5 month old babies need an average of 10-12 hours of sleep at night and 3-4 hours during the day. This article outlines the average 5-month-old baby sleep schedule, including milk feedings for breastfeeding and formula-feeding babies, solids, naps, and nighttime sleep. As a sleep consultant for over 10 years, I will also share typical sleep habits and tips to get your baby to sleep through the night. Or, you can simply skip to the schedule if you prefer.
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.
5 Month Old Feeding
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.
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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:
| 5 Month Old 4-Nap Sleep Schedule With Feedings | |
|---|---|
| Time | Activity |
| 6:30 AM | Wake and Milk |
| 7:15 AM | Solids (if your pediatrician has directed you to start this young) |
| 8:00 AM | Morning Nap (at least 1 hour) |
| 9:00 AM | Feed (upon waking; no need to wake baby up!) |
| 11:00 AM | Late Morning Nap (often 45-60 minutes) |
| 12:00 PM | Feed (upon waking) |
| 2:00 PM | Early Afternoon Nap (often 30-45 minutes) |
| 3:00 PM | Feed |
| 4:30 PM | Catnap (~30-45 minutes; can be “on the go”) |
| 5:30 PM | Snack Feed (if necessary) |
| 6:00 PM | Start Your Bedtime Routine |
| 6:15 PM | Feed |
| 6:30 PM | Bedtime (goal to be asleep by this time) |
+ 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:
| 5 Month Old 4-Nap Sleep Schedule With Feedings | |
|---|---|
| Time | Activity |
| 6:30 AM | Wake and Milk |
| 7:30 AM | Solids (if your pediatrician has directed you to start this young) |
| 8:30 AM | Morning Nap (at least 1 hour) |
| 9:30 AM | Feed (upon waking; no need to wake baby up!) |
| 11:30 AM | Late Morning Nap (often 45-60 minutes) |
| 12:30 PM | Feed (upon waking) |
| 2:30 PM | Early Afternoon Nap (often 30-45 minutes on a 4-nap schedule) |
| 3:30 PM | Feed |
| 4:30 PM | Catnap (~30 minutes; can be “on the go”) |
| 6:00 PM | Start Your Bedtime Routine |
| 6:15 PM | Feed |
| 6:30 PM | Bedtime (goal to be asleep by this time) |
+ 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:
| 5 Month Old 3-Nap Sleep Schedule With Feedings | |
|---|---|
| Time | Activity |
| 6:30 AM | Wake |
| 7:00 AM | Milk (you may want to delay this so the nap isn’t shortened by a feeding) |
| 7:30 AM | Solids (if your pediatrician has directed you to start this young) |
| 8:30 AM | Morning Nap (at least 1 hour) |
| 10:00 AM | Feed (upon waking; no need to wake baby up!) |
| 12:00 PM | Midday Nap (at least 1 hour) |
| 1:00 PM | Feed (upon waking) |
| 3:30 PM | Afternoon Nap (~30-45 minutes) |
| 4:00 PM | Feed (upon waking) |
| 6:00 PM | Start Your Bedtime Routine |
| 6:15 PM | Feed |
| 6:30 PM | Bedtime (goal to be asleep by this time) |
+ 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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Sonia says
My almost 5 month baby was a great sleeper until I got my period back when he was 3 months. Now he is all over the place and the past week has been waking 4/5 times a night all week. He is my fifth baby and I also run a business from home and I am exhausted.
I am struggling to get him into a schedule and then when things improve my next period is here again and he goes nuts for a week again.
He is breastfed with top ups of formula only when I have meetings or he is extra hungry. I do have hired help during the daytime to help me secure a schedule for him. But is there anything I can do to avoid these set backs every time I have a period?
Janelle Reid says
Hi @Sonia, thank you for writing to us. I’m so sorry to hear your son is so sensitive to your hormonal changes! I have heard of your supply dropping when you are on your period, so I don’t know if you’ve tried giving him additional formula during those weeks. There is also the 4 month regression that can hit in the 3-5 month range where his sleeping patterns change. If things continue to get strange during your period, I would suggest speaking to a lactation consultant to see if they’ve ever had any experience with this happening and what they suggest. If you need more help with getting his schedule down, we can still help with that if you feel its outside of hormonal sensitivity as well through our free articles (you’d just have to click around the site as we have so many) or through our paid services such as ebooks or personalized one-on-one sleep consulting. Here is a link to our services page so you can see the options of what we offer: https://www.babysleepsite.com/baby-toddler-sleep-consulting- services/
We do have a ton of options so if you have questions and want to find out more/talk through your options please contact us directly at [email protected] . Hang in there, I hope this helps!
Neha says
Hi,
My 5 month old sleeps through the night from 10-10.30 pm to 7.30-8am everyday. However, the problem is that he has a very hard time taking naps. We follow eat-play-sleep routine but recently, he fights all naps starting with his 2nd nap of the day. He usually takes 3-4 naps a day and I put him down around 90 mins since he woke up so that he’s asleep by the time 2 hours have passed since he woke up. But its just not working anymore and he cries a lot resulting in me either rocking him to nap or putting him in the swing. What are some solutions?
Neosha says
@Neha – Thank you for reading and for sharing with us. Day time sleep can be SO frustrating – especially when night time sleep is okay! Believe me, we know how you feel! There could be a number of issues why he appears to be fighting his nap – issues with his 5 month old schedule, feeding times/amounts, environment, etc. – that you’d want to work through to figure out a solution. If you haven’t read over our free e-guide on naps, that’d be a great place to start working through some possibilities. You can start that here, if you haven’t already -https://www.babysleepsite.com/free-baby-nap-guide/ I hope it helps, Neha. If you find you’d like more support or need help working through these possibilities, just let us know. Hang in there!
Jordan says
My daughter has been going through a major sleep regression for the last 3 weeks (she’s about to turn 5 months). Up until about 4 months old, she fell asleep when put down drowsy, and slept from 7:30 pm-3 am. Then she would wake for a bottle, and sleep until 6-7 am.
Now, she struggles to fall asleep unless we are nearby (hand on her chest), and wakes up every 2 hours at night, seemingly looking for the pacifier she dropped. She is also very squirmy at night, moving all over her crib, pushing her head/face and face up against the hard side of the crib. We try to let her cry it out, but we worry she’s going to hurt herself or not be able to breathe with her face up against the crib, so we end up in her room soothing her with a hand on her chest, repositioning her in the crib, and replacing her pacifier.
Help!
Danielle says
Hi Jordan,
Thank you for visiting The Baby Sleep Site! I’m so sorry to hear you’re struggling with your 5 month-old’s sleep. Based on your description, it does sound like she’s dealing with the 4 month-old sleep regression, which is really tough for a lot of families, so you are not alone! We have a comprehensive article with some good tips on getting through here: https://www.babysleepsite.com/baby-sleep-patterns/4-month-sleep-regression/
I hope that article will give you the information you need, but if you still have questions, please let us know. Hang in there, an good luck!
Dana says
Soi know alot of people domt aprove of co sleepong but when my son came home from the hospital , me and my husband both felt more comfortable with him sleeping on my chest so that i knew at all times he was breathing and ok now he is 5months old and never slept in the crib. i know its my fault for haveing him use to sleeping with me but its time for sleep on his own and he will not fall alseep unless beong skin to skin
does anybody know what could help me brake him out of this?
Danielle says
Hi Dana,
Thank you for using The Baby Sleep Site as a resource! We work with a lot of families who’ve chosen to co-sleep, and I’m glad you found something that worked for your family during those difficult early months. If you’re wanting to move to a crib now, we have an article with some tips here: https://www.babysleepsite.com/how-we-sleep/baby-wont-sleep-crib/
And more info on transitioning away from co-sleeping here: https://www.babysleepsite.com/sleep-training/co-sleeping-transition-how-to/
I hope these will help, but if you need more information, please get in touch. Good luck!
NWilsk says
My baby wakes up at around 6:30 and then naps at 8ish. The naps tend to be 3-3.5 hours long. Then he is up for a few hours and then takes another nap that is about 2 hours long. Then he has a shorter nap or two before bed. We try starting the bedtime routine at 7ish, but lately he usually falls asleep at 10pm. I am okay with this later bedtime sleep time since he has longer naps during the day. What are your thoughts on these longer day-time naps?
Danielle says
Hello,
Thank you for your comment! I’d love to help with your questions about your 5 month-old’s sleep. Based on your description, it does sound like he’s sleeping too much during the day. We recommend a baby his age sleeps no more than 3 hours during the day, which will support good nighttime sleep. Night sleep is more restorative than nap sleep, too, so we do want those two things balance. We have a couple of articles with more information that I hope will help:
https://www.babysleepsite.com/baby-sleep-patterns/4-times-wake-your-baby-sleep/
https://www.babysleepsite.com/naps/baby-naps-chart-how-many-how-long/
Please let us know if you have any other questions!
Sian says
My 5month old was sleeping through the night until a week ago when his sleep became progressively worse. He goes to bed for 8pm. Bed time routine starts at 7 (bath,, book,feed,bed). Dream feed at 11 and would normally sleep until 7/8am.
He has stated waking ever 90-120minutes. I was feeding him as
he seemed hungry but now think
I’ve given him day/night reversal?!? I am offering the boob 2hourly in the day to try and boost day time calories. His room is very dark with
white noise. He goes down semi awake and self soothe with thumb.
Tonight I have moved him into his own room and really tried not to feed each time he woke just Shhing him back to sleep.
Managed until 4.30am but then fed him.
How can I get him back to sleeping through the night?
Neosha says
@Sian – Thank you for reading and for sharing with us. We’re so sorry to hear your little guy’s sleep has suddenly changed to this degree. We know how confusing and exhausting this can be! It’s possible your little guy is experiencing a common sleep regression that occurs between 3-5 months old triggered by brain development. Common signs of this regression are a sudden change to day and/or night sleep, more night wakings, and changes to appetite. If this is what your baby is experiencing, hang in there. We have many resources to help you navigate this period and countless articles on this sleep regression on our site. If you find you would like even more support to get him on track to better sleep again, you can also consider connecting with one of our sleep consultants who would welcome the opportunity serve your family. Hang in there, Sian!
Dana says
Have you ever tired nighttime gripie water. completely natural and healthy.
D says
I can’t seem to get my 5 month old asleep before 11pm. She was born with days and nights mixed up so this is still progress but it’s been stuck at 11pm for quite some time now. What am I doing wrong?
Janelle Reid says
Hi @D, thanks for writing to us. I’m sorry to hear you’ve been struggling with a late bedtime for your little one! I remember my kids when they were little going to bed really late and we had to gradually transition their schedule to adjust – I am assuming naptimes are not coordinating with the suggested schedule either since bedtime is so late so it’s likely everything needs to be shifted. We actually have an ebook available that is all about adjusting schedules that you can access through our exclusive Members Area. It is a monthly subscription (very affordable) where you would have access to all of our ebooks (including the Shifting Schedules ebook as well as our Mastering Naps and Schedules ebook that also would likely help), tele-seminars, exclusive articles that go more in-depth, as well as a weekly chat with a sleep consultant. You can read more about signing up for the subscription here, and you can of course cancel it at any time: https://www.babysleepsite.com/diy/
One more feature I love about the Members Area is that if you leave a comment on a blog article or a certain part of an ebook, that a sleep consultant will reply back to you with more helpful information or clarity as well.
Let us know if you have any other questions, I hope things improve in your daughter’s schedule soon!
Raquel says
Hi @Rachel my 5months old child that is son rarely takes a nap during the day but sleep well at night is that OK? Plus his milk intake has basically reduced can have formula twice a day is that really OK?
Debbye @ The Baby Sleep Site says
Hi @Raquel –
Thank you for writing to us! I would recommend speaking to your son’s doctor about his mil intake! You do want to make sure that he is eating enough to thrive and grow! Regarding his sleep, as you can see on our 5 month old schedule, we do recommend many naps at this age, with a roughly 2 hour awake window between most sleeps. There is a wide range of normal, and if your little one is not napping this much in the day, but is sleeping well at night, there is no need to necessarily change that. You can always use our sample schedules as a guide and try adding in a few naps and see if that may help him sleep even better!
Good luck Raquel!
Vaudine says
My 4.5m little girl likes to keep me on my toes. Some days she will only sleep 45 minute naps, others she will throw in a 1.5hr, and then some days decide to do a 2 hour or a 30 min! This makes routine near impossible, but we manage although it’s harder now we have hit the busiest time on the farm. I have tried lengthening the short naps with only success about one every ten! What I struggle with is figuring out what structure is it that gets our better night sleeps! Last night she slept six hours, which was the longest she has done in weeks (usually up every three to four, sometimes every two!). However, yesterday was such a mess…she slept an hour at 8, 45min at 10.50, and 30min at 2! She refused any more sleep after 2.30 despite appearing tired. I kept giving her opportunities to sleep and at least rest…at 4.30 I gave up, bathed her fed her and she was asleep at 5! I assumed she would wake as from a nap and I’d have to navigate a late bed time but she didn’t…fed at 9.15, then she slept through until 2.45! Bliss.
But it seems all so counterintuitive compared to what all schedules suggest. The days she sleeps more she doesn’t seem to sleep better at night etc. she generally lasts one and a half to two hours between naps before at least appearing tired. She is always happy and bright even when waking from short naps. She is basically ebf, I was giving her a bed time bottle of formula to try and lengthen on advice from midwife, but yesterday I gave her the bottle at lunchtime instead as that was when she seemed still hungry and not having it before bed made no difference, maybe even helped?! Who knows!
Any suggestions?
Debbye @ The Baby Sleep Site says
Hi @Vaudine – Thanks for writing to us! It does sound like your little girl keeps you on your toes! It can be so tough to find a schedule that works for baby, especially at the younger age of 4 or 5 months. Short naps are a common occurrence at this age, so you’re not alone! Keep working at her schedule and finding what works best for you and for her!
Short naps often lengthen at around 6 months, so if they remain short after this, you may want to consider actively working on lengthening them at that time. Regarding when to give her the formula, you may want to ask your midwife or pediatrician, to ensure that your feeding her a formula that is working for her, and at good times for her too.
For more help, please consider our Member’s Area. Our Members Area gives you access to all of our ebooks as well as all teleseminar recordings, case studies, and do-it-yourself tutorials, including a workbook to create your own sleep plan.
My favorite feature is the access to a “members only” live “chat” where an expert sleep consultant will answer your specific questions!
You can read more about the Member’s Area here:
https://www.babysleepsite.com/diy/
Good luck Vaudine, and please feel free to contact us if you need assistance!
Bailey says
Does the nap time mean they are asleep at that time or laid down at that time?
Danielle says
Hi Bailey,
Thank you for visiting The Baby Sleep Site! Unless a schedule says otherwise, we encourage baby to be *asleep* at the time listed, not just being put down. I hope this helps, but please let us know if you have any questions!
Rachel says
My 5 month old has a huge nap in the morning (3 hours some days) and cat naps for his other naps. Generally on me or in the car / buggy
Main problem is at night. He goes to bet at 7/8 and is then up EVERY Two hours for a feed 10pm, 12am, 2am, 4am and then wants to start his day at 6 ish!!
Do you think the naps could be causing his nighttime problems? Should I be waking him from his long nap?
Janelle Reid says
Hi @Rachel, thanks for writing to us. I am so sorry to hear that you’ve been having such frequent night wakings! While naps may be contributing, there may be other things you can try first (although it sounds like that long morning nap may be some make up time for the night sleep). Here is a link to a free guide with tips to help your baby sleep through the night: https://www.babysleepsite.com//sleep-through-night-free-ebook/
Be sure to pay attention to the section on sleep associations as the 2 hour waking all night is often a red flag that there’s an association he’s waking for. It’s also common for a sleep association (or some sleep issue) to be present in one area of sleep (nights) and not in the other (naps). If you find you need more help, let us know. We offer one-on-one sleep coaching where we would create a plan specifically for your son and family. If you’re interested in working with a consultant which will take a lot of the guesswork out of what to do next for you, then feel free to read more here: https://www.babysleepsite.com/baby-toddler-sleep-consulting-services/
I hope this helps!