5 month old - sudden change in routine, not sleeping :(

The Issue
My 5 month old son changed his schedule on us over a week ago. All of a sudden, he changed from going to sleep at 6:30/7:00 to 9:00. If we try to put him down, he will just cry the whole time. He's not hungry, we know

he is starting to teethe, but his teeth don't seem to bother him at that time. He has also started not taking very good naps during the day. So, sometimes he is awake from 2pm until 9pm because he won't go to sleep. How do we help him? Do we just let him cry it out? Any help would be greatly appreciated! He is so tired during the day now and cranky and not his usual, happy, smiling, laughing self!

Ideas
Some of the things to check out are;

- Have you begun solids? If not, then it definitely sounds like hunger pains. It's really hard to sleep when you are really hungry. Around 5 months babies experience strong growth spurts.

- If he is on solids, you may like to conduct a sanity check on what he is eating. It could be giving him a tummy upset, but doesn't explain it being round the clock.

- I have noticed when my little one was this age, I needed to prop the mattress up slightly, as he would get windy/like colic pain and this helped with his digestion of milk or food.

- My son had very similar sleep patterns as your little one and teething could also be an issue, especially if it's constant. If so, you may been experiencing runny poos as well as irritability, clinginess.

- For teething there are many natural remedies, such as tissue salts and not natural, such as Bonjela (numbing gel) and panadol.

It does seems so sudden, I would also have him checked out with your GP and Clinic Child Nurse to see if there is anything else that could be the issue. However, with sudden changes, teething is often the culprit. My son's back dreaded, yucky molars have started to move, but not break through and it's been terrible. Not eating, sleep and lots of carrying around and this was all of a sudden at 19 months...it was such a shock to the sleep system, as I was getting a FULL nights sleep. After two weeks things are returning to normal (until they start to move again) arrr.

Hang in there! I do remember when my adult wisdom teeth were erupting and is was extremely painful that I couldn't sleep. I am leaning towards the teething answer. However, if you think it isn't what it is I would recommend having your bub checked out. I wouldn't try controlled crying, until you rule out, him not being well. If he is teething he will need some pain relief and then you will see him automatically returning to his patterns...however, he may need your help in getting back into the routine with a bit of controlled crying, but usually his returns back to his routine without much assistence...