5-6 month old kitten won't let me sleep

Hi – I recently adopted a beautiful Scottish Straight kitten – she is almost 6 months old. She was spayed last week, and is doing great. Eats well, uses her litter well. She’s extremely loving, and likes a lot of attention, and I love this SO much about her. However, it is proving a problem at night. She isn’t like this every single night – but on many nights, she wakes me up every 1.5 hours or so, meowing right in my face, trying to kiss me/ wake me, and asking me to cuddle and pet her. I’m not sure what to do – I don’t want to discourage this loving trait in her, but it is destroying my sleep and rendering me unable to function during the day. I am totally happy with her sleeping next to me, and I love when she does, quietly, and she does do this successfully on some nights. Am I doing something wrong? I do spend all day at work, so perhaps she is lonely and not getting enough attention/ play time during the day? I make sure she has enough food and water at night, so that shouldn’t be an issue. Is there a way to train her not to wake me at night? I live in a small studio, so there is really no escaping her (I have a spacious bathroom, but I really don’t want to lock her in there, and she super hates it anyway. A few days ago I tried the whole spraying with water trick but (1) it discourages her from coming to my bed at all (2) it didn’t actually work. Soon as I stopped, went to bed, turned the lights off, she immediately jumped onto my bed and joined me haha. (she did however sleep quietly next to me that night!!! Hmm)….  I really do just want her to sleep next to me, but let me sleep. Am I asking for too much?! Please advise. I love her, but I also need my sleep….I'm also confused as to why there are certain nights she doesn't disturb me, and certain nights that she does.... Thanks for all your help!

The short answer is...she's just "at that age."  You are living with roughly the equivalent of a pre-teen right now.  I'd say, should you be able to survive it (and most of us do), most of your issues will settle down and come to an end in another 6 months or so, and they will start tapering off slowly before that.  The truth is, your kitten sees you as The Source of All Good Things, and wants your company.    How lucky are you that she does? 

Having reared a number of kittens, and two sons, I will tell you that the kitten will get over it MUCH sooner than a human child!  THEY keep it up for YEARS!

Rocket was like that when she was little. I found that if I ignored her and didn't react she did it less and less until now she just sleeps when I sleep. It didn't make her any less cuddly or playful it just forced her into my sleep schedule. To the point that she now will yell at me to go to bed around the same time every night and sleeps with me until the morning. 

Thanks guys! I have been trying to ignore her - but she has started waking me up literally every 1.5 hours and she will put her face to mine, and now has started this really annoying habit of scratching the sheets/ pillowcase next to my head cuz she knows it irritates me!!! I'm also the lightest sleeper ever, so even if I don't pay her any attention, I do stir a little and switch sides/ move my face away from her etc, and I think that's encouraging her! 

Last night I resorted to spraying her with a water bottle - which I am so reluctant to do because I want her to be in bed with me, but I am so completely exhausted and underslept....She still jumped into bed every now and then, but after spraying with water just 1-2 times, I would only have to show her the bottle and she would leap off the bed. I'm still waking up, yes, but at least its so quick that I just go straight to bed. This is pretty non-ideal....(i dont want to use scare tactics to train her) but I desperately needed some rest. 

Anyway the good news is, I woke up and immediately moved to my couch and she cuddled with me for ages, so I am hoping she associates me/ the couch with cuddling.....and the bed with spraying/ water. 

You need to find another method of deterring her, although I understand desperation.   Spray bottles are quickly associated with the person holding them, and if it is used too much could cause her to be shy of you.  You obviously adore her, and I know you don't want that.  Wish I had a better solution, but ignoring really is the only sure, permanent solution that won't make her associate you with bad things.

I agree. Have you tried pulling the blankets over your head so she can't get to your body at all when she does it? You also have to be perfectly still once you are covered so she doesn't find fun things to play with. 

Our cats are not allowed in our bedroom at night. When my Harry was a kitten he cried for a week outside the bedroom door at night. We ignored him & he stopped crying & found his own spot to sleep in at night.

My advise is to wait it out and be miserable for a while. I felt like I had a newborn for a while with the lack of sleep but I really wanted another cat who liked sleeping by me. Her pouncing and purring at my every move ended pretty quickly around 7-8 months. Now she sleeps with me almost every night and she's 2. Now I'm in the same boat with my six month old little boy. He comes to say hi way too early only he refuses to sleep with me.