Babywise schedule month 5: for baby around 5 months of age. On this page you’ll find schedules, information on naps, nighttime sleep, and more!
MONTH 5:
Cycle length: 3.5/4 hours
# of cycles: 4
Wake time: 2 hrs
Nap time: good solid 1.5/2 hour naps, 2 naps and 1 catnap
MOTN: 0 feedings, 0 wakes
This month was very much a continuation of last month with regards to her schedule. She ate more solid foods, and took longer naps. I toyed with the idea of dropping the catnap a few times and we tried it a couple of times with success, but it all depended on her nap schedule.
This month, I had moments where it felt like I was always waking her from naps. When that starts to happen consistently, I give her a few days to just see how long she’ll actually nap. If she really does want longer naps, we might be ready for a schedule change.
So, a lot of this month I let her sleep as long as she wanted and would adjust the schedule accordingly. She often took 2-2.5 hr naps for her 1st and 2nd nap.
When this was the case, the schedule was adjusted and she could make it to bedtime with no catnap. Unfortunately, she wasn’t quite consistent enough with her long naps yet, so for now we are keeping the schedule as is.
She also had a lot of learning going on this month. She learned to sit, she was going through a big wonder week (so big we noticed extra fussiness this month), and there is also a growth spurt at 6 months, so as we got closer to the end of the month, she was definitely eating more and sleeping more!
During the wonder week, she seemed to learn a lot about distance. She learned that when she dropped a toy, it might be out of her reach and would cry (as opposed to the previous ‘out of sigh, out of mind’). She also fought putting herself to sleep.
She would start crying before I even got to the door at bedtime. She was very aware that I was further away and leaving.
Babywise Schedule
A typical schedule might look like this:
Feed at 7am, 11 am, 2:30pm, 4:30pm (solids) no nap this cycle, 6:30pm
Naps from 9-11, 1-2:30, and 4-4:30 (catnap)
This schedule is again VERY close to last months schedule. I simply tweaked the times a bit to accommodate for her longer naps. She was continued breastfeeding 4 times a day, and she eats solids 3 times per day. If we went out one cycle and didn’t have time for one of the morning or lunch solid feedings, we did not worry about it.
Solid food schedule:
At this point, we have been feeding her 3 solid food meals every day. She eats solid foods after she nurses in the morning at 8/8:30 and again after she nurses at lunch around 12:30.
This has been going incredibly well, and with each week she is eating more and more! We also offer her a drink at this point. While she doesn’t drink much, she is getting used to trying and having it offered to her.
We use a regular plastic cup because she prefers that over a sippy cup. As I move into the last week of month 5, I am introducing bite sized pieces of fruits and veggies, she eats the gerber puffs and cookies, and teething wafers. The teething wafers are her favorites!
Find Printable Schedules At My Etsy Page:
no productsWake time:
Wake time this month included lots of sitting. She learned how to sit mid month and it only took a couple of days! Her wake time is still 2 hours, although we can push it longer if need be. In the evenings she wakes at 4:30 and isn’t in bed until 7:15ish.
Nap time:
Naps at this age are on time and in the crib. They start to stretch naps to 2/2.5 hours, but not consistently yet. They still are progressively getting shorter throughout the day. The first nap is 2 hrs, the second nap 1.5 hrs, and the third nap is simply a cat nap at 30 minutes. There is no nap after the last solid feeding at 4:30pm.
Nighttime sleeping:
With sleep training completed you will have minimal amounts of waking this month! Check out the sleep training page to see the details here! There may be some resistance to falling asleep on their own due to the wonder week that they are going through.
My personal experience-
Naps are getting nice and long! I think she will be ready to drop the catnap after or during the next month. She is sitting on her own and eating bite sized food! This was a very straightforward month with lots of learning taking place!
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