The life of a

It’s totally normal for babies to have their days disrupted as they go through physical growth spurts or mental developmental leaps and when they come out of them it can be hard to know what ‘normal’ is supposed to be.
So, what
The average 5 month old :
- Will be awake for 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours 15 minutes between naps
- Will have 3-4 naps per day
- Can usually go around 4 hours between feeds (although some babies never make this milestone, and that’s okay)
- Will sleep for 12 hours overnight, usually with a dream feed or one waking
Examples of 4 Different Routines
The first three routines are for babies who haven’t started solids yet. The last routine includes 3 solid meals per day (although you might introduce these one at a time over a week or so).
-
Awake Time:
- 7:00 Awake & feed
- 8:20 Nap
- 10:15 Awake
- 11:00 Feed
- 12:00 Nap
- 2:00 Awake
- 3:00 Feed
- 3:45 Nap
- 5:00 Awake
- 7:00 Feed and bed
- 10:30 Dream feed
1 hour and 45 minutes
Time Between Feeds:
4 hours
Naps Per Day:
3
Solids:
No
-
Awake Time:
- 7:00 Awake & feed
- 8:30 Nap
- 9:15 Awake
- 10:30 Feed
- 11:15 Nap
- 12:00 Awake
- 1:45 Feed
- 2:00 Nap
- 2:45 Awake
- 4:45 Nap
- 5:30 Awake & feed
- 7:00 Bedtime routine
- 7:30 Bed
- 1:00am Feed
2 hours
Time Between Feeds:
3 and a half hours
Naps Per Day:
5 – 45 minute napper
Solids:
No
-
Awake Time:
- 6:30 Awake & feed
- 8:15 Nap
- 10:00 Awake
- 10:30 Feed
- 12:00 Nap
- 2:00 Awake & feed
- 4:00 Nap (catnap)
- 4:45 Awake
- 5:30 Bedtime routine
- 6:00 Feed & bed
- 10:00 Dream feed
2 hours
Time Between Feeds:
4 hours
Naps Per Day:
3
Solids:
No
Scroll down for the last routine
-
Awake Time:
- 6:30 Awake & milk feed
- 7:30 Solids
- 8:15 Nap
- 10:00 Awake
- 10:30 Milk feed
- 11:30 Solids
- 12:00 Nap
- 2:00 Awake
- 2:30 Milk feed
- 4:00 Nap (catnap)
- 4:45 Awake
- 5:00 Solids
- 5:30 Bedtime routine
- 6:00 Milk feed & bed
- 10:00 Dream feed
2 hours
Time Between Feeds:
4 hourly milk feeds and introducing solids
Naps Per Day:
3
Solids:
Yes
The biggest problem at the 5 month mark – increased night wakings
A common problem that commences about the
He/she is hungry
It’s funny that younger babies can often sleep through the night without a feed, but as they grow they start waking up hungry again. A
If you already do a dream feed, try getting more calories in during the day. This could mean allowing longer feed times to get more in, or doing a top up before
The morning wake time is too long
The shortest wake time of the day will be the first one. Again, this seems
Try reducing this awake time in
Photo by JK Califf