5-month-old feeding/sleeping schedule - how?

[YellowCornflower]

I keep seeing threads on here where posters describe their baby's feeding and napping schedule down to the exact time e.g. 6:45 wake, 7:15 feed, then 60 minute nap, 8.30 feed and so on. I have a 5 month old and feel a bit bewildered because I feed her when she seems hungry and rock her to sleep when she's showing tired cues, regardless of the time. She feeds roughly every 3 hours but this can vary between 2-4 hours so feeds aren't at the same time every day.

Am I doing something wrong? We've been following the NHS advice to feed responsively - is this just for newborns and we should feed on a schedule now? Or is everyone else's babies just in a natural routine?

I also don't understand how other babies have consistent nap times. I've seen posts that say their baby always has 3 naps a day at precise times and of precise lengths. My baby's napping depends entirely on what I'm doing that day, for example sometimes we go out with the pram and she might fall asleep, then she might wake up due to a loud noise, be awake for 30 minutes and then fall asleep again. The only thing I consciously do is try not to let her nap too much near bedtime.

I'm a FTM so no idea of what most people do or what I'm supposed to do - please shed some light on this for me!

Some babies are more amenable to schedules than others. Sounds like you're doing the right thing following your baby's cues.

I breastfed on demand so no fixed schedule although we did fall into a natural feeding routine.

As to naps, I found 1) my baby did best with a strict nap routine in the cot and 2) mentally I absolutely loved having dedicated time to myself to exercise and/or watch call the midwife. I went out every single day, I had baby or mum groups every morning but I scheduled them around naps. I guess I love routine.

It helped that my baby quickly went to 2 big naps at 6 months

You can do whatever you like, some people prefer a routine some don't. So long as you're happy and your baby is happy it doesn't matter.

Never did this with either of mine. They ate when they were hungry and slept when they were tired. I can’t be stressing about exact times. Mine also slept wherever. In a sling at the pub, in the car, in the pushchair while I ate lunch, in my arms. I had a very regimented friend who would literally put her fork down in the middle of a lunch out if it was suddenly nap time, rush home to the blackout blinds and white noise machine. I couldn’t live like that. It’s so much easier when they just sleep when and wherever.

If it works for you and your baby, that's all you need.

Neither of mine were by-the-clock babies (and let's not talk about how their sleep patterns compared to the books/websites/apps), and they're not by-the-clock children now. Obviously there's a general routine, and when they're at school and nursery they eat with the others, but at home sometimes they're desperate for lunch at noon, other times it doesn't get a mention until 1 o'clock. Some nights they sleep for 10 hours, sometimes it's 10.5, occasionally 11. It works for us.