what time does your 5 mo old go to bed?

[AnimalBabe]

Hi, I was curious about what time most babies around 5 mos of age go to bed. Our son has always wanted to go to bed/take an evening nap around 6pm. Sometimes he would nap for half an hr around 6pm and then want to go right back to bed for the night, and other times he would stay up for about half an hr after this evening nap and then want to go to bed. So now we just bring him up for the night around 6pm and call it bedtime. He falls asleep around 6:30pm on average. What is odd is that he still wakes an hr later (but only sometimes). Often when he does this he is not really hungry and then just goes back to sleep after I try to nurse him, so I'm not sure why he's waking up crying. Plus he ALWAYS cries a lot when we start the bedtime routine (I had hoped it would be relaxing for him and me!). Our pediatrician's nurse seemed very surprised our son goes to bed this early. Is this unusual? I think all kids are different, but this is our first child, so I have no idea.

Also, do some kids just need to let off steam at the end of the day and that's why he is crying? I wonder if he's just sooo tired by the end of the day, but he does this even with good napping I think. He takes about 2-3 naps during the day, averaging a total of about 2-2.5 hours, then sleeps a total of about 11 hours at night.

[Pinky]

It depends, but I think you're supposed to aim for a bedtime around 12 hours before you want them to wake up.

Our LO is 10 months and still wants a late afternoon around 4... we have to wake her up at 5:30 or she'd sleep on through. So, we wake her up at 5:30 play around for a while and then feed her around 6 and then she's in bed by 7.

You could try to see if a late nap would work and make bedtime more peaceful since baby is not super exhausted. Good luck.

[KrisM]

I don't have a 5month old now. But, I do remember that DS1 went to bed about 6pm at that age. DH sometimes didn't see him at night. DD and DS2 were later, but 6:30 or 7:00.

[erosenst]

DD went to bed around 6:15-6:30 at that age...but I have several friends who had babies who went to bed at 5:15- 5:30. Personally, I'd try putting him to bed at 5:30 and seeing what happens. My guess is that when he sleep cycles after an hour, he's too tired to soothe and settle. If you put him down earlier, he may be able to do that.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

starting at around 2 mos of age, DS went to bed around 8:30 or 9pm. now at 1yo, it's more like 9-9:30pm. i guess that is late compared to most. though up until 8-9mos, DS would often take an evening nap around 530 or 6pm, for maybe 45 mins to an hour or so.

i don't think it's unusual for a baby to cry more right before bedtime, i think it's just their way of letting out their frustrations etc for the day.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Mine would take a nap around that time and then go down for the night closer to 11. We are on a shifted schedule here as we are night owls and sleep in. :)

Beth

[megv]

my 6mo takes a short nap (30min) around 5. he then will go down to sleep around 730. both of my older boys did the same thing; we did wind up putting DS2 to bed around 6-630 for many months as he was a terrible napper, and was DONE at that point. I dont think it is unusual at all. Take a look at healthy sleep habits - great read and very helpful for me.

[okinawama]

when my son was that age he was going to bed around 630. We did this mainly because he would not sleep in, regardless of what time we put him to bed he'd wake between 630/7.

Most books will say that an earlier bed time will yield a more rested and alert baby, and that has always been true for us.The whole, early to bed late to rise always worked for us, and if we put bedtime any later than 7 ish our wake ups were creeping into the 5am time frame.

I think if it works for you, and he seems like he's well rested and happy, go with it :)

[newg]

DD2 is five months now and she is going to bed between 6:30-7:00. She sometimes fusses as we get her ready for bed....and I think it's mostly because she's tired and a little cranky. But as soon as we lay her down she falls asleep.
DD1 goes to be around 8, so I figure that as DD2 gets older her bedtime will start to get a little later too.

[wellyes]

As long as he wakes up happy and at a time that's acceptable to you, it doesn't matter when he goes to bed!


Plus he ALWAYS cries a lot when we start the bedtime routine (I had hoped it would be relaxing for him and me!).

I've heard that there are babies who don't cry at bedtime but I've never experienced that, aside from if I nurse him down to sleep.

[ChristinaLucia]

7pm! She wakes up at 7:30am

[Pear]

I think that was the age I realized I had to accept that DD had a midnite bedtime. I was driving myself crazy trying to fight it and get her to bed earlier. Once I went with it everyone was happier. It did mean our whole lives were shifted and we weren't really in sync with other people, but thankfully we had the flexibility to pull it off.

[dec756]

i think its always been 7-8 pm

[*myfoursons]

6:30 and sleeping through for that long is amazing. :thumbsup:

As far as the crying, in my experience babies like to let off a little steam. The crying usually happens for us right before bed when they're done for the night. We do a lot of walking and soothing before it's bedtime. Then we bathe, change, and nurse to sleep (yes, it's a bad habit. one I've done with each of the kids with widely varying results).

Right now, my baby goes to bed later (8:30), and is still up 4 times a night. I'll trade you!

[Roni]

Mine would take a nap around that time and then go down for the night closer to 11. We are on a shifted schedule here as we are night owls and sleep in. :)

Beth

Mine does that, too--10 or 11-ish. That would be great for me, but big sis is up at 6:00. Argh!

Pear, dd1 was like that. She thought she was in college. I did the shifted schedule, too, until she started school.

[candaceb]

DS is 5.5 months and goes to bed at 6:30 at the latest - if he's cranky, we start the routine earlier and he is sometimes in bed by 6:00. We just kept moving the time back until we found the time that seems to work, and 6:30 it is. If we time things right, he doesn't cry before going to sleep - he just lies down and goes to sleep, with an occasional complaint (grunting) if he loses his pacifier. If he is overtired, he will fuss and cry and it takes longer to get him to sleep. I have been trying to follow the "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" methods and they do seem to work for us.

[toystorymama]

my 6mo takes a short nap (30min) around 5. he then will go down to sleep around 730. both of my older boys did the same thing; we did wind up putting DS2 to bed around 6-630 for many months as he was a terrible napper, and was DONE at that point. I dont think it is unusual at all. Take a look at healthy sleep habits - great read and very helpful for me.

This is exactly what we do. My little guy (5 months old) takes a nap around 5 - 6 and then goes down for the night at 7:30 - 8:00. He goes down awake and falls right asleep without crying. I think he finds his crib and our routine comforting so it's an easy process.

For those of you whose babies go down at 5:30 - 6:00, how do you get all their feedings in for the day? Do they get up at night to eat? TIA!

[BabyBearsMom]

Hi, I was curious about what time most babies around 5 mos of age go to bed. Our son has always wanted to go to bed/take an evening nap around 6pm. Sometimes he would nap for half an hr around 6pm and then want to go right back to bed for the night, and other times he would stay up for about half an hr after this evening nap and then want to go to bed. So now we just bring him up for the night around 6pm and call it bedtime. He falls asleep around 6:30pm on average. What is odd is that he still wakes an hr later (but only sometimes). Often when he does this he is not really hungry and then just goes back to sleep after I try to nurse him, so I'm not sure why he's waking up crying. Plus he ALWAYS cries a lot when we start the bedtime routine (I had hoped it would be relaxing for him and me!). Our pediatrician's nurse seemed very surprised our son goes to bed this early. Is this unusual? I think all kids are different, but this is our first child, so I have no idea.

Also, do some kids just need to let off steam at the end of the day and that's why he is crying? I wonder if he's just sooo tired by the end of the day, but he does this even with good napping I think. He takes about 2-3 naps during the day, averaging a total of about 2-2.5 hours, then sleeps a total of about 11 hours at night.

When DD was 5 months old she went to bed around 6:30 too. Now she is 10 months old and she goes to bed around 7pm. At that age, DD was fussing a lot at bed time, but now it is a very relaxing and peaceful process. So it gets better!

[Mommy_Mea]

At that age, DS went to bed between 5-5:30pm. People thought we were insane, but that is what worked for us, and he would sleep until 6am-7am (not sleeping through the night by any stretch of the imagination, he saved that for 14 months). He still goes to bed at 6-6:30pm, and sleeps a straight 12 hours.

As far as the waking, DS would wake sometimes shorly after we put him down, and we would just put him back to bed. We decided this was our schedule and we were going to stick with it! The early mornings work with our schedule (we are early birds).

[newg]

For those of you whose babies go down at 5:30 - 6:00, how do you get all their feedings in for the day? Do they get up at night to eat? TIA!

Well, we're a little off schedule right now because DD2 is getting over a cold.......but I usually feed her around 6 and then we put her down for the night. But I wake her up when I go to bed (around 10) to feed her again and then she sleeps 'till about 7am. So I guess, technically, that 6pm bedtime is more of a nap.
Of course, right now with the cold, she's been getting me up every three hours to eat (I think because her throat is a little sore)!

I'm guessing in the next month or two, as she can stay awake a bit longer in the evenings (and we're fully into solid foods), we'll shift things around a bit so she's eating a little later (7ish) and then going down for the night.