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What's the longest you've let him cry when he wakes up?
Sometimes my LO will wake up screaming, but she stops and goes back to sleep after a few..

I hate the scared/sad/heartbreaking cry...
Hope someone has some good advice for you, because I'm no pro!

@Coco Bee: Do you think there is something that is hurting him? Maybe teeth? or his tummy? You could try advil (or teething pills) one night before bed to see if that helps.

My son didn't and doesn't sleep well at all. It is so hard to listen to him full out crying. We spent 2 hours last night trying to figure it out. Nursing, advil (after nothing else worked), Walking, shushing, patting, snuggling in bed. He ended up just conking at 10 pm after nursing again.

*hugs* I'm afraid this problem is just beginning for us as well. Mya used to be a rockstar nightsleeper and self-soother, but I'm terrified that it's falling apart!!! I'm keeping my eye on this thread and hoping for some good advice. I know that heartbreaking cry in the night all too well. Good luck!

is it too young for night terrors?

For us, if he cries himself awake and goes back to sleep in 5 minutes, we leave him. But if he cries himself awake and cannot fall back asleep, we just start over and try again in 2 hours--so we play, talk, change his diaper, then swaddle and nurse and put in the crib again... I hate it but if I try to put him back to sleep after he wakes himself up, he just keeps crying.

good luck. I hope he gets some sleep!

Do you have a night light?

This sounds crazy but I swear my LO is afraid of the dark. If she wakes up and it is pitch black, she freaks out. But she is fine if she wakes up and there is a night light....and she can soothe herself back to sleep.

@Coco Bee: I think we started having teething pain around 3 months. During the day, he may be to busy to notice the pain. But if he naps well I agree that may not be the case. Could it be an ear infection? My sister's kids only show ear infections at night.

I would go see a doctor. 1. it would eliminate some possibilities (like ear infection). 2. they tell me I am crazy but I have piece of mind (that it isn't an ear infection) and that is totally worth the money.

I would also try an earlier bedtime. It could be a strange over tired situation.

@Coco Bee: I totally agree that you should check with your pedi to make sure there aren't any medical issues, but honestly, I think this is a continuation of the 4 month sleep regression.

Making sure my LO is well-rested is sooo important to me so I've read a ton on baby sleep. I think the fact that Cobi is dependent on you to fall asleep is playing a factor into his constant waking because when he stirs between sleep cycles he is in a different situation than when he initially fell asleep.

That is awesome that he is such a great napper (I'm jealous!) but he's probably making up for his fragmented overnight sleep...I think daytime sleep for a 5 month old is supposed to be around 4 hours.

I really hope you can get through this! A tired, crying baby is heart wrenching!

Ferber isn't just about CIO...he's also big into the sleep earlier and for longer method.

Regarding the terrors...I am of the school of thought that even at an early age they are possible. Think of all the new things they see in a day and can't really process...I'd be scared too and who knows how it would get interpreted in my brain.

@Coco Bee: Awesome! I love the book so far I just haven't had the time to implement it.

My son almost always wakes up with what we have affectionately nicknamed "The Death Scream". It is so hard and he still does it at 15 months old. For him, though, I am convinced it was a learned behavior from when he was in pain.

The sleep regression can happen anytime between 3-5 months because it coincides with wonder weeks 12, 19 and 26 (I think). Askmoxie has a great post on it.

I never suggested that you should do CIO.

@Coco Bee: My baby does this exact thing IF i try to put he to bed before 10.30pm. So I just pushed her bedtime back and she is fine, but everytime I try to put her to bed before 9pm she will keep waking up crying. Cant explain it, DH thinks she isnt tired enough? who knows.

@Coco Bee: this is the best analogy I have read about what happens with sleep dependencies. Imagine you had a favourite pillow that you needed in order to fall asleep. So you fall asleep with your pillow and someone takes it away while you're sleeping. 45 minutes later you wake up and your pillow is gone!! You're pissed off and so worked up that there's no way you want to fall back asleep without your pillow.

Babies are so much more aware of their environment now, so yes, sleep dependencies can become a problem although sometimes they're not. I'm not am expert though but it's something to think about.

The no-cry sleep solution is a great resource but her strategies still involve some crying...it's just not called CIO. I think you also have to realize that babies will protest in the form of crying but they're not 'crying themselves to sleep.'

For instance, this afternoon, my LO refused to take his last nap. I tried for 40 minutes and decided to drive him around to get him to sleep. He screamed for 10 minutes because he was so tired and conked out. I knew he needed to sleep and I wasn't going to keep him up and prevent him from getting that rest just because I didn't want him to cry a little.

@Coco Bee: i hear you. my LO since 4 mos has been waking up either on the hour or every couple of hours. he is just crying and can't seem to just relax and fall back asleep. i don't want to CIO right now either bc we live in an apt and boy, can he scream. also the small amt of time, i did allow him to CIO, he's associated his crib with crying and whenever he was put there he'd cry.

so right now, just trying to sooth him. now that he's tried solids, i wonder if he will sleep longer. keep us posted. good luck!

@Coco Bee: daysleep and night sleep are supposedly organized in different parts of the brain, so what happens or doesn't happen during nap time shouldn't affect nighttime (with the exception of overtiredness). Example: my LO needs a paci to take longer naps but doesn't need it at all at night. He also wakes up after 45 minutes for 2 of his 3 naps but never does that at night. Same with how some babies don't need to be swaddled in the day but do at night, or vice versa.

I think the fact that he is waking every 45 minutes (I.e. between sleep cycles) is very telling. There's something that's bothering him that makes him wake up and scream when he's going through the lighter sleep stages. I wish I has more advice for you.