Sleep Question - What Would You Do?

Try putting him to bed a little earlier on the days he is tired. i sounds crazy but from 6 months to 14 months my daughter needed to go to bed between 6 and 6:30 or she would wake up all night. Dr. Marc Wiesbluth wrote a great book called Happy Sleep Habits Healthy Child which was a huge help to us.

Best of Luck

I would keep what you are doing... I think its easier to keep a constant bedtime then keep changing it. They will evenutally give up that later nap..or maybe he'll nap longer at 3. Although I do know people who would nap their kids late...for me its about having a decent bed time.

Check out what the expert Dr. Weissbluth has to say.
http://billiediscoverytoys.blogspot.com/2008/09/sleep-beg...

Sounds like you're doing a great job with him, and what you're doing works. 'If it's not broke, don't fix it.'

If you are not working then you can let him rest a little and see how it goes... I was afraid to do the exact same thing with my cat napper and many times she rested only for a half hour and still went down at 7 for bed. It worked for me (I cooked dinner then) and it helped her stay happy through dinner and bathtime. worth a try.

My five month old went to bed at 5:30-6:00! (Now he's a year old, and he goes to bed at 7.) I know it seems early, but he started sleeping through the night when I put him to bed earlier. He also held on to that 3rd nap until around 10 months or so. I wouldn't let him nap after 4:00, but feel free to put your little guy down for the night earlier!

I hvae been putting my 7 month old son to bed at around 6pm for about 3-4 months now, so maybe just put him to bed earlier. Its weird but it works, the earlier they go to bed the longer they stay asleep. My son has pretty much the same schedule as your little guy, except he goes to bed at 6pm, wakes around 3:00am for a bottle, goes back to bed, wakes again at 6:30am,naps at 9am (2 hours),again at 1pm (2hours) then bed at 6pm.At their age they should get a total of 15 hours of sleep a day. At five months they are just beginning to form a routine, so he'll adjust, but it sounds like your doing great. Also, I read "Health Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Weissbluth and it really helped me understand sleep paterns in babies. My son's pediatrician recommended it and it has helped a lot. Good Luck!

That is exactly the nap schedule my daughter was on for quite awhile.

According to Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth , you are absolutely right to not let your little guy sleep after 5. You're messing with his sleep rhythm if you do. If he misses his late nap, Dr. W. recommends to up the bedtime. I highly recommend his book if you haven't read it.

My son who is 5 mos. also has a little routine, slightly different from yours. He'll get up around 7am take a nap around 9:30 another one around 11:30/12:00 then yet again another around 3 or so. They are genrally only half hour naps or so. I myself try not to let him go down after 5. Because we start (keyword start) the bedtime routine at 7 but he generally will go down at 8. The schedule is ever changing. He fell asleep on us at 5:30 and ended up sleeping till 7 am the next morning. I generally let him make his own routine though, and he gets into his own groove.

I had something similar going on. My advice is that if he misses the 3:30 nap, no more naps. My daughter was the same way with the naps. And I had to make a rule for the sitter that she can't have any naps after 5 because it messed up the routine. You want to get your baby into a routine and late naps can mess that up. Especially if u have bedtime rituals....bath, bedtime story, etc. This is especially important because soon your son won't be waking up so much at night. If he like my daughter, he'll start to not wake up for the 1030 feeding and sleep through until 2 or 3 am then wake up at 6. Hope this helps. Good luck.

Hey Christine,

I think he is a little young to deny him his five o'clock nap. I also think he is still young to really have a set bedtime. I think it is great that you are trying to create a schedule but you may have to just follow his cues right now. You can try one of two things let him have his 5 o'clock nap and see how long he sleeps, or just hold him up and give him an earlier bedtime like 6:30 and see how that goes. I wouldn't wake him from naps I think you just go with him right now and see how he falls into a schedule. I can remember my daughter always taking a little nap around five and that was when I would prepare dinner. Her bedtime settled around 8 or 8:30 for the night. My son would sleep from 7 to 7 no problems. At this age its all trial and error until he settles into his own routine. Good luck and Happy New Year!!!

After our first daughter's colic going thru 9 months, we welcomed any type of sleep our 2nd daughter got! You may want to just run it by your pediatrician because we went on the whole sleep demand thing w/our youngest and luckily by 3 months she was sleeping thru the night from 8pm - 5am. I think that each child is entirely different and although some methods are guaranteed to sleep train your child, most of it is up to you. It sounds like your son is pretty consistent w/the naps and all - it's something I think we just need to brave sometimes. You may be surprised because if you do allow that nap and go w/a later bedtime, he may sleep a little later each day and before you know it, you may elimintate a feeding or two. Sorry I can't give you any solid answers, I truthfully don't think they exist in motherhood! Good luck!

I would move the 1:00 nap to maybe 2 or 2:30. Then he may actually sleep longers and not need 3 naps, which is a lot. I would not let him sleep after 5 either, otherwise you will throw off your whole bedtime routine. Keep to that. I did 7 bedtime for both my kids. They did not go to bed any later than that until they were 18 mo. Then we moved it to 7:30/8.

When I had a hard time organizing life around my 3rd child's naps (because of driving to and from preschool for the older ones and such), my pediatrician said that the most important thing is nighttime sleep. That is to say, nighttime sleep is a skill that your child is learning that he will need throughout his life. Naps are important of course because sleep is important, but I would protect his nighttime pattern if I were in your situation.

I think that it's important for your child to have a routine that meets both his needs and that of the family. However, keep in mind as a child goes through growth spurts, his sleeping patterns will change. (People would ask me "is she sleeping thru the night, my answer was yes, but her bed time is midnight and she sleeps to 7 or 8 - It woked for us).

Although each child is different, what seems a little off to me is that a 5 months he's not sleeping thru the night - 6 to 8 hours at a stretch.

To answer your question, I say skip the 5pm nap.

Hi Christine! My daughter is 5 months old too and is an awful napper! But like your son, she's been putting herself on a little schedule over the past few days...for napping that is! Although she is an awful napper, she sleeps 10-12 hours at night...no wake ups! I put her down between 6 and 7:30 after dinner, bath, book and bottle. Any later and she's miserable...we've tried to move it back so she can see more of her dad on weeknights but it didn't work! Anyway, what everyone told me was to listen to what your son is "telling" you. Let him nap, and he still may go down by 7.

Sounds like he's on an awesome schedule. My daughter (now 15 months) was the same way. I wouldn't put him down at 5 but put him to bed earlier, maybe 6:30. I read the Healthy Sleep Habbits book by Dr. Weisbluth. At first I didn't think worked and when I went back to it, it really helped me get her on a great schedule.

Hi Christine, sounds like you are doing a great job with your 5 month old. If you can keep him from sleeping at 5 it seems ideal for him to sleep from 7 to 6:30 AM (night feedings are normal at his young age) You will find that the sleep habits will change here and there, gradually. As he stays up longer and takes less naps in the day his night- bedtime may change. I raised 5 and tried to have them in bed by 7 or so and they slept well during the night. Be flexable and go with your baby's needs and love him up. Good wishes, Grandma Mary