Babywise Sample Schedules: The Sixth Month. 5 month old Babywise sleep schedules. Babywise schedules used by real Babywise babies.
This post gives sample schedule Babywise schedules for the sixth month. The sixth month of baby’s life comprises weeks 22-26.
Baby is five months old at the beginning of this period and moves to 6 months old by the end. 5 month old sample Babywise Schedules.
Post Contents
- Five Month Old Schedule Overview
- 5 Month Old Awake Time
- 5 Month Old Nap Schedules
- 5 Month Old Night Sleep
- 5 Month Old Feeding Schedules
- 5 Month Old Sleep Troubles
- Our Sample 5 Month Old Schedules
- Week 22
- Week 23
- Week 24
- Week 25
- Week 26
- Your Sample Schedules
- Combo ages:
- Get the whole series
- Related Schedule Posts on this Blog
- Babywise Schedules for the First Year
- Babywise Sample Schedules: The First Month
- Sample Babywise Schedules: One Month Old
- Sample Babywise Schedules: Two Months Old
- Sample Babywise Schedules: Three Months Old
- Babywise Sample Schedules: Four Months Old
- Babywise Sample Schedules: Six Months Old
- Babywise Sample Schedules: Seven Months Old
- Babywise Sample Schedules: Eight Months Old
- Babywise Sample Schedules: Nine Months Old
- Babywise Sample Schedules: Ten Months Old
- Babywise Sample Schedules: Eleven Months Old
- Babywise Sample Schedules: 12-15 Months Old
Five Month Old Schedule Overview
During the sixth month, you can aim for and expect the following in your baby’s day.
5 Month Old Awake Time
- Awake times should be 1.5-2 hours long for most 5 month old babies. Sleep cues are not as obvious at this age. Take notes to find the best wake window.
- You can start blanket time with your baby if you haven’t already.
- Continue with Independent Playtime. If you haven’t started, work it into your day if possible.
- You can start to teach sign language to your baby. This can be done at any point forward.
- Get toy recommendations for your 5-month-old baby here: Best Toys for Baby: Ages 4-6 Months
>>>Read: Baby Playtime Activities By Age
5 Month Old Nap Schedules
- Your baby will take 3 daytime naps a day.
- Naps will be 1.5-2.5 hours long.
- The third nap might be a short 30-60 minutes long. This will be your last nap of the day. The catnap is short.
- Daytime sleep should total 3.5 to 6 hours a day depending on sleep needs.
- If you haven’t dropped the swaddle, watch for signs baby is ready to drop the swaddle.
- Teething can start to impact sleep. If you suspect teething, watch for drooling, rashes on the face, biting, pain, irritability, diarrhea, rubbing face, and lack of interest in food.
5 Month Old Night Sleep
- Your baby should get 10-12 hours of sleep at night. Nighttime sleep is usually established by now.
- Baby might be ready to drop the dreamfeed. You should not have night feedings other than the dream feed (exceptions may apply).
- Your baby might be ready for solid foods.
5 Month Old Feeding Schedules
- Baby should have 4-6 feedings in a 24 hour period.
- Feedings should be 3-4 hours apart. Read When and How to Move Baby to 4 Hour Schedule
5 Month Old Sleep Troubles
It is not uncommon for babies in the 5-8 month old range to start to have sleep issues for various reasons. If your 5 month old starts to have sleep troubles, be sure to read 11 Reasons Your 5-8 Month Old Stopped Sleeping Well.
You might also find that new skills are starting to disrupt baby sleep. 5 month old babies add new skills constantly.
Instead of drifting off to sleep at nap time, your 5-month-old decides it is time to practice crawling or talking instead.
This leads to your baby not sleeping well because he is overly tired. Baby wakes early because the wake window was disrupted with the playing. For help with this, read How to Stop New Skills from Disrupting Naps and Sleep.
Our Sample 5 Month Old Schedules
Here are the schedules we used in this age range.
Week 22
McKenna
7:30 AM–wake, nurse, solids (1 T rice. I will add 1 T peaches this next week)
8:30 AM–nap
11:00 OR 11:30 AM–nurse, solids (at least 4 T bananas)
12:00 OR 12:30 PM–nap
2:00 OR 2:30 PM–nurse
3:15-3:45 (75-90 minutes later) PM–nap
4:30 OR 5:00 PM–nurse and solids (2-4 T sweet potatoes)
7:00 PM–nurse and straight to bed
Sometimes she eats after only two hours in the evening since she is extending her day out right now. This is a temporary situation and it is fine with me for now. I know it won’t last too long. I find that preferable to having a fourth nap and eating at a 3 hour interval, and thus having a later bedtime. I want bedtime consistent.
Brinley
Our schedule typically looks like this:
7:30–feed with solids–half of a banana and 2 T of oatmeal mixed in
8:45–nap
11:30–feed with solids–4 T of pears and 2 T of oatmeal mixed in
1:00–nap
3:30–feed
5:00–nap
5:30–feed with solids–half a banana mixed with 2 T oatmeal and sweet potatoes (1-2 T)
7:30–feed, then bedtime
Read more McKenna Baby Summary: Week 22 {Five Months Old} and Brinley Baby Summary: Week 22 {5 Months Old}
Week 23
McKenna
This week, we started every day at 8 AM
8:00 AM–wake her up, nurse, eat 2 T oatmeal and 2 T fruit (she doesn’t always finish this much)
9:00 AM–nap
11:30 AM–wake her up, nurse, eat 2 T veggie and 2 T fruit
12:30 PM–nap
3:00 PM–wake her up (sometimes she wakes on her own), nurse
4:30 PM–nap
5:30 PM–wake her up or she wakes up, nurse, 2 T fruit, 2-4 T veggie, 2 T oatmeal
7:30 PM–nurse then bed
10:20 PM–dreamfeed
You can see that the end of the day is crammed in there. I would like to be able to drop the dreamfeed so we can extend the schedule so it isn’t so smashed together at the end of the day. The other night, I said our 7:30 PM nursing is basically just a formality.
Brinley
Our schedule typically looks like this:
7:30–feed with solids–half of a banana and 2 T of oatmeal mixed in
8:45–nap
11:30–feed with solids–4 T of pears and 2 T of oatmeal mixed in
1:00–nap
3:30–feed
5:00–nap
5:30–feed with solids–half a banana mixed with 2 T oatmeal and sweet potatoes (1-2 T) OR butternut squash (1-2 T)–we alternate every other day with squash and sweet potatoes.
7:30–feed, then bedtime. In bed by 8:00-8:10
Read more at McKenna Baby Summary: Week 23 and Brinley Baby Summary: Week 23
Week 24
McKenna
8:00 AM–wake her up, nurse, eat 2 T oatmeal and 2 T prunes. She now usually does eat all of her oatmeal. Some days, she loves her prunes. Others, she hates it.
9:00 AM–nap
11:30 AM–wake her up, nurse, eat 2-4 T veggie and 2 T bananas
12:35 PM–nap
3:00 PM–wake her up, nurse
4:30 PM–nap
5:30 PM–wake her up and she is mad to be woken up, nurse, 2 T oatmeal mixed with 1 T peaches, 2-4 T veggie
7:30 PM–nurse then bed
10:15 PM–dreamfeed
She is really ready to both drop the dreamfeed and extend to a four hour schedule. I am really reluctant to drop the dreamfeed before we move to our new home. I would not be hesitant to move to a four hour schedule before we move. I always say I prefer dropping the dreamfeed before extending the schedule, but I might just have to extend the schedule first under these circumstances. I need to do something fast. Things are getting too tight in the evening and I have to wake her up for every meal of the day.
Brinley
Our schedule typically looks like this:
7:30–feed with solids–2-4 T prunes and 2 T of oatmeal mixed in
8:45–nap
11:30–feed with solids–4 T of pears and 2 T of oatmeal mixed in and 2 T of green beans with 1 T oatmeal mixed in
1:00–nap
3:30–feed
5:00–nap
5:30–feed with solids–half a banana mixed with 2 T oatmeal and sweet potatoes (1-2 T) OR butternut squash (1-2 T)–we alternate every other day with squash and sweet potatoes.
7:30–feed, then bedtime. In bed by 8:00-8:10
Read more at McKenna Baby Summary: Week 24 and Brinley Baby Summary: Week 24
Week 25
McKenna
8:00 AM: I wake her. Nurse. 2 T fruit (prunes or peaches) and 3 T oatmeal. This is followed by bath and then independent playtime.
9:00 AM: Nap
12:00 PM: I wake her (yes, she takes a 3 hour nap). Nurse. 2-4 T peas and 2-4 T of bananas. This is followed by some time with siblings and some tummy time/floor play.
1:15-1:30 PM: Nap. Almost every day this week, she took this nap at my parent’s house.
4:00 PM: I wake her. Nurse. 4 T yellow veggie, 2 T fruit (usually peaches), and 4 T oatmeal. This is followed by us going to our new house to work on it. I would put her in the front carrier or in the bouncer. Some days, she and I would drive to pick up food for the workers.
6:00 PM: Nap. This was taken in my new neighbors master bedroom closet in her bassinet.
8:00 PM: I wake her. Some nights she woke on her own. She sleeps so well! I never expected her to sleep well there. They have six kids, so you know things just get really loud sometimes. The girl can sleep. Nurse and then back to bed at home.
10:20 or 10:30 PM: Dreamfeed.
I would ideally like the last feeding to start at 7:30 so she can be in bed by 8:00, but for right now, it is good for me to have that extra 30 minutes to work on the house. We are still figuring out our perfect 4 hour schedule.
Brinley
Our schedule typically looks like this:
7:30–feed with solids–2-4 T prunes and 2 T of oatmeal mixed in
8:45–nap
11:30–feed with solids–4 T of pears and 2 T of oatmeal mixed in and 2 T of green beans with 1 T oatmeal mixed in
1:00–nap
3:30–feed
5:00–nap
6:00–feed with solids–half a banana mixed with 2 T oatmeal OR 3-4 T applesauce mixed with 2 T oatmeal and sweet potatoes (1-2 T) OR butternut squash (1-2 T)
7:30–feed, then bedtime. In bed by 8:00-8:10
Read more at McKenna Baby Summary: Week 25 and Brinley Baby Summary: Week 25
Week 26
McKenna
8:00 AM–wake, nurse, eat 2-3 T prunes and 1 T peaches mixed with 3 T oatmeal (3 T dry before mixed with water).
9:00-9:10 AM–nap
12:00 PM–wake, nurse, eat about 4 T green veggie and 4-8 T banana (she will eat an entire banana. She loves them).
1:15-1:30 PM–nap
4:00 PM–wake, nurse, eat about 4 T yellow veggie and 4 T pears. I then offer 2 T oatmeal and let her eat until full. She usually doesn’t eat much oatmeal, but I offer it to see if she is still hungry.
6:00 PM–(sometimes she is tired between 5:30 and 6:00, in which case I put her down) nap
8:00 PM–wake, nurse, change into PJs, story, bed
10:15 PM–dreamfeed
Brinley
Our schedule typically looks like this:
7:30–feed with solids–2-4 T prunes and 2 T of oatmeal mixed in
8:45–nap
11:30–feed with solids–4 T of pears and 2 T of oatmeal mixed in and 2 T of green beans OR peas with 1 T oatmeal mixed in and some fruit
1:00–nap
3:30–feed
5:00–nap
6:00–feed with solids–half a banana mixed with 2 T oatmeal OR 3-4 T applesauce mixed with 2 T oatmeal and sweet potatoes (1-2 T) OR butternut squash (1-2 T) and some fruit
7:30–feed, then bedtime. In bed by 8:00-8:10
Read more at McKenna Baby Summary: Week 26 and Brinley Baby Summary: Week 26
Your Sample Schedules
Here are the schedules that you have shared over the years
5 Months Old Girl
7:00 – wake up/eat
8:00 – nap
10:30 – eat
11:30 – nap
1:30 – eat
2:30 – nap
4:30 – eat
5:30 – nap
6:30 – wake
7:00 – eat
8:00 – bed
10:00 dream feed/10:30 bed
5 Month Old Boy
7:00 – wake, 6 oz formula, solids
9:00 – nap
11:00- wake, 6 oz formula, solids
1:00- nap
3:00- wake, 8 oz formula
5- 6:00- nap
6:30- 8 oz formula, solids
7:30- bed
5 Month Old (girl)
She sleeps through the night, but her naps are very spotty. Her “normal” nap is 45 minutes long, but she usually has one longer nap (1.5 – 2 hours) each day, but not always at the same time. If she wakes up before it’s time to eat, she plays for a bit.
7:00 – get up and nurse (she is often awake, but quiet, so I don’t know exactly when she wakes up)
8:15 – nap (varies in length)
10:00 – nurse
11:30 – nap (varies in length)1:00/1:30 – nurse
3:00 – nap (varies in length)
4:30 – nurse
6:00 – nap (30-40 min)
7:30 – nurse
8:30/9:00 – bedtime
5 Month Old Girl
7:00 – wake up
7:15 – bottle & oat cereal w/ fruit
8:15 – nap
10:30 – wake
11:00 – bottle & rice cereal w/ veggie
12:30 – nap
2:30 – wake
3:00 – bottle, fruit & veggie
4:30 – cat nap
6:30 – bathtime/bedtime routine ending with bottle
7:00 – bed
Almost 6 Month Old Girl
7:00 Wake/Nurse/Rice Cereal
Play in PlayPen
9:00 Nap in Swing
10:30 Wake/Nurse/Rice Cereal
Play/Bath
1:00 Nap in Crib
2:30 Wake/Nurse
Play
4:45 Cat Nap
5:15 Wake/Nurse/Rice Cereal
8:00 Nurse
8:30 Bed
5 month, almost 6 month old girl (who has Down Syndrome):
Between 7-7:30am Wakes, Breastfeeds, plays
Between 8:30-9am Down for Nap
Between 10:30-11:30am Wakes, Breastfeeds, plays
Between 12:30-1:30pm Down for Nap
Between 2:30-3:30pm Wakes, Breastfeeds, plays
Between 4:30-5pm Nap(although is transitioning away from this nap)
Nurses between 5-6pm
Plays, Bedtime Rountine, Bath
Between 7-8pm Breastfeeds and bed
Dreamfeeds between 9:30-10:15, depending on the night.
5 months old
7am wake up for day
8am bottle or breastfeeding
9am nap
10:30/10:45 wake up
11am feed
12 nap
1:30/1:45 wake
2 feed
3nap
4:30 wake
5 feed
6:30 cereal
7:45 last feed and bed by 8
5 months old
7am wake
8 feed
9-11 nap
12:30/12:45-2:45/3 nap
4 feed
5-5:30 catnap
6:30 veggies
8 feed and straight to bed
5 months old
6:30 DWT
8:30-10:30 Nap
12:30-2:30 Nap
4-4:46 Cat Nap
7pm Bed
5 months old
7 DWT
8:45-10:30 nap 1
12:15-2 nap 2
3:45-5 nap 3
7 bed
5 month old
7 DWT/Feed
9 Nap
10:30/10:45 Feed
12:30 Nap
1:30/2 Feed
4 Catnap
4:45/5 Feed
5:30ish Solids (we’re just on cereal right now)
6:45 Feed
7/7:15 Bedtime
5 months old
7:00 dwt/ bottle
9:30 nap
11:00 bottle
1:30 nap
3:00 bottle
4:30-5:00 cat nap
7:00 bottle, bedtime
Combo ages:
4-6 month old girl
typical flexible routine, it varies by 20 or 30 minutes sometimes
6:45 wake, eat (6 oz. breastmilk)
7:30 long nap every day
10:30 eat (6 oz. breastmilk)
11:45 nap some days
2:15 eat (6 oz. breastmilk)
3:45 nap some days
6:00 eat (nurse)
7:00 nap most days
8:30 bath and bedtime routine
9:00 eat (6 oz. breastmilk)
9:15 bed, sleeps through the night
I find that her nap routine is the least consistent since I work part-time and different family members keep her on those days. Her bedtime, morning waketime, and feeding time is very consistent. I would like for her naptimes and activity times to be more consistent. After charting everything for several days as suggested by the Baby Whisperer, her naptimes really depend on who keeps her that day.
4-6 Months
Since 4 months (he will be 6 months this week) we have been working on transitioning to 3.5-hour schedule. After a few days of the longer schedule, he wakes up early from naps and we end up doing the 3-hour schedule above, so for the last little while we’ve just done the longer schedule 2-3 days a week which allows me to decide which days rather than him. Hopefully we’ll do this all the time soon!
6am Nurse, then some playtime
7:15 Nap
9:30 Nurse, tummy time, playtime
11:00 Nap
1:00pm Nurse, tummy time, playtime (or errands)
2:30 Nap
4:30 Nurse, play time, family time
6:00 (sometimes a little later) Nap
(Sometimes he doesn’t take the 4th nap, but most of the time he needs it.)
7:30 Nurse
Bedtime routine
Bed by 8:15
4-8 Months
8:00 wake, nurse
9:30 nap
11:30 wake, nurse
12:00 independent play time
1:30 nap
3:30 wake, nurse
5:30 nap
6:30 wake, nurse
8:00 nurse, bed
Get the whole series
Related Schedule Posts on this Blog
- Babywise Sample Schedules: Four Months Old
- Babywise Sample Schedules: Six Months Old
- The 10 Very Best Things About 5 Month Olds
This post originally appeared on this blog June 2018
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When you write 1 T – is that a tablespoon or a teaspoon? And for oatmeal do you measure 2 T when you are putting it to the water and cook 2 T or after it is cooked?
Thank you
Hello! 1 T is 1 Tablespoon. And that was dry oatmeal. 🙂
Hello!
I have been reading your blog for some time, since my son was born, and things have been working fantastic. For the most part, he is a happy little boy. Up until a week ago, he slept so much. 11-12 hours at night, and over two hour nap in the morning, an 1.5-2 hour nap in the afternoon and a 45 min to 1 hour nap in the late afternoon. He was following right along with the schedule for a 5-6 month old (in two days he will be 6 months). This past week, he has been taking horrible naps and sleeping less in the night. We still lay him down for sleep at 7:30, but instead of sleeping up 7-8, he consistently wakes up at 6:30. This is strange, but doesn’t bother me as much as the naps he has been taking. His morning nap that use to be so long is now only about an hour. I leave him in his crib hoping he will fall back asleep, but he maybe dozes for the next two hours until I get him from 11-11:30 for his next meal. This continues with his next nap as well. He just isn’t sleeping well, and I can’t figure out what to do. I have tried adjusting his waketimes, but that doesn’t seem to be helping. Do you have any ideas?
Hello!
Whenever a great sleeper suddenly stops sleeping well, I want to look at sickness or pain. Is there an ear infection or new tooth coming in?
I also want to consider growth spurt. 6 months is a common age for a growth sprut, so he might be hungry. Sometimes solids really help with the hunger if his doctor is okay with it.
It is also possible you need to change up the schedule somehow. If you aren’t on a 4 hour schedule, you might need to change to that. If you recently (in the last couple of weeks) changed up the schedule, then the schedule might need to go back to what it was.
I want to make sure I’m reading these sample schedules right! It seems as though the baby is only awake for a few hours during the day but I thought at 6 months the wake windows should be 2-3 hours a few times a day?
There seem to be 2 three hour naps. Is that right? Seems like so much napping!
At 6 months old, you should not feed any longer than every 4 hours. With a 2 hour nap, you would not be awake any longer than 2 hours before nap time. Then a 6 month old might have a third nap and might not. Most still do. That nap is typically short, but can be a solid 2 hour nap. The only time you would have longer than a 2 hour wake time length is if A) your baby only needs a 1.5 hour nap so your wake time is 2.5 hours (which is possible) or B) you have two naps a day so the time between your last nap and bedtime is longer than 2 hours (also possible).
Naps can be from 1.5-2.5 hours long at this age. The third nap can be anywhere from 30 minutes to 2.5 hours long.
Hi! Your blog is so helpful, thank you. My question is–I feel like I’m doing everything right with wake times for my 5 month old (she’s between 1.5-1.75hrs awake between naps), but she’s still at 4 naps a day! Her first nap is typically 1.5 hours, and then after that we only get 45 minute naps. I’ve tried extending and shortening wake time and I’m really having no luck. I will say that she’s a great nighttime sleeper (12 hours). But I need help with naps.
Any advice?
Hello!
Make sure you have gone through my short naps posts. https://www.babywisemom.com/naps-troubleshooting-revised-and/ Once you are sure you have tried it all, check out my post on chronic 45 minute naps. https://www.babywisemom.com/chronic-45-minute-naps/
Hi there,
Thank you so much for all this great advice. I’m currently transitioning my baby to 3 naps a day but I’m not sure it’s working. For the last week and a half she has been waking from 5am in active sleep, crying.
She’s still in our room and we need to get up and pat her back to sleep but then she continues waking up crying every 10-20 minutes until she goes back into deep sleep.
Any advice for this??
Hello! If the poor sleep happened after you dropped the fourth nap, try adding the fourth nap back and see if that fixes it. If the poor sleep was before you dropped the nap, one thing I would really wonder is if she is waking up from sharing the room. Do you have whtie noise in there? If not, I would add that. If so, I would consider moving her to her own room or maybe into your closet or master bathroom if those are options. Then she is still clsoe if you are wanting her close but she won’t hear you so well. It is also possible she is waking at 5 AM hungry, in which case you would feed her then and try to get more food in during the day so she isn’t needing to eat in the night.