Am I doing this wrong? 5 month old sleep routine

[PoppyAmex]

I never had a routine for DD - since birth I decided to let her do her own thing.

She's been sleeping through the night since 4 weeks (with dreamfeeds in the middle). I know I'm very lucky, although this has started to change with the 4 month regression and she's now having about 4, 5 or more small dreamfeeds a night.

Anyway, my concern is really the structure of her sleep - she fell into her own routine gently and now we can set our clocks by her:

She can not stay awake more than 1 hour and a half (gets really grumpy and cries until we put her down for a nap) and she sleeps for 45 minutes almost down to the minute. She goes through these cycles 4 or 5 times a day before settling down for an 11 hour sleep (with loads of dreamfeeds in the middle).

I was just looking at sleep averages on the internet and keep seeing that babies at 5 months should be having 2 or 3 naps a day only - do you think she's not getting enough rest from her short 45 cat naps and I should try to make them longer?

For the first 17 weeks she didn't sleep anywhere but my arms (we co-sleep) and I couldn't put her down to sleep EVER! After a complicated method of withdrawing little bits at a time she will now sleep ON THE BED next to me and I CAN LEAVE and HAVE A LIFE (for 45 minutes at a time). I'm so elated by this that I'm petrified of changing anything but so worried she's now getting quality rest. Any suggestions?

Advice is all based on averages! The averages will not apply exactly to every baby. I asked the HV about dd (also 5m) and she asked me whether dd was happy and alert whilst awake, as that is the main indicator of whether they are getting enough sleep.

So, is she happy and alert whilst awake?

Incidentally, I would LOVE to have a baby who napped so regularly. Sometimes dd sleeps for an hour throughout the day, sometimes 6 hours.

Hi Poppy, our babies sound so similar! I could have written your post. Anyway I don't have any advice as I am also similarly pleased with 45 mins of sleeping on my bed. I will keep watching for any tips.

My dd used to have 45 min naps but she was waking upset and grumpy and eye rubbing wthin half an hour.

Ive been getting her used to sleeping in her buggy (as thats where she will nap once at CMs) so today, I put her in it and rocked her to sleep and after about half an hour, I went back in and pshed the buggy again for a minute or two and she then slept for a further 2 hours!

Totally unheard of for her, I was testing out the 'wake to sleep' method and whether coincidence or it actually working I have yet to find out but ill be trying it again tomorrow

dd is 7mo.

Babywhisperer forum has loads of sample routines.

In my experience, a 45 minute nap is an 'undertired' nap while a 30 minute nap is an 'overtired' nap. So you might want to start stretching out the time she is awake between naps to see if she'll go longer at each one. If you decide to do this then do it veeery gradually, so add 5-10 minutes to one awake time and keep it like that for a couple of days before adding another 5-10 minutes.

Again, if you want to look at routines then the BW forum can provide loads of advice, but it's not for everyone, lots of folk don't want to be in such set timings.

This sounds a lot like 16wo DS (without the 11 hour sleep at night!)

To be honest, I wouldn't worry. No baby has read the manual and averages are just that - an average. They're not what every baby will do, and it's pointless fretting and trying to make your baby do something that doesn't suit them. Over a 24 hour period she's probably getting as much (if not more) sleep than a baby who has 2 or 3 longer naps anyway.

Thanks all for answering.

Lauren do you also have a March baby? I couldn't believe how hard it was to just hold her 24/7 when she wouldn't sleep anywhere else - I couldn't put her down, she wouldn't sleep in her pram, hated the sling and wouldn't sleep with anyone else.

I know I sound soft, but it was seriously tough. She's now happy to fall asleep on our bed, as long as I'm next to her for a wee while until she drops off, which is fine by me!

We have a bedside (sidecar style) crib, so that's the next step. Fingers crossed.

Gnocchi, today I tried re-settling her just before she usually wakes up from her morning nap (I just hovered over her like a loon until she stirred) and she slept for another 50ms! Now I'm really not sure if the 45ms cat naps are enough. Will see if the longer naps affect the night sleep....

Jolly I've often suspected she might be undertired after only 1 1/2 awake but she actually cries and gets really grumpy, so not sure I could keep her up longer?

I really would like to follow her lead and not set any routines until she's a bit older, but I get so worried.

My 16wo is very similar to this - we also have 5 or so feeds at night with a total sleep of 11 hours and 3 45-60 minute naps a day. She sleeps in our room although we don't co-sleep so I have to pick her up each time she wakes at night which is very tiring! I don't have any answers but I'm reading The No-Cry Sleep Solution to see if there are any ideas which may help.

Woohoo! Glad it worked for you. I did it for DDs morning nap and she had 1.5 hrs, then forgot for her afternoon nap and she woke after 40mins grrrr. Seems in a fair fettle though so maybe that was enough for her.

Yes mine is a March baby. Mine at least liked the sling, I think I got used to him being permanently on me ikwim.
I'm also reading the No Cry Sleep Solution at the moment, it says naps should be at least an hour though! Drat!
He has also got a bit worked up at bed time this week. Not sure if he is over tired?
Anyway I'm just about to creep away from him, good luck everyone!

He just slept on my bed for two and a half hours!!! This is an unheard of record! Don't think I did anything different? Just felt the need to tell someone!

I read the "No-Cry Sleep Solution" in anticipation to when the time comes for moving DD to her own room (at this stage should manage when she starts school)

Gnocchi - she did sleep moderately well last night, so I'll be trying the awake to sleep method again today. Love the fact that it doesn't involve any distress for DD. Thanks.

Lauren that's brilliant! Got to celebrate the small victories.

My pleasure. After a few das of wake to sleeps for her am nap I now dont have to do it she automatically sleeps longer now.

Now for the pm.ones