Every day, looking at your little one, you probably notice more and more new features not only in his appearance, but also in his behavior. So, for example, I’m sure: by the 5th month of life, you noticed that your baby can sleep in the same position as your husband or you.
However, there are often situations when the vacation of a beloved child does not bring pleasure to the parents. What I mean? And the fact is that quite often the process of falling asleep lasts for hours, and the rest itself lasts no more than 20 minutes. Let's figure out what to do in such cases, how to make life easier for young parents.
Features of sleep of a 5-month-old baby
Each baby develops an individual daily routine, sometimes significantly different from the schedule approved by medical specialists. This also applies to bedtime. But there is no need to worry: this is normal. The main thing is that the baby is comfortable. Some parents are faced with a problem: a 5-month-old child does not sleep well, tosses and turns in the crib for a long time, and is capricious. There is an explanation for this behavior. The fact is that the process of falling asleep in a five-month-old baby changes. Previously, the baby immediately fell into deep sleep as soon as he closed his eyes; now he first remains in the superficial phase, during which he dreams and easily wakes up from the slightest irritating sound.
A five-month-old baby falls asleep deeply 20 minutes after being placed in the cradle. Until this time, he may become alarmed and cry from any touch or unpleasant noise. If a mother wants her baby to fall asleep as quickly as possible, then she must maintain as much silence as possible for twenty minutes. And only after making sure that the baby is in a sound and healthy sleep can she leave the crib and do household chores.
Signs of a tired child
A baby's mechanisms of excitation and inhibition of the nervous system are imperfect, so a situation often occurs when a tired child cannot fall asleep. Signs of fatigue can be confused with signs of fear, hunger and lack of communication.
To determine when a baby wants to sleep, you need to observe his behavior. Your baby should be put to bed if he:
- yawns and whines;
- rubs his face with his fists;
- cannot focus on an object;
- makes sudden movements with arms and legs;
- thumb sucking;
- doesn't let his mother go.
If the moment is missed when the baby is ready to go to bed, then putting him to sleep becomes a difficult task, despite the fact that his eyes are literally stuck together.
Daytime sleep for a 5 month old baby
A five-month-old baby goes to bed two or even three times during the day. The baby sleeps for the first time before lunch, about two hours after waking up and having a morning meal. The duration of this sleep is usually short, does not exceed an hour. The second time the child rests after lunch. This sleep is the deepest and longest, can last two or even three hours. If the weather is not too hot or cold, then it is advisable for the mother to take her sweetly sleeping baby outside so that he can breathe in plenty of fresh air. The third time the baby is put into the cradle in the evening, a few hours before bedtime, but not always, but only if he is very tired. It is good when a child sleeps no more than four hours during the day, otherwise at night he indulges and is capricious.
Baby's night sleep at 5 months
A 5-month-old child sleeps an average of 10–11 hours at night. A baby's sleep at 5 months is deep and sound, which pleases the mother, exhausted and tired from regular breastfeeding. The baby may wake up hungry just once, usually in the middle of the night, and then rest soundly until the morning. A full night's sleep is important for a 5-month-old baby; it is the main source of restoring energy lost during the day. While the baby is sleeping soundly, his brain not only produces the growth hormone somatotropin, but also analyzes all the information he sees and hears. If a five-month-old baby does not get enough sleep at night for certain reasons, then in the future he may experience unpleasant health problems, including retardation in physical and mental development.
Daily routine of a five-month-old baby
| 600 — 700 | waking up, first morning meal |
| 700 — 800 | hygiene procedures, washing |
| 800 — 1000 | morning dream |
| 1000 — 1030 | second morning meal |
| 1030 — 1230 | developmental exercises, outdoor games, gymnastics |
| 1230 — 1430 | nap in the fresh air |
| 1430 — 1500 | daily meal |
| 1500 — 1700 | active games, walk down the street |
| 1700 — 1900 | evening sleep |
| 1900 — 1930 | first evening meal |
| 1930 — 2030 | hygiene procedures, bathing, massage |
| 2030 — 2100 | second evening meal |
| 2100 — 600 | night sleep |
Sample daily routine
6:00–8:00 – awakening, hygiene procedures, first feeding, if possible, staying without clothes for air baths, light tonic massage.
8:00–10:00 – morning walk in a stroller, combined with a short nap in the fresh air.
Why does a child cry before going to bed?
10:00–12:30 – return home, developing motor skills activities and active games. Repeated massage, then second feeding and quiet play before nap.
12:30–14:30 – mandatory daytime sleep for at least two hours.
14:30–17:00 – washing and changing clothes after a nap, third feeding, active and developing games for motor skills, motor activity, attention.
17:00–19:00 – evening walk and short nap in the stroller in the air.
19:00–21:30 – evening feeding, active outdoor activities, games with bright toys for the development of color perception, with rattles. At this age, the child’s hearing system and brain are sufficiently developed to distinguish the tonality of sound and its intonation. The baby already knows his mother’s voice well and reacts to it. He likes to make sounds from toys
22:30–23:30 – final feeding, bathing before bed, rocking to sleep, lullabies.
23:30–6:00 – night sleep in a well-ventilated area.
The schedule is approximate, since each child is individual.
It already becomes clear whether he is a “night owl” or a “lark”, whether he is able to fall asleep when there is noise, how much time is required for daytime sleep. Parents need to take all this into account and plan the optimal daily routine for their infant. As a rule, by five months the baby gets used to sleeping through the night. If she wakes up to feed, she doesn’t do it for long and quickly falls asleep again.
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Breastfeeding and sleep
In the process of feeding a child at 5 months, the mother will pay attention to obvious changes in the baby’s behavior. The baby will begin to be distracted from the breast faster and will have less time to eat. Literally any changes in the environment - a sharp knock, noise, flash - will instantly distract the child's attention. Many mothers are nervous about this fact. They begin to feel that the baby is not getting enough milk. But this is not so: if the child wants to eat, he will eat, especially since the mother’s breast is in the access zone.
The fact that the baby is distracted by other stimuli is a sign that he is growing up. If suddenly the baby does not get enough food during the day, the baby will compensate for everything during sleep.
At the same time, you will have to feed the baby more often and longer at night. For many mothers, this is quite inconvenient, because the quality of their sleep also changes.
Gradually, over time, feedings at night should stop. To speed up this process, during the day you need to create a calm environment for the baby during feedings. Close the curtains and remove all possible distractions. Sometimes women use a special sling that limits the space that the baby can see so that there are no visual distractions. When putting your baby to bed, do not forget about the rituals to which he is accustomed.
How long should a child sleep at night?
As they approach the five-month mark, more babies sleep through the night without waking up.
If immediately after birth the baby ate every 2.5–3 hours, including at night, then now about 40% of parents can breathe easy. However, most babies are still waking up for night feedings at 5 months. In total, a 5-month-old baby sleeps 8–10 hours at night.
Baby is cutting teeth
The first teeth are a real challenge for both mother and baby. At five months, the lower teeth gradually begin to erupt. The lower incisors cause the most discomfort for children. But the central ones can also itch, itch and even make the gums hurt.
The approaching appearance of a tooth is warned by some behavioral characteristics that the child actively demonstrates. In particular, the baby begins to chew everything, and he also produces saliva more strongly. These are integral companions to the appearance of new teeth. Carefully look into your baby's mouth: if a red spot appears on the gums, it means that a tooth will soon appear. By evening, the gums usually begin to itch much more.
There is only one piece of advice here - to reduce the baby’s discomfort, you can smear his gums with a special baby gel containing lidocaine.
How to quickly put a 5 month old baby to sleep?
The individuality of a child is manifested not only in his character, but also in the way the baby sleeps. Until the age of 5 months, the baby fell asleep quite easily, as he quickly moved into the REM sleep phase. Therefore, mom could immediately go about her business. The sleep phases of a five-month-old baby begin to become “adult” - that is, first comes REM sleep, from which it is very easy to get out of.
If something distracts your baby during REM sleep, he will instantly open his eyes. On average, deep sleep occurs within 20 minutes. If you do not keep the room in complete light and sound insulation for these minutes, the baby may never be put to bed completely.
Psychologists identify a number of rules, following which you can quickly put your child to bed, and his sleep will be sound.
- No overwork. As soon as the child begins to show fatigue (yawning, being capricious, being less active), it’s time to start bedtime procedures. If the child is not put to bed on time, overstimulation will follow, and then the process of falling asleep can be delayed and very problematic.
- Eliminate irritants. Dress the child so that he is not too hot and the baby does not freeze; make sure that the clothes are comfortable - they do not pinch, do not rub, and do not prick anywhere. If the teeth have already begun to cut, lubricate the baby’s gums with a special gel. Nothing should prevent your child from falling asleep
- Rituals before bed. Dim the lights, dress your baby in soft clothes, sing a lullaby, pet him or give him a little massage. The rituals should be repeated daily in a consistent, identical order. When the child gets used to the sleep ritual, each time it will be like a signal for him that it is time to sleep.
Baby's sleep at 5 months: regression
Almost all parents face this phenomenon. This problem occurs when a child’s body at 5 months cannot cope with the stress that it experiences - too many impressions, a lot of information that needs to be absorbed.
Sleep regression in a child at 5 months is a temporary deterioration in sleep, which makes it difficult for the baby not only to fall asleep, but also wakes him up at night. At 5 months, a child’s sleep becomes unstable and he worries a lot. The baby is showing signs of lack of sleep, but he can’t get enough sleep because he can’t fall asleep. A 5 month old child sleeps poorly both day and night. The child more often demands to be held, cries a lot, and sometimes asks to eat more often than usual. But parents should not worry, sleep will return to normal within a month, during this period the nervous system will adapt to the stress.
Sleep regression
Almost all parents are faced with such a phenomenon in their child as sleep regression. It happens at critical moments of development, when the baby’s nervous system does not have time to cope with the stress. This is usually associated with mastering new activities (sitting, crawling, walking, etc.). Psychologists distinguish such critical phases at 4-5, 8-10, 15-18 months.
What is this?
During a period of temporary deterioration in sleep, parents note difficulties with the baby falling asleep, weak, restless sleep. The baby clearly doesn’t get enough sleep, but he can’t fall asleep either. Both daytime and nighttime sleep worsens. The child asks to be held, becomes whiny, and may constantly ask for food. Usually, sleep returns to normal when the nervous system adapts to increased stress, that is, after 2–6 weeks.
Causes
Sleep regression at five months of age is associated with the body’s transition to an “adult” mode, when sleep becomes cyclical, and the phases of slow and fast sleep are formed. Between them, a person may partially wake up. But adults do not notice such an awakening and, turning on the other side, fall asleep again.
How to deal with the problem
Provide suitable conditions
The baby has not yet learned to fall asleep on his own, so he usually requires the attention of an adult. Don't be angry with him at this moment, but help. Make sure that the environment around you is conducive to falling asleep: the room is not hot (not cold, not stuffy, etc.), the baby is not disturbed by noise or light.
Go to bed early
Over the course of several days, keep track of how many hours your baby sleeps. If the number is less than normal, try putting your baby to bed earlier in the evening. This helps because melatonin, the sleep hormone, is produced in maximum quantities around 7-7:30 p.m.
Don't get overtired
Monitor your child’s behavior: if your baby starts yawning or rubbing his eyes, he’s tired. The baby needs to be put to bed, because literally after 20-30 minutes the state of fatigue will turn into overwork, and you can forget about restful sleep. The baby will demand a bottle, start asking to be held, want to play - anything, just to stay awake.
Marishka’s mother, 5.5 months: “There was a period when my daughter simply did not sleep for more than an hour for several weeks, only sometimes during a walk we were able to rock her to sleep for two hours. And then it was necessary to choose the quietest places. One day a dog barked loudly in the park and my daughter jumped up in her stroller. I barely calmed her down, I threw such a tantrum. At that time, from constant lack of sleep, I was already like a zombie; Only my mother, who temporarily moved in with us, saved us. And after about a month everything somehow went away by itself. Once or twice my daughter slept for three whole hours during a walk, and then she began to sleep more peacefully at night.”
How to deal with the problem
Such situations require, if not a complete solution, then at least relief, both for the child and for his mother and father.
- Provide suitable conditions. The child does not yet know how to fall asleep completely alone, so mom and dad need to pay a lot of attention to him. The baby is still scared in the big world, so you don’t need to be angry with him, but understand and help. Make the environment comfortable for sleeping - check the temperature and humidity in the room, turn off the lights, exclude extraneous noise, including from the street.
- Go to bed early. Calculate how many hours a day your child sleeps. If the figure is less than the permissible norm, you need to try putting him to bed 30-60 minutes earlier. The optimal time to put your child to bed is 7 pm. At this time, the sleep hormone in the human body is produced best.
- Don't get overtired. A child rubs his eyes and yawns - this is a signal that he wants to sleep, and it’s time to start this process. For now it's just fatigue. But literally after 20 minutes, fatigue will develop into overwork, and then it will be impossible to get the baby to sleep. He will want a bottle or pacifiers, or to hold his hands, or to play - he will come up with any distractions and desires in order to stay awake. At the same time, the small organism will be more exhausted over and over again, and it will end not in a sound sleep, but in hysteria.
Sleeping on your stomach: should you worry?
A 5-month-old toddler who has acquired new motor skills can easily roll over on his tummy in his sleep. Should I be worried about this? Of course, official medicine says a lot that sleeping in this position increases the risk of sudden infant death syndrome. But this warning mainly applies to babies under 3 months who do not yet know how to roll over onto their back.
For a five-month-old baby, such sleep does not pose a threat, especially if the following safety rules are followed:
- There is no pillow and unnecessary items in the crib: toys, diapers, clothes;
- the mattress is smooth and quite hard;
- the air in the room is fresh, cool and humid;
- no one smokes in the children's room;
- The baby's nasal breathing is free.
In this case, resting on the tummy will only benefit the baby: it will prevent food from entering the respiratory tract in case of regurgitation, improve the release of gases, and relieve the load on the hip joints. However, parents should supervise a baby who loves to sleep on his stomach more often to avoid accidents.
A 5-month-old child does not sleep well. What to do ?
If a child shows signs of fatigue and is capricious, then it is necessary to reconsider his daily routine.
What other problems may arise due to which a child refuses to sleep at 5 months:
- The baby does not fall asleep for a long time, plays and wants to communicate. This means that the child simply does not want to sleep. If there are no hints of whims mixed into the baby’s games, and the baby generally behaves calmly, then the child has had enough daytime sleep. Therefore, you need to shorten the extreme daytime sleep. Don't wait until your baby opens his eyes on his own—carefully start waking him up when he reaches the six-and-a-half-hour total daytime sleep limit. This is exactly how much it takes for a baby to fully restore the body’s resources in a day. The same goes for sleeping at night. A child needs ten hours of sleep. In the morning it is necessary to wake him up after this time if he does not wake up on his own.
- Teach your baby to fall asleep on his own. If you have taught your child to fall asleep with rocking, a bottle, or only when sleeping together, then you should gradually abandon the latter. The fact is that the child quickly gets used to sleeping together and teaching the baby to sleep on his own will become a problem. However, by teaching the child to fall asleep on his own, parents save themselves from problems that will arise in the future. At the moment of regression, which will last for a month, you can help the child fall asleep by holding him at the breast or rocking the baby. At 6 months, you can gradually teach your child to fall asleep on his own, if this has not been done before.
- The baby sleeps restlessly, tosses and turns, cries in his sleep or before bedtime. These are symptoms of nervous fatigue bordering on a nervous breakdown. Correct the daily routine: everything that brings the child the most vivid impressions should happen in the first half of the day. In the second half - calm walks, quiet games, no noise or running, muffle the TV sounds. By evening, the lighting should also not be bright. Allow the child to move from the active to the passive phase, and also give him the opportunity to calm down. Children who are overly excitable and active need relaxation and activity before bed, because if they don't throw out their energy, they simply won't fall asleep. If a child cries before going to bed, this only means that the baby received a lot of information during the day, which the brain cannot assimilate so quickly. If a child is restless and often cries before going to bed, then it is necessary to create a calm environment for him.
Benjamin Spock noted that the child's nervous system creates a “barrier”, so children need crying to overcome the “barrier”, and after which they can fall asleep.
What interferes with healthy sleep
Problems with falling asleep that arise in a five-month-old baby sometimes lead inexperienced parents to a dead end. What to do with a tired baby who can’t be put to sleep? Why does the baby wake everyone up every night with heartbreaking crying? Why does he sleep so restlessly, constantly tossing and turning? To get answers to these and other pressing questions, it is worth understanding the main reasons for children’s sleep disturbances at this age, which are as follows.
- Prolonged regression, characteristic of a four-month-old baby. The reason is a sharp leap in development. Now sleep becomes cyclical, interspersed with awakenings. A child who wakes up, unlike an adult, cannot immediately fall asleep again, so he calls his mother for help, filling the silence of the night with an insistent cry.
- Teething is a very unpleasant process, accompanied by pain and inflammation of the gums, increased body temperature, upset stool, and excessive salivation. Due to discomfort, the baby is capricious and cannot sleep. Massaging the gums, using teethers or special pain-relieving gels will help cope with the problem.
- Malaise - if a 5-month-old child develops an allergic reaction to the first complementary food, signs of a viral infection appear, pain in the abdomen, ear or throat bothers him - there is certainly no time for rest. These problems can only be solved with the help of a doctor.
- Hunger - a child who wants to eat will not be able to sleep peacefully and serenely. Therefore, the mother must ensure that feedings are complete and satisfying.
- Discomfortable sensations - cold, heat, stuffiness, uncomfortable clothes and bed, wet pants, loud sounds or bright light will also disrupt the baby's sleep and peaceful rest.
Five-month-old babies can be very active in their sleep: they roll over from side to side, kick their legs, raise their arms and wave them. There's nothing wrong with that. The fact is that while the child is sleeping, his brain processes the information received during the day. In a dream, the baby imitates the movements that it performed when awake.
In order for the baby to sleep peacefully, the second half of the day should be filled with quiet, not too active activities that prepare the little person’s nervous system for relaxation and rest.
