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Baby Hints & Tips

5 month old routine – sleep and your 5 month old baby

At five months old, your baby may be sleeping soundly through the night… or maybe not (grrrr).  Some mums find the fifth month a turning point where they finally feel a little more “in control” of their baby’s routine.  A five month old baby is often past that 4 month old sleep regression stage but, teething could be messing with your 5 month old routine.  All babies are different, and all mums are tired!

We’ve asked , Tara Mitchell, a baby sleep specialist, what mums can expect from a three month old baby. If you have any concerns about your baby’s sleep patterns, feeding or general health, speak to your doctor right away.  We’ve also put it to our giant community of Aussie mums to weigh in with real world experiences of of the 5 month old baby routine.

5 Month Old Baby Routine

Expert tips for your 5 month old baby

For some, the fifth month can be a really great time to see consistency in patterns and really feel as though you’re starting to understand your little one’s sleep needs and be able to read their tired signs much better. If you’re still stuck in the ‘four-month sleep regression’, I encourage you to begin to work on self-settling for your little one. For some this isn’t a path they want to go down – many parents choose to co-sleep or look at alternative solutions and that is 100% fine but if it’s not working for you or it’s not something you can see as a long term plan, then now is a great time to work on it.

By 5 months I recommend that little ones have both arms free and are no longer in swaddles or Love To Dreams (unless it’s the sleeping bag with arms out). So if you haven’t made the move yet, remove one arm for a few days and then the second arm after that. You may find you have a few rough nights, but the longer your little one’s arms are in, the more they will begin to rely on that feeling for sleep. You may also notice your little one is beginning to roll (or trying to). Having their arms out is essential during this time for their safety. Their arms will play a role in being able to prop their head up when they move to their stomach.

Our community’s experience

 

  •  My 5 month old daughter sleeps 730-630/7 Breastfeeds on demand, has 2 x 2hr naps. Maybe a small cat nap. A bottle of EBM at 5, dinner at 6 then bath, book, boob and bed.  During the day we sing, dance, read books, practice sitting, roll, tummy time, go for walks, jolly jumper, watch me cook in Bumbo or bouncer. Her naps are 9-11 roughly and 2-4 roughly.   Emma
  •  My DS is a 7am – 7pm 7am – wake and feed and then play 9am – sleep for 2 hours 11am – feed and then play 1pm – sleep for 2 hours 3pm – feed and play 4:30pm – nap for 45 minutes 5:15pm – bath and play 6:30pm – feed 7pm –  sleep.  with 2 other boys I am ALL FOR ROUTINE.     Liesa
  •  8-9 wake up, change 200ml bottle 11ish power nap 12.30-1 150ml bottle 3ish power nap 4.30-5 sml solids and  150ml bottle 6ish power nap 9 – 250ml bottle then bed Play time in morning and afternoon with big sis. Tummy time before bottles. Bath time around 5, before bottle.    Kate
  •  My routine for my  daughter has slightly changed now she’s 6.5mths (bottle amounts are less during the day & she may/may not do her nap depending on what she has done with her arvo sleep) but her routine at 5mths was; 6am – wake and play 7am – bottle (180ml for each bottle) and play 8am – solids (2 ice cube size for each meal) then more play 8:30/9am – sleep. If she wakes before 11, she has playtime. 11am – bottle then play 12pm – solids then more play until I see my baby getting tired. 12:30/1:30pm – sleep (hrs depend on what time she decides to go to sleep) 3pm – bottle and play 4:30 – nap for 30mins 5:15pm – solids and play 6pm – bath and play 6:30pm – bottle 7pm – sleep.    Kylie
  •  On a normal day (without teething issues) my 5 month old wakes at about 7 – 7:30. We play for half an hour then she has a feed (exclusively breastfed). Bath time straight after that. Play time until 10 then she self settles in her cot and sleeps for 1 hour – 1.5 hrs. 11:30 she wakes and has another feed. Awake until 2 then has 0.5 – 1 hour nap. Wakes and feeds again. She has another feed around 5ish and her afternoon sleep at 5 – 6pm and sleep for another hour. Our bed time starts at 7:30. I feed her. If she doesn’t fall asleep I read her a story and put her into her cot. She’s usually asleep by 8:30. I still feed her once during the night at 2am. She loves tummy time and rolling, watching me hang the washing and singing to her.    Tiffany
  •  My 5 month old’s routine: He sleeps through the night. Has a bottle followed by farex. Nap about 1030-1200. Lunch followed by a bottle. Has a small nap about 3. A bottle about 4. And then dinner, a bottle, bath and in bed by 8.    Miranda
  •  While my five month old routine is not set in stone, today he woke at 7:30, he had a bottle then after a nappy change. Then he had some ‘on the floor time’, he likes to practice trying to roll. He had snuggles with me and a bit of a giggle and laugh with his brother and sisters. He played in his play station seat thing, then once 10am hit we started the bedtime routine of some snuggles, a change if he needs it, then at 10:30 it’s bottle and bedtime. He then slept for 2 &1/2 hrs and has just had his 1:30 bottle. He’s now on the floor again practicing the rolling and chatting to anyone who walks passed. He’ll have another bottle at 4:30-5ish, and go down for another nap after that. His last feed will be at around 8pm after some family time with daddy then he’ll be down for the night.    Krystal
  •  My son wakes at 5.30-6, my husband feeds him before going to work and puts him in bed with me where he will sleep to 7.30-8. His routine is eat play sleep. He is having solids at breakfast and lunch with milk. He has about 3 naps during the day. He loves rolling on his mat, laughing at Mum and Dad and riding in his baby bike. His night routine is bath, massage, book, bottle and bed. He will sleep from 7.30-5.30.    Amanda
  •  My daughter wakes around 8, I change and feed her a 200 ml bottle. I play with her and put her down at 9-10, she has 3 hourly bottles at 8,11,2,5,8. I feed her breakfast and lunch. She sleeps from 8.30-8.    Tia-anne
  •  Mine is sleeping 8 hours straight through the night but wakes (for good) at 4.30am. He is loving reading books, watching his parents dance for him, going for walks, splashing in the bath outside on a hot day.    Jane
  •  Miss 5 months has 4 bottles a day at 210mLs n 2-3 solids at day. Wakes between 6-6:30, change then bottle! Plays with Mr 5! 10-10:30 snappy snooze (1hr) 11:30-noon lunch & bottle has lunch time sleep roughly 2-3 hours! Then play time with mummy & Mr 5! Another bottle! Dinner at 6 then bath at 6:30! Quite time until 7 then another bottle & bed at 7:30!! Then it’s starts all over again.   Krystyne
  •   Normally wakes between 7:30-8, awake for roughly 2.5 hours then a big morning sleep of 2.5-3 hours then awake for 2.5 hours and an arvo sleep of 1-1.5 hours. Normally has 4 bottles in a 24 hour period of 240mls approx and sleeps through most nights.   bed between 7-7:30.   Leah
  •  My breastfed daughter wakes at 5am for a feed, then back to sleep until 8ish and another feed. She watches me feed her brother (20 months) in her bumbo on the table and tastes a bit of his weetbix. Back to sleep for a power nap at 9:30ish, then up to play again before 10:30. Another feed, cuddles, we read books together, teach her brother how to share his toys, practice rolling and chatting. They both go to sleep around 1, until 3-3:30 if I’m lucky. Another feed, play, maybe a walk in the pouch and a look around the yard. Late afternoon she watches me make dinner from her rocker on the dining table, then has a snack feed before we eat dinner at 6. Bath at 7, cuddles, big feed and then hopefully bed by 8. She’s up once or twice a night for a feed as well.    Grace
  •  Awake 5-5.30am feed play nap… repeat three times play feed bath bed by 7pm.  Or bath feed sleep mainly this way…   Kellie
  •  My son’s five month old routine means he sleeps from about 6pm till 5:30am then feeds roughly every for hours. Eats two solids meals a day. In between we have a long morning bath saturating everything. Then juggle around activities like reading, dancing with me, playing with toys, goin for walks or a swim in the pool, an tummy time. We really just go with the flow. He sleeps a few times a day but only max 30 mins at a time.    Sally

Can you add anything for mums of five month olds?  Please help by being part of our community, and add your hints and tips below.

 

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