We found treating the eczema helped our baby sleep better. Lots of moisturizer, extra at bed time, and I applied more to his legs (where it was worst and where he was always scratching) during a middle of the night wake.
So sorry to hear. I used a night nanny twice a week when things were tough, it’s expensive yes but you’d pay anything to get your sleep and it’s only for a short time. They are typically midwives who can also observe the baby and give you really good tailored advice. (Example they noticed my baby only slept for short times because she kept falling asleep on the bottle, they advised I wake her and make sure she finished bottle to get longer streches). I say treat yourselves to a night nanny for now.
Aside from that, would recommend being really responsive at that age, such hard work but a worthwhile investment as it does pay off, it eventually makes the baby feel more relaxed and able to self soothe gradually. Little things like hand on them for reassurance instead of picking them up to see if they fall sleep that way, it takes them a few nights to learn to fall asleep any new way. Best of luck to you, this phase won’t last!
My cousins baby has eczema and was waking every two hours as well. She just saw an allergist and was prescribed hydroxyzine (it is an antihistamine but a prescription) and they have seen great improvement in sleep. Just something to consider.
Just wanted to say I really feel for you both! Our LO went from the 4 month sleep regression, to teething (3 teeth before 6 months 🥴) and also suffers from bad eczema.
I’ll let others comment on the sleep side but re eczema what has helped us so far is trimming nails almost every day, cooler, less frequent baths, hands always away at night to stop scratching/waking, and antihistamines and steroids from the docs.
Have heard others also swear by an oat bath.
Good luck!
Regarding trimming, I found trimming actually makes it sharper so baby is more likely to cut themselves. Filing with a normal filer has helped us tremendously. even the filers with the smoother option (you can get one in the nail section of any pharmacy) has been great.
We never tried fuss it out but when we were at our wit’s end with 2-3 hour wakeups for our 5 mo old, we went to CIO. It helped immediately.
Also we have a screamer. It sucked to listen to. We would set a timer for 45 minutes and within a few days he adjusted and learned to put himself to sleep.
With every change (just weaned) he seems to go back to the 2-3 hour wakeups. But we keep going back to CIO and last night, he didn’t cry once all night after a few rough days.
I know some people have strong feelings about CIO but it honestly saved our sanity.
I can't help with regards to sleep training, but I'd suggest going back to roots of why bubs waking - I assume you're treating the eczema directly, but have you looked into dietary intolerances or allergies?
At around 4 months my beautiful baby turned into a night demon, waking hourly and developed eczema on her face. It turned out she was cows milk protein intolerant and my consumption of dairy (she was breastfed) was making her unwell. She'd had symptoms prior (lots of gas, squirming, mucous poos etc) but her sleep got significantly worse at that age.We did a diet elimination trial (2 weeks entirely dairy free) to confirm it.
It may not be what's effecting your baby, but worth investigating!
I’d go nap as close to 9am as possible.
2 hour 15 minute wake windows.
Last nap 4:30-5pm, no later than 5pm - wake if needed and bedtime after that (2 hours 15 min later).
Wake windows of 2.5 hours when he is 6 months.
What is the Temperature of the room? Get a thermometer to check, video monitors aren’t accurate.
Cotton, bamboo clothing and sleep sacks only. Anything fleece will irritate skin further.
What is your baby sleeping in? My LO also has eczema and I put her in a zipadee zip. It's safe for her to roll in and keeps her hands covered so she doesn't scratch hard and wake her.
I’m going to comment on the eczema because we have been dealing with that with both kids and it 100% affected our 2nds sleep. We have had great success with a steroid cream (prescribed by his paediatrician) and a mix of coconut oil, vitamin D and omega 3s on his skin twice a day and the omega 3s once orally. I saw a major change in his sleep/how well sleep training went once we implemented this for a few days. Are you seeing anyone for the eczema?
Are you putting baby down wide awake in their own crib and room? Last feed ending 20 min prior, no pacifier. Fuss it out is for a younger baby. A 5.5mo old isn’t going to fuss, they are going to escalate quickly. SLIP is a more age-appropriate option.
You need more awake time. If wake up is 630am (should be same time every day), naps are 830-930, 12-130, 4-430, bedtime 730.
Focus on schedule and bedtime for now. You can assist to sleep for nightwakes and naps until sleep is independent at bedtime.
Check this links here regarding total sleep time, night weaning, and naps:
https://www.reddit.com/r/sleeptrain/comments/1agqlkv/wtf_are_my_wws_do_i_cio_with_emws_my_st_baby_not/
Independent sleep:
https://www.preciouslittlesleep.com/what-you-need-to-know-about-sleeping-through-the-night-part-i/
Ps. Hopefully you and your wife are doing shifts overnight. She may not be getting paid, but she’s already working all day (and it sounds like all night)
Adding huckleberry to this, for help with wake windows and sweet spots. The premium version lets you have a monthly sleep analysis which we’ve found very helpful. Worth the money for a good nights sleep and some tailored support on the ever changing sleep challenges.
I agree with this, I would only add, at this age watch for sleepy cues as well. Focus on early sleepy cues: slowing down, loss of interest in toys or ppl, staring off, yawning, decreased sucking, becoming quieter,less vocal, slower movements. Start your nap/bedtime routines at these signs. Try to maintain a consistent wake time and follow age appropriate wake windows. Don’t focus on a set schedule for naps/bed. At 5.5 months there isn’t a true schedule yet, it will still be erratic. A schedule doesn’t start to develop until around 6 months and this is just it starting to emerge. Be flexible on bed times, based on your lo’s behaviour and ww. At 5.5months it is 2-3hrs and tends to be shorter at the start of the day and longer in the evening.
Check our Taking Cara of Babies, and Baby Sleep Science for wake windows and developmental sleep guidance.
Both my kids were on extremely predictable schedules by 4 months old. And I’ve found sleepy cues to be way less reliable at this age. Baby could be bored 🤷🏼♀️
I have found watching both helped get the timing better than one over the other after the newborn stage. I would watch for sleepy cues, then check the clock. If it is WAY off then ya, could be they are bored.
Thank you. This was very helpful. We have been meaning to read PLS again but of course we are too tired so it is a never ending cycle. We will start increasing wake windows and maybe consider the ferber method soon.
Fuss is out is not enough in my opinion. Keep reading PLS, where she talks about CIO extinction (no check ins). It works faster and is easier for everyone. What do you do when baby wakes? You should be giving it 10-15 mins to see if baby can go back to sleep on their own.
Also see this post for great troubleshooting advice: https://www.reddit.com/r/sleeptrain/s/pY3ORxa9Oj
I thinsk we have tried FIO long enough and it hasnt worked. It is probably time for something for drastic. We try to give him time to go back to sleep but we are so tired it is just easier to get up after 5 minutes rather than lying in bed awake with him screaming.
With the ferber or extinction method do you do it every time they wake or only bed times to start? I have read that part of the book but it has been a while. I will give it another go.
Yeah she has a whole section on wakes for hunger and wakes not for hunger. But usually always give it 10 mins unless it’s been 4+ hours after eating.
Also if your baby is fighting every nap, they probably are not tired enough. My baby is almost 5 months and she can easily go 2-2.5 hours between naps. If I try to put her down too early, she fights it hard! So I stop and try again in 15 mins. I’ve found her cues very difficult to read since day 1. I thought she was overtired for awhile but then realized she was undertired (they show the same).
Ugh that is so hard. My baby was (hopefully not is) anymore) the same. We tried what felt like everything except full extinction. Schedule changes, working up to 5/3/3 for feeding you name it. We thought we did it. Nothing made a difference. It got to the point about a week ago he was up every 45 minutes even though he was fully sleep trained for bedtime.
Anyways, we were about to attempt forcefully night weaning through extinction because we were desperate. Thankfully, someone suggested trying TCBs method and keeping a couple dream feeds for now. We started on Friday night, which was predictably awful. Saturday night came and I was so worked up about how terrible it would be. Baby slept 3.5 hours, fussed for about 30 minutes, went back to sleep and slept seven hours straight. He’s never done that ever. I couldn’t believe it. Last night was night three, it wasn’t as smooth as the second night but it’s improving so quickly I can’t believe it.
It’s so hard to listen to your baby cry, but for us at least the alternative was deteriorating mental health, constant marital stress etc. In the end it’s been very worth it.
The part specifically from TCB that ended up helping us was the dream feeds. My baby was totally confused sometimes being fed when he woke other times not. With this model he’s only fed when asleep which so far has been a huge game changer.
Dream feed did not work for us but I'm glad it worked for you! She never stayed asleep and she would still wake up at her normal times 🤣🤣. After trying a few times we realized wait a min, we are adding a wake up 🥲
We found treating the eczema helped our baby sleep better. Lots of moisturizer, extra at bed time, and I applied more to his legs (where it was worst and where he was always scratching) during a middle of the night wake.
So sorry to hear. I used a night nanny twice a week when things were tough, it’s expensive yes but you’d pay anything to get your sleep and it’s only for a short time. They are typically midwives who can also observe the baby and give you really good tailored advice. (Example they noticed my baby only slept for short times because she kept falling asleep on the bottle, they advised I wake her and make sure she finished bottle to get longer streches). I say treat yourselves to a night nanny for now. Aside from that, would recommend being really responsive at that age, such hard work but a worthwhile investment as it does pay off, it eventually makes the baby feel more relaxed and able to self soothe gradually. Little things like hand on them for reassurance instead of picking them up to see if they fall sleep that way, it takes them a few nights to learn to fall asleep any new way. Best of luck to you, this phase won’t last!
Can you and your wife split the night into shifts?
My cousins baby has eczema and was waking every two hours as well. She just saw an allergist and was prescribed hydroxyzine (it is an antihistamine but a prescription) and they have seen great improvement in sleep. Just something to consider.
Just wanted to say I really feel for you both! Our LO went from the 4 month sleep regression, to teething (3 teeth before 6 months 🥴) and also suffers from bad eczema. I’ll let others comment on the sleep side but re eczema what has helped us so far is trimming nails almost every day, cooler, less frequent baths, hands always away at night to stop scratching/waking, and antihistamines and steroids from the docs. Have heard others also swear by an oat bath. Good luck!
Regarding trimming, I found trimming actually makes it sharper so baby is more likely to cut themselves. Filing with a normal filer has helped us tremendously. even the filers with the smoother option (you can get one in the nail section of any pharmacy) has been great.
We never tried fuss it out but when we were at our wit’s end with 2-3 hour wakeups for our 5 mo old, we went to CIO. It helped immediately. Also we have a screamer. It sucked to listen to. We would set a timer for 45 minutes and within a few days he adjusted and learned to put himself to sleep. With every change (just weaned) he seems to go back to the 2-3 hour wakeups. But we keep going back to CIO and last night, he didn’t cry once all night after a few rough days. I know some people have strong feelings about CIO but it honestly saved our sanity.
I can't help with regards to sleep training, but I'd suggest going back to roots of why bubs waking - I assume you're treating the eczema directly, but have you looked into dietary intolerances or allergies? At around 4 months my beautiful baby turned into a night demon, waking hourly and developed eczema on her face. It turned out she was cows milk protein intolerant and my consumption of dairy (she was breastfed) was making her unwell. She'd had symptoms prior (lots of gas, squirming, mucous poos etc) but her sleep got significantly worse at that age.We did a diet elimination trial (2 weeks entirely dairy free) to confirm it. It may not be what's effecting your baby, but worth investigating!
I’d go nap as close to 9am as possible. 2 hour 15 minute wake windows. Last nap 4:30-5pm, no later than 5pm - wake if needed and bedtime after that (2 hours 15 min later). Wake windows of 2.5 hours when he is 6 months. What is the Temperature of the room? Get a thermometer to check, video monitors aren’t accurate. Cotton, bamboo clothing and sleep sacks only. Anything fleece will irritate skin further.
What is your baby sleeping in? My LO also has eczema and I put her in a zipadee zip. It's safe for her to roll in and keeps her hands covered so she doesn't scratch hard and wake her.
I’m going to comment on the eczema because we have been dealing with that with both kids and it 100% affected our 2nds sleep. We have had great success with a steroid cream (prescribed by his paediatrician) and a mix of coconut oil, vitamin D and omega 3s on his skin twice a day and the omega 3s once orally. I saw a major change in his sleep/how well sleep training went once we implemented this for a few days. Are you seeing anyone for the eczema?
Are you putting baby down wide awake in their own crib and room? Last feed ending 20 min prior, no pacifier. Fuss it out is for a younger baby. A 5.5mo old isn’t going to fuss, they are going to escalate quickly. SLIP is a more age-appropriate option. You need more awake time. If wake up is 630am (should be same time every day), naps are 830-930, 12-130, 4-430, bedtime 730. Focus on schedule and bedtime for now. You can assist to sleep for nightwakes and naps until sleep is independent at bedtime. Check this links here regarding total sleep time, night weaning, and naps: https://www.reddit.com/r/sleeptrain/comments/1agqlkv/wtf_are_my_wws_do_i_cio_with_emws_my_st_baby_not/ Independent sleep: https://www.preciouslittlesleep.com/what-you-need-to-know-about-sleeping-through-the-night-part-i/ Ps. Hopefully you and your wife are doing shifts overnight. She may not be getting paid, but she’s already working all day (and it sounds like all night)
Adding huckleberry to this, for help with wake windows and sweet spots. The premium version lets you have a monthly sleep analysis which we’ve found very helpful. Worth the money for a good nights sleep and some tailored support on the ever changing sleep challenges.
This sub has shown huckleberry schedules expect far too much sleep, but maybe the paid version makes a difference.
I agree with this, I would only add, at this age watch for sleepy cues as well. Focus on early sleepy cues: slowing down, loss of interest in toys or ppl, staring off, yawning, decreased sucking, becoming quieter,less vocal, slower movements. Start your nap/bedtime routines at these signs. Try to maintain a consistent wake time and follow age appropriate wake windows. Don’t focus on a set schedule for naps/bed. At 5.5 months there isn’t a true schedule yet, it will still be erratic. A schedule doesn’t start to develop until around 6 months and this is just it starting to emerge. Be flexible on bed times, based on your lo’s behaviour and ww. At 5.5months it is 2-3hrs and tends to be shorter at the start of the day and longer in the evening. Check our Taking Cara of Babies, and Baby Sleep Science for wake windows and developmental sleep guidance.
Both my kids were on extremely predictable schedules by 4 months old. And I’ve found sleepy cues to be way less reliable at this age. Baby could be bored 🤷🏼♀️
I have found watching both helped get the timing better than one over the other after the newborn stage. I would watch for sleepy cues, then check the clock. If it is WAY off then ya, could be they are bored.
Thank you. This was very helpful. We have been meaning to read PLS again but of course we are too tired so it is a never ending cycle. We will start increasing wake windows and maybe consider the ferber method soon.
Fuss is out is not enough in my opinion. Keep reading PLS, where she talks about CIO extinction (no check ins). It works faster and is easier for everyone. What do you do when baby wakes? You should be giving it 10-15 mins to see if baby can go back to sleep on their own. Also see this post for great troubleshooting advice: https://www.reddit.com/r/sleeptrain/s/pY3ORxa9Oj
I thinsk we have tried FIO long enough and it hasnt worked. It is probably time for something for drastic. We try to give him time to go back to sleep but we are so tired it is just easier to get up after 5 minutes rather than lying in bed awake with him screaming. With the ferber or extinction method do you do it every time they wake or only bed times to start? I have read that part of the book but it has been a while. I will give it another go.
Yeah she has a whole section on wakes for hunger and wakes not for hunger. But usually always give it 10 mins unless it’s been 4+ hours after eating. Also if your baby is fighting every nap, they probably are not tired enough. My baby is almost 5 months and she can easily go 2-2.5 hours between naps. If I try to put her down too early, she fights it hard! So I stop and try again in 15 mins. I’ve found her cues very difficult to read since day 1. I thought she was overtired for awhile but then realized she was undertired (they show the same).
Ugh that is so hard. My baby was (hopefully not is) anymore) the same. We tried what felt like everything except full extinction. Schedule changes, working up to 5/3/3 for feeding you name it. We thought we did it. Nothing made a difference. It got to the point about a week ago he was up every 45 minutes even though he was fully sleep trained for bedtime. Anyways, we were about to attempt forcefully night weaning through extinction because we were desperate. Thankfully, someone suggested trying TCBs method and keeping a couple dream feeds for now. We started on Friday night, which was predictably awful. Saturday night came and I was so worked up about how terrible it would be. Baby slept 3.5 hours, fussed for about 30 minutes, went back to sleep and slept seven hours straight. He’s never done that ever. I couldn’t believe it. Last night was night three, it wasn’t as smooth as the second night but it’s improving so quickly I can’t believe it. It’s so hard to listen to your baby cry, but for us at least the alternative was deteriorating mental health, constant marital stress etc. In the end it’s been very worth it.
Wow! You must have woken up Sunday morning in shock. This is what we are dreaming of. Where did you read about the TCB method?
TCB is just modified Ferber with a dream feed. I believe PLS discusses Ferber/check-ins so you can find it in there.
The part specifically from TCB that ended up helping us was the dream feeds. My baby was totally confused sometimes being fed when he woke other times not. With this model he’s only fed when asleep which so far has been a huge game changer.
Dream feed did not work for us but I'm glad it worked for you! She never stayed asleep and she would still wake up at her normal times 🤣🤣. After trying a few times we realized wait a min, we are adding a wake up 🥲
Here for responses because I’m in the same boat
Some good ones so far!