How long do most 5 month olds stay awake between naps?

[TheJen]

Any advice/experiences appreciated...

DS 5 months old and only manages to be awake for max 2 hours before becoming really tired...

mine is the same, TheJen - he is now 24 weeks (I wouldn't quite call this 6m) and sometimes can push it to 3hrs, but that's not usual.

That's good to hear- how are you structuring naps? I'm struggling to get him to last til bed time- if he wakes from his pm nap at 3ish it's tough til 7... usually pulling my hair out by then!

if you're pulling your hair out by then - why are you making him wait til then for bed?

Fair point but I really want DH to see him for a few mins before bed- he usually baths him. I also think putting him down to bed before 6.30/7 is a bit early isn't it?

bump... any mothers of 5 month olds out there?

Okay for one thing, I never even tried to structure anything - let him sleep as/when. (I'm a "path of least resistance" kinda gal )

LAtely he has been putting himself to sleep at 6:15 but this is no prob as he's a pretty good sleeper (currnet teething troubles notwithstanding) - he has always had epic naps too: 9am-12, half an hour around 1, another half an hour around 3, then... whatever he decides, really.

My DH barely has time to change before he's got to get ds into the bath. I know what you mean about it not being much time, only thing I can suggest - what my ds was doing for himself for a while - is to let him nap about half an hour around 4:30-5pm?

I've had some success with a short nap in that window, and no noticeable knock-on effect on sleep. Our bedtime usually slips past 7.
I also sometimes feed her before bedtime, effectively splitting the 7pm feed. In fact if my dd gets very tired then she falls asleep on the breast at bedtime, without having taken enough milk - so then she wakes in the evening rather than me picking her up for a dream feed at a time of my choosing. So giving part of the feed before bath/bed both perks her up to get through the evening and gets more food into her.
Another thing I do (to avoid the constant holding/distracting, as I have a 3yo ds to feed/entertain too) is give her something different to do - doorway bouncer is good at this time (in kitchen doorway where she sees me coming & going) and now she's just 6m... chewing on a carrot or a rice cake is going well. In fact holding/chewing almost anything (especially if NOT a toy) is hugely popular in the last week or so.
Hope that helps. IME evenings are always tough, but it does keep on getting better...

Oh phdlife, I just realised have been reading about your poor LO's teething- how is he tonight? We're having really similar problems, tired, grumpy, frustrated etc... ?teeth ?stage I don't know. My DS also has huge morning nap and often a big afternoon nap so I felt he 'should' be able to hold off til bedtime but I might try a later nap... does it affect the night?
Thanks for doorbouncer tip... have one and had totally forgotton so will dig it out. MN is fab!

Hi mine is 5 mo on sunday, she usually falls asleep somewhere between 2 and 3 hours after she wakes each time. The only time its olonger than that is in the evening before bed and tbh she is also a nightmare at this time too, unless she has a good 3rd nap.

On a good day she wakes 7ish, sleeps 9.30 or 10ish for an hour (sometimes longer). Then sleeps about 12.30-1ish for another hour. Then sleeps 3.30-4ish for between half an hour and an hour. If the morning nap runs late (eg sometimes she wakes at 12pm) then we are a bit screwed as the last nap ends up too close to bedtime... No solution yet!

When she naps between 4-5pm she is usually the most pleasant in the evening and then baths 7-7.30pm, goes to bed about 8. But it all depends how the day starts IYSWIM!

.

put him to bed 6.30pm
or let him cat nap between 4-5 jiggle the morning naps
I find ds2 sleeps TONs better if he gets this cat nap

dp never sees ds2 during the week and no way am I going trhough that for him to see his dad

oh and going to bed at 6.30 makes no diff to ds2's waking time
he is 27 wks btw

Did put him down at 6.30 last night and you were right- made little difference to the night. It's out first baby so I do feel bad that DH will see so little of him but I think you're right- it's not worth the struggle in the evening. However, tonight will try the bouncer and see how it goes. So it's fairly normal then? I was worried that he was needing so much sleep and has such a short fuse. Shouldn't he have more awake and chilled time?

jen let him decide what he wants
all babies are different, some are full on non sleepers from day dot (my ds1 was like that)
but both my dd and ds2 needed their long naps and early bedtimes.

To me it sounds like he still needs 3 naps. So say he gets up at 7, put him down at 9, say he wakes at 10.30, but him down at 12.30, say he wakes at 2.30 let him have half hour 4.30-5. I used to do this one quite often in the pram because it fitted in with collecting DS from nursery. It will make him less ratty in the evening.

if my dd misses her cat nap between 4-5pm of 20mins then she is a struggle to make bedtime bath at 6pmish, usually a walk around the block in buggy will either send her to sleep arpound 4.30pm or wake her up enough to sustain her till bathtime, or at least distract her! She is 24wks and normally awake 7amish, asleep either 9am or 10.30amish for 30mins (depends on how much awake at night) then 1.5 to 2hrs 12-2, catnap at 4pmish bed at 6.30pm.

naps??? naps???
DS is 5 months and doesn't routinely sleep through the day. He sometimes has half an hour after his 2nd breakfast and very occasionallt has an hour or so in the afternoon.
Am so

sympathy for you bear that would drive me a bit mental

maybe exaggerating as having a bad nap day
most days he probably has 40 minutes or so
sometimes he sleeps after feed but then wakes as soon as i pout him down

Sorry, probably shouldn't complain just worried he sleeps too much!

Jen - I used to let my ds have a quick nap at 4.30 -5 pm at that age, to get him through bath and bed.

it worked really well and didn't affect his night time sleep.

Maybe try it for a few days

late afternoon nap does ds's evening sleeping no harm either. Yesterday (iirc) he missed his morning nap thanks to teething pains, went down at 1:30 for... 3hrs - then went off again in his stroller around 5pm. I was all, noooooo! But he was conked out again by 7pm, poor little sod.

He does a series of evening dreamfeeds - usually feeds around 6, then will wake 1-2 times before 11, then 3, then 6. When he gets up depends entirely on when his bum goes off!

i have no idea how long ds goes between naps just let him sleep when he wants to. He sleeps alot at night. last night he slept 4.30pm-3am up for an hour(ish) then back to sleep til 7.30am, but that was unusal. He hasn't been well so is catching up. Sometimes he only has a few 10min naps in the day, other times he'll sleep for 2hours. He's 5.5 months (ish), second child so don't know the weeks without working it out

22 weeks old stays awake two hours to two and a half hours between naps. I just give him a big hug/kiss, put him down with dummy, and he 'usually' falls alseep by himself.

and 'usually' the naps are about an hour and a half long, but that varies a lot.

Bed time 'usually' at 7 pm with dream feed at 11, and he wakes up at around 3 for another feed.

A lot of 'usually'!

Eddas T is 22 weeks tomorrow and was born on the 23rd if that helps! You were before me, but sorry I can't remember when!