Is my baby's sleeping pattern ok?

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Before I start I just want to say this is NOT a stealth boast post! The good sleeping thing is very new!

So after having 4 months with a baby who never slept to now suddenly having a baby who sleeps, I'm getting anxious about how he sleeps. For the past 2 weeks he's finding it absolutely impossible to stay up past 6pm. Once 5.30 comes, we're hit with the stressy grouchy tiredness, rubbing eyes, yawning, whining, etc. So I start bedtime routine and have him in bed by 6, where he'll fall asleep almost immediately and stay that way until about 7am the next morning (the mister does a dream feed before he goes to bed at midnight but baby generally stays asleep for it).

So firstly is 6pm too early? I feel a bit crap about it, like I'm shoving him away so I can have the evening to myself... Mum guilt! But he physically can't stay awake, so I guess that's just his time! But the thing that's making me anxious about it is he wakes up from his nap at about quarter to 5 -- is it normal for him to be so knackered 45 minutes later?? It's almost like his body wants him to go to bed for the night when I put him down for his afternoon nap.

I'm also finding in the mornings despite 13 hours of sleep overnight, he starts getting tired and grumpy after an hour. Then nap, and an hour later the same thing, and so on. He only does 30-40 minute naps for the first half of the day. He'll then go for his long 2-hour afternoon nap. Surely by nearly 5 months old he should have longer wake times?

Sorry this is so long and rambling! My first kid was 12 years ago and I've forgotten everything about it, so it's like I'm a FTM again!

I was told the first wake period of the day would be the shortest.

Remember until 6 months every sleep should be in a room with an adult.

DD was going to bed 6-6:30ish from around 4 months as well. I'd do a dreamfeed without her really waking at 11pm and then she'd sleep through until 6am. I count myself as a very lucky parent!

If your DS is feeding well, gaining weight, plenty of wet nappies and is alert when he's awake then I don't think you need worry.

Are you happy? Is your baby meeting developmental milestones?

Then everything is fine.

@gingerbreadbiscuits Are you saying a 5mo baby shouldn't be put to bed at night with a monitor (ours is video) in a dark quiet room? I don't think I've ever met a mum who didn't do that by this point.

(Also that wasn't the question I asked, but thanks.)

My DD was like that around 3-4 months. We had several weeks of her sleeping in her own room from 7-7 with barely a squeak. Now she’s 7 months and hardly sleeps at all, whether in her room, ours, the pram...

Don’t worry about it, just enjoy it and accept in might not last!

(When she was sleeping 7-7, she was also having a late afternoon nap around 4.45-5.30. So much sleep! I don’t know where it all went.)

I was too like this a few months back and I think I actually did post as well about whether it was normal for baby to sleep so much. Anyway that's all gone to pot now so I urge you to make the most of it while it lasts!
Like a pp said as long as baby is alert when awake and feeding well with wet nappies then it's fine x

That is the current advice for SIDs prevention (that baby does not sleep alone until 6 months).

It is one factor that has been found prevalent in SIDs cases.

I weighed up all the info on SIDs and still decided to put DD to bed in the bedroom upstairs from 4 months because she very clearly preferred to be left in peace in the evening! I made sure there was plenty of noise in the house (no creeping around on her account) and I'd check on her frequently then feed her at 11ish the go to bed myself in the same room.

SIDS guidelines are that babies should always sleep in a room with an adult until 6 months. Scientists don’t know definitely why it reduces SIDS just that it does. Lots of people follow the rules and some people don’t. It is up to you to decide if is worth the risk.

He's in the next to me crib so I'm with him overnight, but I'm going to stay as I am with putting him up there with the monitor for naps and evenings. He's the lightest sleeper in the world (if an ant farted three towns over he'd wake up) so he suffers sleeping down here. Up until last week we were still doing naps on couch and in pram and he only catnapped. It was a nightmare.

And ack at people saying it doesn't last! I'll get all the box sets watched now then while I still can 😂

Yeah it doesn’t last that’s for sure, babies go through so many development stages that it disrupts their sleep and the older they get the less naps they need etc. For now as long as he’s gaining weight, seems alert and content during awake periods and is settled during his sleeps then don’t worry too much about it. In regards to sleeping in a room with babies until they’re 6mo obviously that’s the guidelines, but they are only that and you’re still watching over him and sleeping next to him during the night :) you’re doing a great job, keep going and treasure these moments of long sleep, before you know it you’ll have an eight month old suffering with teething or sleep regression!!

TBH the same room thing is not as clear cut as they say.

It IS a clear improvement in risk factors, but there is no set cut off date according to the research until which this improvement lasts. The guidelines say 6 months but if you look at guidelines for various countries based on the same research this varies from specifying no time period at all up to a year. Different professional bodies have interpreted it differently and I suspect this is highly cultural. There was actually an article recently which stated that babies tend to sleep better if moved to their own room and claimed that the risk/benefit sweet point was around 4 months. Personally, that would be too early for me for overnight sleeps, but there you go.

In addition the UK is the only country which specifically advises that it applies for all naps and daytime sleeps as well, and IIRC the research only looked at night time sleep, so I suspect a case of cautious extrapolation. I mean, realistically there's no reason why it shouldn't apply to naps, so it might well be sound, but again, make your own decision here.

SIDS peaks at 2 months and the highest period of risk has fallen by 4 months. This may be where the article I read was coming from.

Sounds normal. My 7mo can still only stay awake for 1hr30 2hrs if I'm lucky. He also is very tired by 5pm and I put him to bed for 6pm but he could easily go earlier. (That results in 4.30am wake up)

My 5 month DD sleeps from 8pm to 7am in her cot in our room. We have the baby monitor on and go up and check every 40 minutes.

@flowerpicture my baby is the same. From 6:30pm she just wants to go to bed. She was in a moses basket in the cot in our room until she was 3 months then we moved her to her own room. She likes dark and silent to sleep.

Always have a video baby monitor on, but we have always put her to bed by herself.