unsettled, grumpy and not sleeping well...

DS is 5months and in the past week he's gone from being a happy, content baby who slept (relatively well) overnight. All of a sudden, he's clingy, grumpy and for the past 3 nights, he's gonig down about 7pm to 12am and then he's waking every 1-2 hours. His daytime sleep is the same as its ever been (which is really inconsistent), but when he's awake, he'll sometime have a feed, and then within the hour, is unsettled, so after trying other stuff, I end up offering a feed and he feeds again with gusto.

I know that there's probably a wonder week or growth spurt around this point so it could be either of those, or I keep thinking he must be teething - the dribble, rosy cheeks, gnawiing on anything he can get in his mouth, runny nose, etc but can't see any sign of them.

It wouldn't normally worry me, but his growth spurts/wonder weeks normally have only been 3 days, and this current behaviour has been going on since last saturday.

Any other ideas/tips? And mainly, I just want to know that this won't last!! :lol: I'm really struggling on the lack of sleep, especially with a toddler to chase around too!

It does sound like teething- given the symptoms you've described- have you tried giving him nurofen before bed? If it's his teeth it should help him sleep better. DS was teething on and off for months before his first tooth actually came through.
Otherwise maybe a trip to the gp?
:hug: hope he settles down for you.

Gosh, I gotta say the 4 to 7 month was a really tricky time for DS - day sleeps went down the gurgler - previously a couple of hours to 40 min, waking all night. Then of course when he was awake in the day he was just grumpy - through lack of sleep and wanted to be held all the time. Yes, it was hard, I think they have alot of developmental things happening at this stage. But it will get better, it is just so hard at the time. xxx

Could be teething, but separation anxiety is also very likely at this age. It can last a while I'm afraid :hug:
Do you cosleep at all? That's the only thing that helped us, for teething or anxiety. He still woke up, but it was easier when he did.

Just a note re: teething, sometimes it's just the teeth moving around too and you won't see anything. There's been times I've sworn Elijah was going to get a tooth... like just before he was 12 months and he actually didn't get anymore until about a month ago at 14 months! So, they can annoy them and move around in the gums for a while before making their way up and out. :hug:

I would agree with teething, DD1 was an 'active' teether from 5mths inc red/purple cheeks, dribbling, fussy, clingy, gumming everything... she didn't get her first tooth until 10mths!
It's possible they are just moving around in there... god i'm glad we don't teeth as adults!

Hopefully it's over soon, smile and remember this too shall pass!

Thanks everyone! I don't remember this with DD, mind you, her worst sleeping stage was from 8-10months and I think it just overshawdowed everything previously!

Marcellus - we don't co-sleep, but he's in a bassinet right next to us - its not during the night that I struggle, its the next day!
Heva - some nights, when nothing else has worked, we do end up giving him panadol, but I don't like doing this continually. Was thinking about taking a trip to the doc just to make sure no other issues.
Zarava - DD was such a quick teether, she'd be grumpy for a day or two, and then there'd be a new tooth, with its pair arriving a day or two later so this "is it teething, is it not" is driving me crazy!

It is hard, both my girls are shocking teethers, my cousin was petrified her DS would be the same (born 3 days before DD1) but i said i bet he will be opposite cos she was so worried... i was right, 3wks later she's like "your going to hate me.. Z has 2 teeth" :rofl:

Maybe you could try the brauers teething relief or maybe an amber teething necklace?

Sounds like teething to me. I also second ZF's suggestion of the amber teething necklace and Brauers teething relief. My DS has always been a terrible teether (hours of crying on end in the early days), but I find with these we get through most of it pretty easily, sometimes when the tooth is cutting he might need a little bit of panadol or nurofen, but most of the time these natural options do the the trick.

What you describe is very similar to what DD went through, and it was teeth. I won't say how long it went on because it sounds bad, but it eventually got better once toothy peg no.1 appeared. The good news is that the teeth she has got since then have been much easier than the earlier efforts.

The best thing I found to help her feel comfortable enough to get some sleep was Hylands teething tablets.

Do you have an amber teething necklace? That helped us.
DS' teeth took on average 3-4 weeks each. Nothing helped an awful lot unfortunately.