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Home › Expert Q&A › Child Development and Behavior › General › My 5-month-old son wakes up every half-hour after 4 a.m. How do I get him out of this routine?

Expert Q&A

 

By Susan Bartell
Licensed Psychologist

My 5-month-old son wakes up every half-hour after 4 a.m. How do I get him out of this routine?

All children move through heavy and light sleep cycles several times throughout the night. As a child enters a light sleep cycle he will either wake up or settle himself back into sleep again. When a baby learns to sleep through the night it is because he has taught himself how to move from light sleep back into deeper sleep without allowing himself to wake up. A child who learns this skill successfully does so without regular assistance from you (patting, rocking, etc.), a pacifier or any other soother external to himself.

Your baby is probably waking up beginning at 4 a.m. because this is when he moves into a light cycle. When you give him the pacifier (an external soother) it does help him fall back asleep, but as soon as it falls out of his mouth he immediately wakes up again. In order for him to learn how to sleep through the night you will do very well to wean him off the pacifier. Once he learns how to soothe himself to sleep without the pacifier, he will then sleep through the night successfully.

In order to make the transition you will need to spend some extra time helping him to fall asleep. Patting him usually works quite well, as does rocking him until he is almost asleep – but not completely.

When he awakens during the night you should try to let him cry until he falls back asleep. But if he becomes too upset, you can try to pat him again. Do your best NOT to take him out of his crib. Eventually he will get used to sleeping without the pacifier, and it will probably happen more quickly than you anticipate.

Admittedly, you may experience several rough nights until he becomes used to sleeping without the pacifier, but you will certainly benefit from it in the long run. Most important, he will learn the all-important skill of helping himself to sleep through the night."

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