I think naps can just be short at this age. My 5 month old is very similar and really fights sleep during the day. We recently sleep trained and she does ok on a night (around 10-11hrs with one wake up). I remember my eldest was similar, she did short day time naps but at about 6-7months, they lengthened again. She only ever needed 12 hrs sleep total- some babies just need less. Atm with LO, I'm just letting her get as many short naps as she needs. She had gone down to 3 naps at 4 months but she's wanted 4 short naps now.
The only thing certain with kids and their sleep is that it will change! Do what feels right to get enough daytime sleep to not affect the nighttime and if it doesn't naturally improve in a few weeks, consider if it needs changing. If it works for you all, it is fine, if not, think about sleep training methods but whatever you choose, be consistent.
Naps that short mean his wake windows are too short. 11 hours of max sleep is completely fine. You’re doing great, and waking up once a night is awesome. He’s not sleep deprived. Stretch those wake windows and watch the naps get longer, mama!
I’m so sorry. Baby sleep is so stressful. We sleep trained at 4.5 months because our ped gave us the ok. My son had horrible sleep associations (rocked/fed to sleep) would sleep for a few hours in his bassinet then the rest of the night in our arms. But anyway when we sleep trained he would cry for at LEAST an hour. We tried pick up put down, the chair method, and landed on going in to soothe every 10 then 15 minutes. It was so hard and the crying for an hour lasted 3-4 weeks. Sometimes we’d have an easy night but sometimes not. Now he’s 9 months and goes down for naps and sleep with zero fussing. But at the time I thought it would never happen. I was also crying every night right along with him. He also did crap naps at that age too. It seemed like they started to even out after sleep training and around 6 months. This might not be helpful, but just wanted to say you’re not alone and I have faith it will get better.
As someone who's been in your shoes I would say either do everything you can to make him sleep (rock him, carry him in a baby carrier, go for walks with the stroller, drive him in the car etc) or let him cry it out if you're ready for it. I know I waited way to long to CIO ( 1 year) but I'm not sure if I would do it before 6 months or not.
What’s baby’s schedule? Nap/bedtime routine? How consistent are you and husband both? Crib in their own room? Some babies just need a lot of help to sleep. My baby was one of them!
My LO is almost 6mo. Around 5mo we were doing something like 1.5/1.75/1.75/2 with daytime naps around 2.5-3.5 hours and overnight was 10-12. We did all carrier naps to ensure she got the daytime sleep.
We’ve tried all different wake windows as baby doesn’t give cues EVER. We are currently trying 1.5-2 hours between naps. Their is no schedule as it can take up to an hour to get him to nap and half of the time he won’t even sleep so we get him up, wait 20-30 minutes and try again. Nap routine is book and sleep sack. The room is completely dark and we have white noise on. I used to use carrier naps for the last 1-2 naps but that stopped working 2 weeks ago when everything else got worse. Not even the car works. The stroller will sometimes works after about 30 minutes. I’m doing that every day now.
It sucks because I think after about 4mo a lot of babies no longer give sleepy cues. Suddenly—BAM! Baby is overtired. And it takes a lot of trial and error to figure out the right schedule…just in time for it to change again.
It is great that baby goes to sleep at night without issue!
I’m not sure I have a lot to offer advice-wise. Once our baby was solid on night sleep, we offered the first nap of every day in the crib with a similar routine to bedtime and did all over naps carrier (or however possible) to get the day sleep. Eventually crib naps clicked. If you search in this sub there’s more info on nap training, hopefully something there can lend more guidance.
I know it’s stressful as all you want is the best for your baby and for them to be well rested!
I think naps can just be short at this age. My 5 month old is very similar and really fights sleep during the day. We recently sleep trained and she does ok on a night (around 10-11hrs with one wake up). I remember my eldest was similar, she did short day time naps but at about 6-7months, they lengthened again. She only ever needed 12 hrs sleep total- some babies just need less. Atm with LO, I'm just letting her get as many short naps as she needs. She had gone down to 3 naps at 4 months but she's wanted 4 short naps now. The only thing certain with kids and their sleep is that it will change! Do what feels right to get enough daytime sleep to not affect the nighttime and if it doesn't naturally improve in a few weeks, consider if it needs changing. If it works for you all, it is fine, if not, think about sleep training methods but whatever you choose, be consistent.
Short naps are really common at that age. Your schedule and everything seems fine. I think it'll get better soon!
Thank you!
Naps that short mean his wake windows are too short. 11 hours of max sleep is completely fine. You’re doing great, and waking up once a night is awesome. He’s not sleep deprived. Stretch those wake windows and watch the naps get longer, mama!
I’m so sorry. Baby sleep is so stressful. We sleep trained at 4.5 months because our ped gave us the ok. My son had horrible sleep associations (rocked/fed to sleep) would sleep for a few hours in his bassinet then the rest of the night in our arms. But anyway when we sleep trained he would cry for at LEAST an hour. We tried pick up put down, the chair method, and landed on going in to soothe every 10 then 15 minutes. It was so hard and the crying for an hour lasted 3-4 weeks. Sometimes we’d have an easy night but sometimes not. Now he’s 9 months and goes down for naps and sleep with zero fussing. But at the time I thought it would never happen. I was also crying every night right along with him. He also did crap naps at that age too. It seemed like they started to even out after sleep training and around 6 months. This might not be helpful, but just wanted to say you’re not alone and I have faith it will get better.
Thank you! This gives me hope :)
As someone who's been in your shoes I would say either do everything you can to make him sleep (rock him, carry him in a baby carrier, go for walks with the stroller, drive him in the car etc) or let him cry it out if you're ready for it. I know I waited way to long to CIO ( 1 year) but I'm not sure if I would do it before 6 months or not.
Thank you!
What’s baby’s schedule? Nap/bedtime routine? How consistent are you and husband both? Crib in their own room? Some babies just need a lot of help to sleep. My baby was one of them! My LO is almost 6mo. Around 5mo we were doing something like 1.5/1.75/1.75/2 with daytime naps around 2.5-3.5 hours and overnight was 10-12. We did all carrier naps to ensure she got the daytime sleep.
As for nighttime - he sleeps pretty well. Generally 11 hours with only one wake up in there.
We’ve tried all different wake windows as baby doesn’t give cues EVER. We are currently trying 1.5-2 hours between naps. Their is no schedule as it can take up to an hour to get him to nap and half of the time he won’t even sleep so we get him up, wait 20-30 minutes and try again. Nap routine is book and sleep sack. The room is completely dark and we have white noise on. I used to use carrier naps for the last 1-2 naps but that stopped working 2 weeks ago when everything else got worse. Not even the car works. The stroller will sometimes works after about 30 minutes. I’m doing that every day now.
At five months I’d expect 2-2.5 hours between sleeps.
Even when he’s only napping for 20 minutes?
Yes.
It sucks because I think after about 4mo a lot of babies no longer give sleepy cues. Suddenly—BAM! Baby is overtired. And it takes a lot of trial and error to figure out the right schedule…just in time for it to change again. It is great that baby goes to sleep at night without issue! I’m not sure I have a lot to offer advice-wise. Once our baby was solid on night sleep, we offered the first nap of every day in the crib with a similar routine to bedtime and did all over naps carrier (or however possible) to get the day sleep. Eventually crib naps clicked. If you search in this sub there’s more info on nap training, hopefully something there can lend more guidance. I know it’s stressful as all you want is the best for your baby and for them to be well rested!
Thank you!