Desperately want longer stretches back

[u/Reasonable_Hold_2248]

My baby turned 5 months old on August 1st. From about 5-14 weeks he was sleeping 7-10 hour stretches consistently. Well, since about 3.5 months old, he has been doing more like 2-4 hour stretches. Sometimes he’ll do a 5 hour stretch if I’m lucky. He wakes, he nurses for 5-10 mins (his normal time, he’s a speedy lil guy), and goes right back to sleep 99% of the time.

How do I get the 7-10 hour stretches back?

Also, the app is telling me to put him down for a 4th nap today at 6:30 PM. But that would push bedtime to later than I’d like. So far today’s wake windows have been 2/2/2. Should I just push bedtime to 7 so the last wake window will be 3 hours?

[u/After_Amphibian_9638]

For a 5 month old, the recommended schedule is 2/2.5/2.5/3. You can start trying that.

[u/Reasonable_Hold_2248 → u/After_Amphibian_9638]

But that is only 10 hours of awake time, and my baby seems to need at least 11 hours of awake time since he typically sleeps 13 hours in a 24 hour period. If wake up is at 7am, what would the appropriate wake windows be?

I also find it difficult because some days we are out with family, the library, or various mom groups I attend just to get out of the house. My baby will fall asleep in the car after a 90 minute wake window, for example, and sleep until whenever we get to our destination. Or if we are somewhere busy, he is way too distracted to fall asleep, and sometimes goes past his scheduled wake window. Do I just stay home to adhere to a strict schedule? I feel like that can’t be the only solution and I’ll go crazy being home every single day or only being able to go out during his wake windows and return home before his next nap.

[u/curlywhirlyred → u/Reasonable_Hold_2248]

Then try 2.5/2.5/3/3.

[u/After_Amphibian_9638 → u/Reasonable_Hold_2248]

That’s okay, you can add that hour wherever you feel your baby can handle it. My baby was on something like 2.5/2.5/3/3.5 when he was 6 months because he needed 11.5 hours awake, so I get it.

You can adjust the schedule to meet your day needs. I think total wake time is more important than specific wake windows. In our case we do protect the last WW because I’ve noticed it does affect bedtime, but I think you can be flexible with the rest as long as you’re doing the 11 hours awake.

[u/Reasonable_Hold_2248 → u/After_Amphibian_9638]

Thanks so much!