Please share nap/sleep schedule of your 5-7month old DC

[slworld]

DS is 6months old and his nap schedule has not fallen into a routine yet. His naps range between 1/2hr - 1hr and they are not consistent at all. He seems to be napping at different times each day. So I was wondering if I should come up with a schedule and try to get him on it. I was hoping to get some idea of the nap/sleep schedule of 5-7month olds (when do they wake up, when are their nap times and for how long & when is bedtime). Can you please share your DC's schedule?

Thanks much

[vwh99]

DS2 is now almost 7 months old. He often gets up around 8am (often awakened by his loud older siblings). By 10:30, he's ready for a nap. He'll then sleep for about an hr or two. He then has a later nap at around 3 or 4, again for an hr or two. If his naps are on the short side, then he may squeeze in another catnap around 5. He's down for the night anywhere from 7:30-9pm and usually sleeps until morning which he's done since 3 months. (re: feeding-he was BF exclusively until 4 months and has since been on combo FF/BF. Now on solids stage 1 1-2x/day)
Re: schedules. There are some days where he doesn't 'look' like he's tired (ie: rubbing his eyes, yawning). However, I will still put him down at the usual nap time and after playing by himself in the crib, he will eventually fall asleep (sometimes by 1/2hr). Maybe you might want to try something like that? I find that mine is ready for sleep about 2-3hrs after getting up.

HTH! and good luck!

Val
dd 10/03
ds 8/06
ds 6/08

[kimberley-k]

Mine is ready for a nap 2-2.5 hours after waking up (sometimes he only makes it 1.75 hrs). So he's up at 7, down at 9 for 1-2 hrs, and then down again around 12:30-1:30 for another 1-2 hours. He just recently stopped doing a 3rd nap, so I put him to bed between 6-6:30.

-Kim

[hez]

DD's 'schedule' (been loosely the same for a couple months):

Awake between 7 and 9. If it's earlier, she'll go right back to sleep for an hour or two after nursing. If it's later, she's awake for an hour or two before napping for an hour in the morning.

Usually up during lunch time (11-1). Back down for a nap sometime between 12:30 and 2:30 for at least a couple hours (interrupted during the week if she's still sleeping when it's time to go to the bus stop to get DS). Shorter nap around dinner time, and then she's up for a little bit up to play with DH.

Down for bed sometime between 9 & 11.

[KpbS]

Mine is ready for a nap 2-2.5 hours after waking up (sometimes he only makes it 1.75 hrs). So he's up at 7, down at 9 for 1-2 hrs, and then down again around 12:30-1:30 for another 1-2 hours. He just recently stopped doing a 3rd nap, so I put him to bed between 6-6:30.

-Kim


At 7 mo. mine finally was able to nap for more than 40 minutes at a time and fell into a nice pattern like this. Occassionally he would still need one smaller nap late in the day if the others were particulary short or off schedule.

[Melbel]

We have had a rough time establishing good sleep patterns with DD2 who is now 7 months old. Due to her reflux, she still feeds every 2-3 hours, day and night b/c she can only eat a little at a time. We are finally down to 4 naps per day:

Nap 1 - about 1 hour after waking normally for about 45 minutes
Nap 2 - about 2 to 2.5 hours after she wakes from nap 1, 45-minutes to 1 hour
Nap 3 - about 2 to 2.5 hours after she wakes from nap 2, usually about an hour
Nap 4 - about 2.5 to 3 hours after she wakes from nap 3, usually about 45 minutes

Until recently, we had many 20-30 minute naps. I am hoping to gradually lose naps 1 and 4 as her GI system continues to mature. This has definitely been my most challenging of my 3 DC.

[Beckylove]

My 6 mo DS is not on a firm schedule. It is very predicatable in the morning but gets less predicatable as the day wears on. At night he sleeps 8pm to 8am. He's awake for 2 hrs in the morning, goes back to sleep 10am -11am. After that, who knows. He will take two more naps of varying lengths and varying times. If I'm out and about, he'll sleep in his bucket for 10 minutes and think that was his nap. So I try to be at home for either nap 2 or nap 3 because if he has a short nap 2, he will take a huge nap 3 and he needs to be in his bed for a quality nap. He usually sleeps 4-5 hours during the day. HTH.

[amldaley]

I am so glad you asked this Q!

DD is 5 1/2 mo old and here is our day:

Up at 5:00 am
Sleep at breast
Try for a nap at 9, no luck - she wants to play
Try for a nap at 12, down for 1 hr 45 min but only if I lay with her on my bed
Sleep at breast around 4 or 5
Try to get her down at 7, yeah right
Finally get her to bed at 9:30
Wake up anywhere between midnight and 3:00 am
Try to nurse and get her back down within 1 hour
Two hours later, give up and bring her in bed with me
Cat nap and nurse in bed on and off for a couple of hours

UGH. I am hoping that moving her to her own room and starting daycare and starting solids will all help. And yes, I have tried Weissbluth and Pantley. Not ready to try Ferber.

Asked the Ped about it and he said, "Maybe she just doesn't need sleep." Idiot. Of course she needs sleep...human physiology dictates she needs sleep. The purple circles round her eyes should be a clue.

So, no...I can't help you...but I will be following this thread.

[ahrimie]

I read sooo many sleep books and they all say that sleep starts to regulate around 4-5 months. However, my DD JUST got on a regular-ish schedule recently and we just turned 8 months. Instead of schedule with times for this and that, I would look at what time she woke up from naps and counted 1-2 hrs after. In the beginning, she could only stay awake for an hour after she woke up and I would put her down. The key really is to put them down BEFORE they are tired.

Now, she usually wakes up around 8am (sometimes 7, sometimes 9). If it's 8am, she goes down for a nap around 10am. She'll sleep for about 2 hours (give or take) and usually around 1pm needs to sleep again. If she sleeps at 10 and takes an almost 2 hr nap, around 1-1:30 is usually almost 2 hours of wake time. For us, the key is ALMOST. If I keep her awake the FULL 2 hours, I have most likely passed the time she will sleep well.

Then, if there's time, she'll nap around 5pm again and that's only for an hour. Bedtime around 7:30pm if we can help it. This schedule though is really for days we are home ALL day. It's too hard to have her in bed at these times when we're out, even for short errands like the grocery store RIGHT next to our house.

Right now though, I need to figure out an EATING schedule. I found one that worked for a bit but then she started eating too many solids and couldn't stop pooping. :P

[KrisM]

DS2 is 6 months tomorrow and we have no schedule. He naps about 9 or 10 for a bit and then again a while later, usually for a longer bit. If we're out while DS1 is at school, DS2 will nap in the car most of the time. He usually takes a late afternoon short nap, too.

He's up for the day about 7 and down for the night about 7:30.

Neither DS1 nor DD had anything I'd call a schedule until about 9 months.

[slworld]

Thanks for all your responses.


We have had a rough time establishing good sleep patterns with DD2 who is now 7 months old. Due to her reflux, she still feeds every 2-3 hours, day and night b/c she can only eat a little at a time.

This sounds exactly like DS. He is a reflux baby too. Eats only 3-4oz at a time so has to eat every couple of hours and each session takes about 1/2hr. And he can't stay awake for more than 1.5hr to 1.75hr. His naps usually last only 1/2hr with one nap that goes maybe 45min - 1hr. Very rarely he may take a 1.5hr nap. Because of his 2 hr eating schedule, nap time & feed time usually coincide which causes havoc cause he will not feed if he is sleepy and then he can't have a restful nap cause he is hungry.

Just curious Melbel, what is your DD's eating schedule at night. DS drinks abt 4oz at around 7:30pm, then I feed him at 10:30pm, but depending on how sleepy he is he drinks between 2-4oz. I always keep wondering when he wakes up at night if its because he is hungry. But I don't want to create a habit of feeding him at night if he is not actually hungry. His morning feed is usually between 7-7:30am.

[slworld]

My 6 mo DS is not on a firm schedule. It is very predicatable in the morning but gets less predicatable as the day wears on.

This was why I had posted the question. DS usually wakes up between 7-7:30pm. We are trying to put him down for his first nap at around 9am irrespective of when he wakes up (he can't stay awake for any longer either), but after that it gets very unpreditable. It all depends on how long the naps last and that makes a lot of difference. Sometimes he wakes up refreshed but sometimes he still seems sleepy. Also I would like to keep a set bedtime, but depending on how the day goes his 4th nap sometimes ends up late in the evening, which screws up bedtime.

I read ferber where he talks about how important it is to have a sleep schedule. He also says if baby doesn't take a nap or doesn't nap for as long then he should be kept awake until his next naptime. I have never been able to do that with DS. If he wakes up early from a nap he his pretty much cranky until he naps again and he needs his next nap earlier too or all hell breaks loose.

[Melbel]

Just curious Melbel, what is your DD's eating schedule at night. DS drinks about 4oz at around 7:30pm, then I feed him at 10:30pm, but depending on how sleepy he is he drinks between 2-4oz. I always keep wondering when he wakes up at night if its because he is hungry. But I don't want to create a habit of feeding him at night if he is not actually hungry. His morning feed is usually between 7-7:30am.

Based upon my experience and research, it is common for reflux babies to have sleep issues. I do not think you can compare your reflux baby to a "normal" baby when it comes to feeding and sleep. I have also been hoping for more organized daytime sleep and perhaps a carry over to night time sleep. It is a roller coaster of OK/good to horrible days/nights but overall, the trend has been toward gradual improvement.

DD2 is EBF. When taking a bottle of BM, the most she has ever taken is 4 oz., average is closer to 2 oz. In the daytime, she most often is hungry by 2 hours, at night, most often she will go 3 hours. One time she slept 6 hours straight, but of course I woke up a couple times wondering why she was still asleep!

DD2 had an appointment with the pediatrician last week and I specifically discussed if/when we should CIO. She confirmed my belief that CIO is not appropriate w/ a reflux baby. Most, if not all of the time, they are hungry when they wake b/c they can only eat a little at a time. At a minimum, you cannot be sure that he/she is not hungry. DD2 has been tracking 50% for height and weight, but slipped a little on weight this past visit. This also confirmed my belief that she really still needs the night feedings.

The vast majority of babies outgrow reflux by the time they are walking. If the baby is still waking for night feedings at 1 year and is walking, we will likely try CIO at that time. Good luck! You are not alone my friend!

[fauve01]

OP, my dd is 5 now, but i remember so clearly that she had cat naps (30-45 minutes) until she started crawling. that's when we started to have regular, predictible naps, 2 hours at a time. so i didn't see if your DS is crawling, but that might make a difference.

Anne + dd 10-03

[slworld]

OP, my dd is 5 now, but i remember so clearly that she had cat naps (30-45 minutes) until she started crawling. that's when we started to have regular, predictible naps, 2 hours at a time. so i didn't see if your DS is crawling, but that might make a difference.

Anne + dd 10-03


No, he is not crawling yet. But he is rolling over and that has become another issue since he keeps rolling over in his sleep and wakes up crying (I posted a separate thread hoping for suggestions).