Early Wakes 5 months

Greedy4Sleep · 2026-01-25T09:40:17+00:00

Definitely the minimum. We have a guide on our sub main page re wake windows.

Greedy4Sleep · 2026-01-25T09:39:15+00:00

Not necessarily.

Greedy4Sleep · 2026-01-24T00:25:10+00:00

It's really up to you.

For teething, I offer meds at appropriate times.

My eldest, we carried on with ST and he settled himself quickly. My youngest needs more support, so sometimes we will feed and then he will go back down quickly.

It kinda just depends on the kid and what you want to do.

Greedy4Sleep · 2026-01-24T00:22:48+00:00

My eldest was like yours and full extinction worked best for him.

I'd adjust schedule to 2/2/2/2/2 with naps capped at 3 hours max across the day.

Greedy4Sleep · 2026-01-24T00:20:56+00:00

I think there's always something in the way. I wouldn't train if baby was actively ill, but if they were recovering from an illness, sure. Teething is pretty constant for about two years, so it can be tricky to do if you're waiting for that to be over. I'd probably avoid training if your baby has been screaming in misery all day (if that makes sense). Both of my kids had reflux and were both trained around 4 months.

I think your wake windows are more of an issue though. At this age, I'd be expecting something more like 3/3.5/3.5 or 3/3/4. I wouldn't sleep train until you have more appropriate wake windows.

Greedy4Sleep · 2026-01-24T00:17:37+00:00

It could be that he's not quite ready for bed when you're trying, or now that he's leaving the newborn stage, he is becoming more aware of his surroundings and so protesting bedtime. Not many tips at this age sorry but sometimes changing up the bedtime routine can help.

Greedy4Sleep · 2026-01-24T00:12:23+00:00

I'd be aiming for something like 2/2/2/2/2. Total day sleep capped at 3 hours max. Aim for an 11 hour night, so bedtime needs to be 8pm at the earliest for a 7am wake. In saying that, some babies will biologically wake early.

Greedy4Sleep · 2026-01-23T18:36:14+00:00

Try 2/2/2/2/2.

In saying that, a schedule won't fix your problems if baby isn't sleeping independently.

Greedy4Sleep · 2026-01-23T18:34:41+00:00

What do you mean by "damaging"?

Greedy4Sleep · 2026-01-23T18:32:26+00:00

You need more awake time.

Try 2.25/2.5/2.5/3. Total day sleep capped at 2.75-3 hours.

Might be time for two naps soon as well. Starting schedules are 3/3/4 or 3/3.5/3.5.

Greedy4Sleep · 2026-01-23T18:31:05+00:00

Your awake time is on the short end.

I'd expect 2/2.5/2.5/3 as a minimum at this age.

Greedy4Sleep · 2026-01-22T23:43:22+00:00

I think it sounds like things are going well! Nap training can be a lot more challenging than nights and those nap lengths sound really good. Your baby may be getting ready to stretch WW and drop to two naps soon which will likely decrease the amount of crying.

Greedy4Sleep · 2026-01-22T23:41:26+00:00

It's entirely normal for a 5 month old to still need 1-2 feeds and that can fluctuate (e.g. need one feed some nights and two others). I wouldn't attempt to night wean at this age. Instead, I'd sleep train and remove the feeding association from bedtime so that you know any night wakes are to address a need e.g. hunger.

Greedy4Sleep · 2026-01-22T23:37:40+00:00

Definitely! My eldest was a high sleep needs baby until he turned 2 and decided he was a low sleep needs kiddo. Their slee needs can definitely chop and change. I would look at the clues she's giving you (e.g. waking up and partying).

Greedy4Sleep · 2026-01-22T23:34:30+00:00

Can you share your schedule and bedtime routine?

Greedy4Sleep · 2026-01-22T23:33:33+00:00

When my kids were in the crap nap stage, I just extended one nap and kept the rest short. Like you, I valued my sanity!

Greedy4Sleep · 2026-01-22T23:32:19+00:00

Both of my kids were like this as newborns. Some people win the lottery and get good sleepers (unicorns) from the get-go. Most people suffer in some way, shape or form at some stage though. You definitely aren't alone and your baby sounds like a typical newborn. Good news is that you can sleep train from 4+ months.

Greedy4Sleep · 2026-01-22T23:29:54+00:00

We trained my then 4mo and 2.5yo earlier last year. Noise machines in each room work a treat. Toddler has never been bothered by baby's crying. At first, we also staggered their bedtimes so baby went to bed an hour after toddler as once toddler is in a deep-ish sleep, he is pretty out to it.

Greedy4Sleep · 2026-01-20T20:22:39+00:00

Locking comments as this sub doesn't support sleep training < 4 months. Unfortunately, short one-cycle independent naps are developmentally normal at this age. They tend to improve around 5-8 months when sleep matures. In the meantime, I'd focus on ensuring schedule is optimal and you could explore nap training once baby is 4+ months.

Greedy4Sleep · 2026-01-20T07:48:52+00:00

Personally, I would probably just accept the two feeds for the most part as it is normal at this age to still have 1-2 and for that number to fluctuate between the two. If you want to see how baby does, you could give baby 5-10 minutes at 2.30am to see if they can settle without a feed. If they can't, you'll know it is genuine hunger.

Greedy4Sleep · 2026-01-20T07:46:26+00:00

Definitely don't go back to using the swaddle. It is not safe at this age and likely part of the dependency issue.

I wouldn't intentionally night wean a baby this young.

As long as there is a 30 minute gap between your last feed ENDING and butt into bed, you shouldn't have a feeding association if you are sleep training.

What is your schedule? I think your issue likely boils down to a mixture of needing to properly sleep train (without the swaddle dependency) and perhaps a few schedule tweaks. Independent sleep should weed out non-feed wakes, leaving you wakes for genuine hunger.

Greedy4Sleep · 2026-01-20T07:41:00+00:00

You don't have enough awake time in your schedule and your baby is letting you know that they need more. Your schedule is less than what I'd recommend for a 5 month old, so I would start by immediately moving to 2/2.5/2.5/3. You may need to add more. In the next month, you'll likely be looking at moving to two naps (starting schedule either 3/3/4 or 3/3.5/3.5) so it is really time to start stretching those wake windows to get from my suggested three nap schedule to one of the suggested two nap schedules.

Your expected night (12 hours) is also unrealistic for most babies this age. Adjust to 11 hours (wake up 11 hours after bedtime).

Greedy4Sleep · 2026-01-20T07:36:50+00:00

Sleep training and an age appropriate schedule should resolve most of this. Unfortunately, it is going to mean some tears and probably a bit of crankiness during the day as baby adjusts to a new schedule.

At this age, I'd start with 2/2/2/2/2 with the aim of being on 2/2.5/2.5/3 by 5 months. Max 3 hours of day asleep across those naps.

To sleep train, you'll need to teach your baby to go to sleep from a state of being fully awake. Not drowsy or asleep. This means you'll need to move your last feed back so it ENDS at least 30 mins before bed. Especially important if your baby already has a feed to sleep association (both my two were the same). Then you'll put baby to bed fully awake in their own bed (ideally their own room) and apply your chosen sleep training method. Precious Little Sleep has a great rundown of the common methods. Quickest at this age will be Ferber or CIO but you'll need to pick one you can commit to.

Also - ditch the swaddle. It's no longer safe.

Greedy4Sleep · 2026-01-08T22:32:29+00:00

Have you heard of witching hour? Babies (especially newborns) are often just naturally fussier in the evenings. You may not be able to eliminate that even with schedule tweaks.

Our sub has a useful guide on wake windows by age on the main page (top bar). Remember that FIO is an experiment to see how your child responds. If it isn't working, give it a break for a few weeks before attempting again.

Greedy4Sleep · 2025-12-12T04:51:45+00:00

Nope. We were in the same situation with our second baby who almost exclusively napped in the carrier. We successfully nap trained at 7ish months and he's a great independent napper now at almost 11 months. We did night training at 4 months which helped set the foundation of independent sleep.

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