How much sleep does 5 month old need?

[Beccaboop]

So lo is 5 months tomorrow and goes to bed at 7.30pm every night the has a bottle at 6am and is awake for about 45mins/1 hour then goes back to sleep in our bed till 8.30/9am then has a nap at 10/10.30 then another nap at 1/2pm then another nap at 4/5pm then bed at 7.30pm.

Today i timed his naps and he had 3 naps of 3 hours 50 mins in total and we got up at 8.40am so he has had about 16 hours sleep in the last 24 hours.

Is that too much? not enough?

Im asking cos he wakes up just whining about 4/5 times a night.
He isnt hungry cos he quickly goes back to sleep if i give him his dummy or a quick cuddle also he has enough milk in the day and our paediatrition has said he shouldnt be hungry or need feeding at night so i dont think its that!

So why is he waking up? is he getting too much or not enough sleep? could that be the reason?

Thanks x

 

[Sparrow85]

Apparently, a 5 month old needs about 14-15 hours of sleep per day, however all babies are different. My LO has 14 hours of solid sleep at night, then 3 hours of naps per day, so he clearly needs his sleep. 16 hours sounds fine to me.

All I would say though is that at this age, 3 naps a day is more than enough. As your LO is going back down in the morning, I would say he is having 4 naps and this could be messing with his sleep. Instead of a fourth nap, I would put him to bed earlier or get him up when he wakes first thing in the morning.

Usually around 4 months, babies go from 4 to 3 naps and usually, this means moving bedtime forward. I had to move LO's to 6pm, your LO may benefit from going to bed at 6.30pm.

I personally would be getting him up about 7/8am every morning and then working his naps around this and putting him to bed a little earlier to see if that helps his night sleep.

 

[Beccaboop]

Hes still fed every 3 hours during the day at 6am,9,12,3,6pm so i dont know how to do his feeding routine and sleeping routine so that he isnt awake more than 2 hours at a time 2.5 at the longest and make sure he still gets his 5 bottles?

What feeding and sleeping routine did you have at 5 month old?

Im so confused!

 

[Sparrow85]

At 5 months, Max was fed at 8am,10am,12pm,2pm,4pm and 6pm - 6 bottles per day. It was crazy! I started him on solids at 5.5 months and we're now on 4 8oz bottles.

How many oz's is he having at a time in his bottles? I did drop to 5 bottles before I dropped to 4 and I just gave him more in his morning bottle and more in his bedtime bottle.

I always fed LO before he went for a nap and pretty much when he woke from a nap, sometimes he would only go for 1.5 hours.

If your routine works for you though, I wouldn't worry too much. He might just be waking at night for his dummy.

I know how confusing it is, so

 

[Beccaboop]

He has 7oz every 3 hours thats when he crys for it I don't think he'd take it after 2 hours!

 

[Sparrow85]

Well, that sounds pretty spot on for his age (35 oz per day). My LO would only take 5/6 oz at a time, hence the sixth bottle. I would just keep doing what you're doing.

My LO is now on two meals a day plus a snack and it's even crazier, trying to fit everything in. Somehow it works though.

 

[Sparrow85]

Also, was just looking at his feeding times and you could work sleep around it quite easily I think, so it would go something like this:

6am- Feed
8-9.30am - Nap
9.30am - Feed
11.30am - Nap (I reckon if you cut out him going to bed after waking up, he would probably sleep for around 2 hours at this nap - my LO's 2nd nap is always the longest)
1.30pm - Feed
3.30pm- 4.00pm - Nap
6pm - Feed, then bed

Of course, this might not work at all, so just go with what you're happy with.

 

[Beccaboop]

Also, was just looking at his feeding times and you could work sleep around it quite easily I think, so it would go something like this:

6am- Feed
8-9.30am - Nap
9.30am - Feed
11.30am - Nap (I reckon if you cut out him going to bed after waking up, he would probably sleep for around 2 hours at this nap - my LO's 2nd nap is always the longest)
1.30pm - Feed
3.30pm- 4.00pm - Nap
6pm - Feed, then bed

Of course, this might not work at all, so just go with what you're happy with.

Wheres his 5th bottle? Also he won't go longer than 3 hours without feeding even if hes asleep he'll wake up when it's 3 hours since the last bottle sometimes he will go 10/15 mins over but not an hour.

Also he Takes 30 mins to finish a bottle and has a bath and eczema cream applied which takes half an so even if the.last bottle is 6 bed wouldn't be until 7 at the earliest.

If he didn't wake up 5 or 6 times a night then I'd say our routine was perfect for us but he does and I don't know why but I want it to stop.cos I'm so tired from not getting more than 3 hours sleep in a row for months now!

Thanks for your help! Xxx

 

[chattyB]

My LO has 2, 30 minute naps a day (occasionally a 3rd nap if we're out and about in the car), he goes to bed between 7-7.30pm and wakes between 7-7.30am. He has 4 x 7oz bottles during the day (every 3 and a half hours) with a quick BF first thing and last thing (currently combi feeding but getting most of his milk as formula). He'll be 5 months this week.