will be reduced anyway. His feeds are slightly out also as cuts back on one feed per day and each day brings a different feed time story. On any one day he will reduce his 11am, 2pm or 5pm feed. But I have reduced his 11am solid intake and that seems to have worked. Today he has taken 7 oz at each feed apart from his 7am feed where he always takes 8.5 oz. He is also teething so on the feeds he rejects he tends to chew his bottle instead but yet will take food from a spoon! He was born 4 weeks prematurely.

My son feeds at 7.30am 8ozs, 11am 5-7ozs followed by 1 cube cauliflower/ broccoli cube, 2 sweet potato cubes with a teaspoon of rice and ½ oz milk. If my son only drinks 5ozs before his solids I increase the milk content. 2pm 5-7ozs, 5/6pm 5-7ozs, 2 cubes of apple or pear puree mixed with 1teaspoon of rice and 1/2oz milk. Again if he takes a smaller feed of 5ozs I increase the milk content. My son weighs 15lbs.

He naps at 8.15-8.45am, 10-10.30am, 12-1pm 3-4pm. He settles at 7pm. He can wake at 10.30pm, 3am, 4.30am and 6.30am although goes back to sleep until 7am at this time.

Your son will take a while to get over his recent illness. It is difficult to know sometimes whether a baby is waking through habit or genuine discomfort, especially when he has had something such as bronchiolitis. Raising the head of his cot by placing telephone directories under the legs, rolled towels under the mattress or using a special wedge shaped pillow under the mattress will help ease the congestion he may be still experiencing. Keeping the air moist around him by placing bowls of water or a damp towel on the radiator, or using a room humidifier, will also help his breathing.

Your son’s daily milk intake is above the minimum 20ozs suggested for this age. If he now increases his solids slightly, especially in the evenings, he should begin to settle better at night. Begin to increase the amount of baby rice he has to 3-4 teaspoons, mixed with the fruit puree. As baby rice is a carbohydrate this will help to fill your son up to see him through the night. If, at 6pm, he seems unable to take a full milk feed and all his solids you could split this feed. At 5.30/5.45pm offer him 2/3rds of his milk followed by his fruit and rice. Bath your son at 6.30pm and then give him the rest of his milk before he goes to bed. This should ensure he takes at least 7ozs of milk at this feed as well as an increased solid intake.

At lunch time use either sweet potato or baby rice as the carbohydrate part of his meal, rather than offering both together. If you are concerned about your son’s milk intake at this feed you can always mix some formula into his vegetable purees. The amount of solids he takes at this meal should begin to increase to 4 cubes, 2 of these being made from sweet potato as the carbohydrate base.

Once your son has increased his evening solids he may be less likely to wake so often in the night. Although you are concerned about your son being dependent on his dummy in order for him to sleep it would not be a good idea to take it away from him until he is fully recovered from his illness. The usual way to eliminate dummy dependence is to go “cold turkey” which will involve some crying.

Tackle the problem when you feel he is better, so you will not be so concerned about the cause of the crying which will be inevitable as he gets used to settling on his own. Find a small, cuddly soft toy or a Cuskie which he could use as a comforter to help him settle to sleep. Be prepared for two or three days of disturbed naps and nights until he learns how to settle himself.

Take a look at the Case Study of Harry in The Complete Sleep Guide, page 82, which deals with dummy withdrawal.