# How often does your 5 month old nurse at night?



## jrose_lee (Oct 2, 2005)

Just trying to get an idea of what is normal. Ds wants to nurse every hour, but I am too exhausted and cranky to keep this up.

How many hours does your babe go at night without nursing?

TIA


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## oolongtea (Feb 25, 2007)

Used to be 3 hours apart, but right at 5 months he started waking A LOT. So I have him in bed with me and it seems hourly still... but I'm less tired because I'm not getting up out of bed.


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## allical1284 (Mar 17, 2009)

DD is 5 months, and I have learned not to get used to anything!
She slept 6-8 hours without waking up from 2-4months old. At 4 months old she would get up every hour or so to nurse. That went on for a few weeks, and now at just over 5 months she nurses about every 2 hours at night.
We pretty much have a system down though that allows me to nurse her without either of us really waking up, so we aren't dealing with the sleep loss issue.
Good Luck!


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## LadyCatherine185 (Aug 12, 2008)

at 5 months it was about every hour. at 8 months it was every 15-30 minutes. now at 13 months it is about every hour again.








sleep deprivation is so hard.


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## lkmiscnet (Jan 12, 2009)

My son is 4 months old now. At about 3 months old, he would go about 4-5 hours and then it was every 2 hours. That lasted about two weeks. Now, he is waking up on average every 3-3.5 hours and then after two sessions of that, it's every 2.5 hours.

Can't wait to start him on solids in Dec, as I hear that helps babies sleep longer!

Linda


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## LadyCatherine185 (Aug 12, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lkmiscnet* 
My son is 4 months old now. At about 3 months old, he would go about 4-5 hours and then it was every 2 hours. That lasted about two weeks. Now, he is waking up on average every 3-3.5 hours and then after two sessions of that, it's every 2.5 hours.

Can't wait to start him on solids in Dec, as I hear that helps babies sleep longer!

Linda

Sorry to burst your bubble, but nope, solids don't help! Sounds like you have an amazing sleeper already.. I'm so jealous!


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## MadiMamacita (Jan 29, 2006)

at 5mos (and still at 8mos) its an all night buffet. but we co-sleep so i dont wake up enough to be bothered or miss any sleep over it.


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## dawncayden (Jan 24, 2006)

Oh I seriously don't count or I'd get really depressed.
On a good night he will nurse twice, on a bad night it is around 6 times. Those don't include the nurse down or wake up nurse.


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## Bokonon (Aug 29, 2009)

Honestly I have no idea. Nights are all a blur! But we co-sleep so I'm not actually getting up or even fully waking each time. Right now it's probably 4-5 times during the night.


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## Maxine45 (Oct 29, 2005)

he's 3 days short of 5 mos:
twice a night usually, around midnight and again at 4:20 or so


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## Mal85 (Sep 3, 2008)

At 5 months it was anywhere between 2-6 times a night, I'd say. I didn't really count. We also co-sleep, so neither one of us really wake up for feedings. I just feel her latch on and go back to sleep. Now, at 7 months she is usually only eating once, sometimes not at all. This is nursing to sleep at 8 or so and she'll usually nurse around 10:30 when I join her in bed. There may be a 2-3 o'clock feeding or no other feedings.

Now, I have to go knock on some wood, because since I said it out loud (typed it?) she'll probably go back to nursing all night long.


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## Peacemamalove (Jun 7, 2006)

With all three of my children they would nurse anywhere for 2-4 times a night! I am so glad that we cosleep otherwise I would have been up all night!


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## larzanna (Jan 23, 2008)

Mine is 5 months now too. He was so good until 4 months, then it was 3 times a night, now its about every 3ish hours, so 2x a night MOST nights. Last night was 3









Oh, and don't feel bad if you co-sleep and STILL are not getting sleep, in truth i have no idea how everyone has these great nursing/co-sleeping relationships. We co-sleep, and i wake up, fully, everytime he nurses. I mean there is a human sucking on my boob!! How would i not wake up fully with that going on??


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## Mal85 (Sep 3, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *larzanna* 
Mine is 5 months now too. He was so good until 4 months, then it was 3 times a night, now its about every 3ish hours, so 2x a night MOST nights. Last night was 3









Oh, and don't feel bad if you co-sleep and STILL are not getting sleep, in truth i have no idea how everyone has these great nursing/co-sleeping relationships. We co-sleep, and i wake up, fully, everytime he nurses. I mean there is a human sucking on my boob!! How would i not wake up fully with that going on??

I wake up, for sure, when she starts. But not fully, I just kind of acknowledge that it's happening and sometimes help her find her way there. Then, usually I doze back off... sometimes it keeps me awake.


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## fairymom (Sep 15, 2008)

Usually he goes from 9pm till 6am w/one or 2 nursings usually between 4 and 5. He then eats by 6:30. so straight from 9-3 or 6 hrs.

Are you sure he wants to nurse and not just suck for soothing?


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## Maxine45 (Oct 29, 2005)

Cosleepers: Doesn't your baby need to burp after feeding? I tried side-lying nursing with my baby but he got a sore tummy and cried from not burping


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## Mal85 (Sep 3, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Maxine45* 
Cosleepers: Doesn't your baby need to burp after feeding? I tried side-lying nursing with my baby but he got a sore tummy and cried from not burping

When she was a newborn, I'd sit up in bed, feed her, burp her, and then we'd go back to sleep. That lasted... maybe 4 or 5 weeks. Then I discovered the joy of nursing laying down and haven't looked back. She's never had a problem with not burping... I don't really burp her anymore during the day either.


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## veganfox (Nov 24, 2008)

My little bean was sleeping for 6-7 hours every night when he was 3 months old. Once he hit 4 months, started waking up every 2 hours and wanted to nurse and that's how it has been going for the past month. I really hope he will go back to his old routine but I don't think we'll be so lucky


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## accountclosed2 (May 28, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *allical1284* 
DD is 5 months, and I have learned not to get used to anything!
She slept 6-8 hours without waking up from 2-4months old. At 4 months old she would get up every hour or so to nurse. That went on for a few weeks, and now at just over 5 months she nurses about every 2 hours at night.

Good Luck!

I could have written this post! I'd say, expect it to change!

Also, I like Dr Sears "If you resent it, change it". They have some good ideas to try, too, in their sleep book, and "the fussy baby and high-need child"


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## 77589 (Mar 7, 2007)

cosleep its the only solution to getting quality sleep. DD3 is about to be 5 months and has taken to constant nursing again, so I've given up trying to move her after her first stint asleep which can last anywhere from 2-6 hours.


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## ShineliketheSon (Aug 20, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *larzanna* 

Oh, and don't feel bad if you co-sleep and STILL are not getting sleep, in truth i have no idea how everyone has these great nursing/co-sleeping relationships. We co-sleep, and i wake up, fully, everytime he nurses. I mean there is a human sucking on my boob!! How would i not wake up fully with that going on??

YUP! me too! I may doze here and there but it is not often. LO doesn't pull her nose away for breathing so most of the time I'm holding my breast away for her. I"m tired. I'm really not sure if it's better to stay in bed or to get up nurse lay babe back down then go to be by myself...espeically with my squirmer now.. I'm tryin to accept I'll never figure it out and thats ok. She will grow out of this and then i'll miss the night snuggles!

Anyway she's nursing all night long...I don't count.


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## BirthKathy (Jun 29, 2009)

Mine is 5 mos and he has been sleeping in a pack n play in our room since he was born. He nurses about every 2 hours while he's awake, often for 30-40 minutes at a time. We're having days with no naps or very short naps, and i'm wondering if he's getting his sleep needs met with all the long nursing sessions.

He goes to bed between 10 and 12, and wakes up once 3-5 hrs later, and then again 2-4 hrs after that. Last night, he slept in his crib in his room for the first time! He went 5 hrs, then 4 so not too bad. He was more awake than usual, so we were up for an hour together. We have a monitor, but i can't hear him as well on the monitor as i could in our room. So i think he may have gotten farther into wakefulness than usual before i got to him. On the other hand, i slept much deeper all night.

I think it will get even better once he gets used to waking up in his own room.

Oh, any time that I've brought him to bed and fallen asleep, I don't sleep well. I'm not comfortable side lying nursing, and I can't relax. Unless I fall asleep sitting up nursing. That I can actually do!


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## major_mama11 (Apr 13, 2008)

DS usually will go down for about 3-4 hrs for the first stretch, then from 12 or 1 until maybe 5 am he'll want to nurse every hour or so, then he'll settle down and sleep deeply for a couple more hours before waking for the day. Sometimes sleeps better, sometimes worse, but that's a typical night for him. He wakes less often on nights when I put him back in his crib after nursing, but most nights he sleeps right by his milk supply after the first night feeding.

DD was every hour, or even more often. So exhausting.


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## kdtmom2be (Aug 26, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *OceansEve* 
cosleep its the only solution to getting quality sleep. DD3 is about to be 5 months and has taken to constant nursing again, so I've given up trying to move her after her first stint asleep which can last anywhere from 2-6 hours.

I have to disagree! It was the only solution for DD, but for DS, he sleeps 3-6 hours at a time when he's in his crib, but when he's in bed with me, he sleeps 1-2 hours at a time. Even less when DD climbs in with us, too. DS goes to bed around 10pm, sleeps until 2-4am, then is up every 2-3 hours after that, or sometimes is up every hour for a few feedings, then sleeps for another 6 hours.


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## Blessed_Mom (Aug 15, 2009)

I have to chime in with a question (I have a 4 month old DD). She sleeps 11 hours every night - from 8 PM to 2 AM(I wake her up) and goes back to sleep around 3 AM to wake up around 7 AM....

Question is about sleep-nursing. I tried many times , unsuccessfully, to sleep nurse her but the completely lying down flat position makes her throw up every time. Also it is so difficult on my back - I have to twist like a pretzel to get my boob in her mouth and hold it away from her nose (I dare not ever doze off like this). Otherwise she nurses on my breast-friend and I have a nursing footstool so I always incline her (which helps her even with not burping afterwards- sometimes).

How do you guys manage this? When I side-sleep my boob...err.....plonks down on the bed and my baby's mouth is much higher even when she is pressing down on my body so I have to lift it quite some to get her to latch. And I lift myself up on my elbow (so painful) to give it more support.


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## kdtmom2be (Aug 26, 2006)

Blessed Mom, I think the size of our boobs might play a role... I'm about an F cup these days! I lie on my side and DS lies on his back and turns his head to the side. I have to lift it to get him to latch on but then it's all up to him. Also, if I tuck his bum closer to my body that tends to encourage him to tilt his head more and get his nose off my boob. (And I did doze off one day and awoke to a strangled little baby scream because he couldn't breathe







)


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## Blessed_Mom (Aug 15, 2009)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *kdtmom2be* 
Blessed Mom, I think the size of our boobs might play a role... I'm about an F cup these days! I lie on my side and DS lies on his back and turns his head to the side. I have to lift it to get him to latch on but then it's all up to him. Also, if I tuck his bum closer to my body that tends to encourage him to tilt his head more and get his nose off my boob. (And I did doze off one day and awoke to a strangled little baby scream because he couldn't breathe







)

That's exactly it though - I am a DD and even then find that it weighs so much and plonks down on the bed. DD cannot bear the weight and suckle ..so I need to keep lifting it.Because of the increase in weight and size the nipple is pointing downwards and is not perky


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## kdtmom2be (Aug 26, 2006)

Hmm, not sure then. I do remember that it took me many months to figure out how to comfortably nurse laying down with my first. This time around it just seems so much easier (everything does!). If I had to guess I'd say DD was at least 6 months old before we really got the hang of it. Keep trying, eventually you'll get it I bet.

OH, and I do recall that DD used to lay on her tummy and turn her head, so her face was already at bed height... maybe that would help? Only problem with that was that she sometimes decided that she could take my nipple with her and turn her head the other way! OUCH!


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## olystuart (Mar 14, 2009)

Ours is 6 1/2 months old now and he usually goes a couple hours between breastfeedings at night. Lately though since he started teething, he only sleeps maybe 20 or 30 minutes, then gets fussy and squirmy without fully waking up, but his mama sure has to wake up so she has not been getting hardly any sleep except in series of little fragments of sleep. I end up on the couch halfway through the night usually, heh. -shrug-


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## User101 (Mar 3, 2002)

Moving to Breastfeeding


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