5 month old feeding schedule with solids and breastfeeding

5 Month Old Baby’s Sleep and Development

At 5 months old, most babies are sleeping 10 to 12 hours of sleep at night though not necessarily straight through. If you are NOT lucky enough to have a baby who sleeps through the night, many 5-month-olds are still waking 1 to 3 times to eat at night. Anything more and you most likely have a sleep association problem. Babies with sleep associations that involve a parent tend to wake up frequently at night, usually every 1-2 hours all night long.

5 month old babies typically have 2-3-hour wake windows throughout the day between naps and before bedtime. If your baby struggles to stay awake longer than two hours at a time, that’s NOT unusual at this age. Not all babies can stay awake 2 1/2 to 3 hours just yet at this age.

Also, at this age, baby bedtimes are typically between 6:00 and 8:00 PM unless you have a baby who likes to sleep late in the morning.

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How Many Naps for a 5 Month Old?

Your 5-month-old is most likely taking 3 to 4 naps per day for a total of 3 to 4 hours of sleep per day plus 10-12 hours at night. The number of naps your baby takes at this age most often depends on how long they can stay awake between sleep periods. The shorter they can stay awake, typically, the shorter the naps. A 2 to 2 1/2-hour wake window is common and that typically leads to a 3-nap schedule. There are a few babies this age who take two 2-hour naps and sleep 10-11 hours at night. If your baby does this, that’s just fine!

Most 5 month old babies take 2-3 naps each day that total 2 to 3 1/2 hours. Babies this age stay awake and have wake windows between 2 and 3 hours at a time, on average.

Wake Windows for 5 Month Olds

The typical wake windows for a 5-month-old are approximately 2 hours with the first wake window being one of the shortest. Sometimes, that first wake window is just 90 minutes. There is a small percentage of 5-month-olds that can stay awake 2-3 hours at a time but 2 hours is average.

5 month old babies typically eat every 3 to 4 hours during the day. Please be aware that breast milk and/or formula should be your baby’s primary nutrition for the first year and solids come secondary.

Below are the average amounts per day IF your pediatrician recommends solids before 6 months, the age at which most are recommending now.

Average amounts per day:

• At least 5-6 breastfeeding sessions per day (4-6 during daylight hours, and 1-3 at night) or 24-32 ounces formula or combination (decrease solids if your baby is not taking in at least this much)
• Water is unnecessary (breast milk and formula have plenty of water in them).

And, if your pediatrician recommends solids this young (it is generally recommended at 6+ months):

• Up to 1-2 servings baby cereal (1 serving = 1-2 Tablespoons dry)
• Up to 1-2 servings fruit (1 serving = 1-2 Tablespoons) If your baby has any constipation issues, focus on P-foods (pears, prunes, etc.)
• Up to 1-2 servings vegetables (1 serving = 1-2 Tablespoons)

Note: If you do not start solids until 6 months, you will work your way up slowly to the number of servings above.

For more information on starting your baby on solid food, we have a series of blog posts dedicated to the subject. We include recommendations about how and when to start solids, as well as helpful information on food allergies, recommended products, baby-friendly recipes, and more.

You May Also Be Interested In…

• Baby Feeding Chart: How Many Ounces By Age
• How To Introduce Solid Food to Your Baby

Sample 5 month old schedule

Obviously, all babies vary, but here are sample schedules you can use to make your own for your unique baby. Schedules are hit-and-miss at this age because many babies simply cannot stay up past 2 hours to get to the next scheduled nap time. Therefore, at this age, it’s likely naps are still on the short side but come frequently. Over the next several weeks, you can work on getting down to just 3 naps to get closer to the 6 month schedule.

5 Month Old Schedule With Short Wake Windows

This schedule works best for babies who become overtired quickly and can stay awake for about 1.5 – 2 hours between naps:

+ possibly 1-2 night feedings

5 Month Old Schedule With 2-hour Wake Windows

This schedule works well for babies who can stay awake for 2 hours between sleep periods:

+ possibly 1-2 night feedings

5 Month Old Schedule With Longer Wake Windows

This schedule works best for babies who can stay awake for 2 to 2.5 hours between naps and are taking 3 naps rather than 4 naps:

+ possibly 1-2 night feedings

If your baby is able to stay up longer between naps or has transitioned to two naps, and is not as sensitive to overtiredness, you may want to take a look at our 6 month schedule, and modify your schedule above to more closely match the 6 month schedule.

Note: Many people prefer to follow an eat-play-sleep routine, which is a good routine to follow, however, sometimes hard to implement at this age when the amount of time between naps is not long enough and your baby wakes too early from his nap because of a feeding. I take all of that into consideration when making my sample schedules. The most important part is to be careful not to create sleep associations with feedings too close to sleep times, which we saw become important during the 4 month sleep regression.

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