5-month-old waking up for food twice a night?

I would suggest giving him the cereal before giving him a bath at night, and then after bath give him a bottle. It may be that the rice cereal just isn't enough to keep him satisfied.

my doc recommended that around that age to help my lil girl sleep better at night, since starting that she only woke up once a night!

Good Luck

My guy used to wake up 2x a night, sometimes more for bottles and I rushed in there the instant I heard him making noises. One night I was so exhausted that when he started fussing a bit I just laid there and listened. You know what he did? He got himself rolled over and went right back to sleep! Mind you he did wake a few hours later and at that point he was very vocal about being hungry so I went in and fed him. After that night I decided I wouldn't rush in there with a bottle anymore as he was waking more out of habit than out of need. Now at 5 months he will sometimes wake up for one feed depending on how much he ate the day before but about half the time now he sleeps all the way through the night.

Of course every baby is different. His sleeping got better once he started having 2 meals a day of solids. He also sleeps better at night if he only has a couple naps during the day. If we have a very active day he sleeps better at night. He weighs 16 1/2 lbs now, and there was a marked improvement in the length of time he could sleep through when he hit 15 lbs. The bigger the baby, the more reserves they have stored and the more likely they will sleep through the night.

That being said though there are still occasions when he is awake several times during the night like when he is actively teething. The night after he got his needles he was up and down because he wasn't feeling well.

Don't give the baby water, it could damage his kidneys. The best thing to do is to not even go into the room and see if he settles on his own. If you do feel you need to go in, just pop a pacifier in (if he takes one) and rub his back/tummy/head or whatever you normally do to calm him and see if he goes back to sleep. If he is truly waking from hunger he will let you know!

Very normal. I would just keep feeding him on demand until his body has physically matured enough to make it through the night. I would never give a baby under 5 months cereal. They are just not ready for it at that point. The AAP recommends waiting until 6 months.

Also, someone suggested putting cereal in the bottle. That's a very bad idea.

Keep up the good work, your baby sounds like a normal little boy! Congrats!

Sometimes babies bellies get full from cereal, but they can't get nutriton out of it, so they are hungry in the middle of the night, because there was no nutrition taken, just the feeling of a full belly.

Maybe do a cereal feeding at dinner time, then only milk (formula) at bedtime. See if that helps any. Newest studies show that we shouldn't be feeding our children anything besides milk or formula before 6 months old.

I had the same problem. By 5 months your baby is capable of eating enough to stay full enough to sleep 8 hours, I can assure you he does not NEED to eat in any less than 6 hours, it is routine for him now to wake and have mid-night bottles, so you need to break this routine.Thia is how I did it... when he wakes up, give him a bottle with only (distilled) water in it. He will probably suck down half an ounce or less and figure out it's not formula , and not drink any more. At this point, you should lay him back in the crib, (give him his binky if he takes one) and rub the top of his head til he(hopefully) falls back to sleep(he may whine or cry even for awhile) If he doesn't go back to sleep within a reasonable amount of time, let him sit in his crib and leave the room. You may even have to let him cry himself back to sleep. If, you have to do this, make sure he is in a dark(or semi dark so theres nothing to keep his attention and keep him awake) room, in his crib, and he shouldn't cry for long before he's back to dreamland. I know it sounds harsh, and is not easy to do, but as long as he has a clean diaper and nothing else is wrong with him, it's the best thing to do.

You may have to do this, or PROBABLY will have to do this for a few nights before he starts sleeping longer between bottles, he will not want to wake up for only a bottle filled with water...but whatever you do, DON'T give in and give him formula, make him wait at least 6 hours til his morning bottle.

And as soon as he's going that 6 hours without eating, you should try prolonging the time between when he gets up to eat and when he actually gets a bottle.. distract him by an extra long diaper change.. a game of peek a boo..etc.. So then it will become 6.5 or 7 hours between feedings, and eventually he will start sleeping a full 8-10 hours a t a time. This really works if you have the stamina to put up with him fussing for a few nights and only give him water.

My daughter was the same way. When she was three month I give her baby cereal besides milk. As time went by she still would be hungry. At four months old I give her regular baby food at dinner time. and later a bottle. Try and warm his bedtime milk before you feed him. Something warm in his tummy might help. Good luck and Best wishes.

How long does he fuss before you go to him? It's difficult, but you need to let a baby cry during the night for up to 15 minutes... and you have to look at a clock and time it because it feels like forever. After 15 minutes, they actually need something. Up to 15, and they may just be looking for routine; knowing that you will be there to pick him up right away...

I would also make sure that you use formula with the rice cereal or try to slowly incorporate oat cereal or barley... and of course, a pacifier if he doesn't already use one.

Completely normal. His little tummy is too small to go through the night without eating. Keep feeding him. Sleeping through the night is a developmental milestone that every child reaches at a different time, there is no magic date they should be sleeping through by. My son is 14 months old and still wakes 2-3 times at night to nurse.

Is he actually waking for the feedings? I use to be overly zealous with my oldest and run in and feed her on the smallest wimper. I soon learnt that she will let me know very vocally if she requires a feed, I didn't even need a baby monitor.

He's only 5 months old and probably requires the extra calories. Once he's really into solids that night time wakings will diminish slowly.

maybe try feeding him more during the day because if they miss meals then they try to make up for it at night also maybe insted to right away getting up and feeding him let him cry alittle and see if he does wake up cuz sometimes babies cry in there sleep even at that age and if he still cries dont give him a bottle right away try soothing rock him or rub his back/tummy depending on which way hes sleeping but if he still wants to eat then let him but again maybe see if you can feed him more during the day maybe every 3 hours or so hope this helps good luck