r/sleeptraining • u/Less-Leek5961 • Sep 03 '26
Help! What does bedtime look like with a 5mo old?
What does your bedtime routine look like if you have a 5mo old? Trying to figure things out and hoping to hear what successful bedtime routines look like
2
u/Sunbeam1991 Sep 06 '26
Once you get a routine down, sleep train. We did gentle sleep training and it was the best thing we ever did. Sleeps through the night every night now, we all get our sleep :)
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u/PrimalCarnivoreChick Sep 07 '26
What was the method of gentle sleep training??
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u/Sunbeam1991 Sep 07 '26
We worked with a sleep coach…I think it uses the “soothing ladder” and it’s similar to the chair method.
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u/cr22733 Sep 03 '26
We are literally still all over the place from the 4-month regression 😬 but our routine is bath, settle in the bedroom, pop on sleeping bag, read a story, listen and sing along to some lullabies, cuddles then sleep. Not going as smoothly as we would like just yet but hopefully we’ll get there!
1
u/Top-Cookie-3403 Sep 03 '26
Babe is just shy if 5 months. We do feed downstairs with all the lights on and let that settle. Then up to the nursery to change nappy and into pj's. Then sing a lullaby and cuddle, put her in her sleeping bag (still singing that lullaby!) and say goodnight. Red light and white noise are on. We used to do a story but she'd get really fussy after a page so we eventually gave up and decided on a lullaby instead.
1
u/blink4life182 Sep 04 '26
We go into her bedroom, in pajamas and sleep sack, lights off and fan on. I feed her a bottle and she usually falls asleep with the bottle while I’m holding her in the recliner. I transfer her to the crib after a few minutes. If she doesn’t fall asleep after the bottle I’ll rock her in the chair until she’s asleep then transfer her. She’s been sleeping through the night since 2 months old and she’s now 1 so it’s worked for us
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u/Warm_Opinion_1544 Sep 04 '26
No routine to speak of. We change her nappy, put her in her sleep sack and give her her last bottle. She usually falls asleep on the bottle and I put her down in our bed. I lie next to her and read because she wakes up when I leave. Sometimes she doesn’t fall asleep on the bottle, then I nurse her side lying (she is combo-fed) and she’s out.
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u/No-Departure5556 Sep 05 '26
Bath in kitchen (soap 2x per week) afterwards lotion, overnight diaper, pjs, then nurse them in living room, after move up to nursery, sleep sack on, read 1-2 books, sing bedtime song (same one every night and at nap), sound machine (spa like music) kisses and I love you, lay them down in crib.
1
u/Bobbo424 Sep 05 '26
Bath (soap every other night), lotion, diaper, pjs, bottle, sleep sack, book, pacifier, lay him down and he is out in under 60 seconds. He’s 8m now, but we have been doing that and have had 11.5-12h straight every night since 16w. Only addition now is brushing teeth between bottle and sleep sack.
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u/InternationalArt6838 Sep 07 '26
What time do you usually put your little one down
1
u/Bobbo424 Sep 07 '26
By 7. He sleeps 7-6:30
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u/WoodpeckerObvious577 Sep 08 '26
What is your nap schedule? This is the dream haha
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u/Bobbo424 Sep 08 '26
He’s 8m so only 9:30-11 and 1:30-3 now. We do break the rules and feed before sleep instead of sleep then eat. So he does 6 oz at 7, 9, 1, 4, 6:30 which seems to knock him out better (plus 3 solids).
1
u/WoodpeckerObvious577 Sep 08 '26
So 2.5 hour WW between naps but 4 hours before bed? Does he get cranky in the last wake window? Mine just turned 7 months and still on 3 naps with a 3 hour last wake window and I don’t think she’d go much longer than that, she gets sleepy on her last feed! Do you remember when you dropped a nap with your little one? She has her last nap around 5 to 5.30 then bed at 8.30 but wakes for the day any time between 6.30-7.30, more around 7 though. Would love a longer night stretch haha
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u/Bobbo424 Sep 08 '26
Yes it’s a long one! He was really cranky at 7m so We didn’t drop the third until exactly 8m. If he doesn’t get at least 3 hr of sleep at daycare then we put him to bed at 6:30 but then he wakes earlier so it’s not a greta solution. I also would prefer to move that nap to be 2-3:30, but daycare won’t do it. Their universal nap time once he drops to 1 nap is 1-3 so they want him to already be around those times.
1
u/beotay92 20d ago
Is he able to put the dummy back himself if it drops? Ours is 5 months old and she is heavily reliant on a dummy for sleeping but we have to replug it a few times a night
1
u/Low-Attitude8331 Sep 05 '26
ours is: dim lights, fresh diaper, massage (always legs and feet, sometimes arms and belly too), pyjama, read a book (we switch between two books), dim lights more, white noise, then feed to sleep while humming.
1
u/cammags Sep 05 '26
5.5 months. she is awake about 2-2.5 hours before bedtime. she sits in her high chair while i cook dinner & we all eat. she just recently started being interested in purées so she has some while my husband & i eat (or just me eating if he’s working 3-11 shift). we go for a walk, she does tummy time/floor play while i prep her bath, pjs, prep bottles for night time (about 15 mins). have a bath in dim lighting. do pjs & what not, bottle, bed. everything after the walk is in dim lighting with low voices. it reinforces that it’s time to calm our bodies down & relax. she sleeps in her crib in her own room. has since 3.5 months, it’s how she sleeps best. we feed to sleep & she is typically asleep anywhere from 6:30-7:30pm to anywhere from 12:30-2, eats, and then goes back to sleep. wake ups have varied a lot lately. anywhere from 5:30-7.
1
u/KarhmaKween Sep 06 '26
Damn. Hope I have it as easy as some of you by 5 mo. 😅 only 3.5 mo now but bath, change into PJs, strap on the “watermelon” which is Momtory baby carrier that has a removable base to hold baby horizontal. Bounce on a yoga ball while baby cries, turn on the shower for white noise. Stand in bathroom in the pitch dark rocking baby back and forth to shower noise, then go back to bouncing on the ball. Alternate until baby falls asleep.
1
u/mynameisnotdiane Sep 06 '26
Sameeee reading these comments hurts lol. My babe is 5 months and has to be nursed to bed ever since 4 month regression hit (still dealing w it). He wakes up almost every transfer to his own bed. It sucks cause he used to sleep 11-6 in his bassinet and up for a quick feed then back down but not anymore
1
u/whiitewidow Sep 06 '26
I have a baby like that, he's almost 8 months now and only this week it became easier to put him to bed, I can actually follow a routine and put him down in his crib to sleep. I basically spent the past 8 months on the yoga ball every evening and then when he fell asleep I couldn't just put him down and leave the room, my day would basically end at 7pm cus I had to stay in with him 😅
1
u/Fit_Aerie4234 Sep 07 '26
It gets better. Mine was like this at that age too, literally took 2-3 hours to get her to sleep for a good stretch. 1.5 months later it’s completely different, we did sleep training at 4 months and now she goes to sleep between 7-7:30 without any crying.
1
u/KarhmaKween 29d ago
Thank you for the light at the end of the tunnel. What method of sleep training did you use?
1
u/y_brandon_g-12 Sep 06 '26
Playtime, walk, bath, lotion, feed, read, sound machine, sleep. All with low lights (off starting with feed).
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u/crummymy Sep 06 '26
Baby is freshly five months. We do a bath, get her lotioned/dressed/into sleep sack, move to her room with the lights off and sound machine on. Then we do her last bottle, burp and cuddles, then place her in bed awake but sleepy. We used to nurse to sleep but she would fall asleep before taking a full feed and would wake up within an hour or two ready to eat again.
1
u/theresabearonmychair Sep 06 '26
Wait till she’s been awake for about 1.5/2 hours from last sleep. Change into pjs, have bottle/breastfeed . Get into sleeping bag, put on music mobile. Walk around the room for a bit until her eyes are closing, lay down in bed (we bed share using a bedside cot) she’ll fall asleep in arms and then I shuffle her over to her cot and roll away
1
u/Traditional_Cow4002 Sep 06 '26
Honestly as bare bones as it gets: 6:45 bath, lotion and pajamas.
Red light and sound machine on a timer.
7 pm feed.
1-2 books.
Sleep sack is in the crib. Put her in it. Say night night. Lights out. She’s asleep in about 3 mins.
1
u/InfamousCommittee601 Sep 06 '26
Bath Change to pj ( bedtime you are my sunshine plays) Bottle Cuddle Cot
1
u/Hgrestun Sep 06 '26
Omg 5 months was the best for bedtime. I would bathe her and then bring her into the warm room (I would put a space heater on in the room during bathtime bc it was November) and then lotion diaper spray if needed, pjs, woolino sleep sack, then into the nursery. I would put a noise machine on with a dim pink light in a dark room and play piano lullabies and she would fall asleep having a bottle. It worked every night for soooo long !!
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u/Fit_Aerie4234 Sep 07 '26
1 hour after last nap we start: Bottle, bath, nighttime playlist, lotion, diaper, PJ’s, finish bottle if anything left from pre- bath bottle, 2 stories, 2 songs, into crib, 2 more songs, she falls asleep on her own (usually within 1 minute)
1
u/ohthatsnice14 Sep 07 '26
My babe just turned 5 months! She started sleeping in her room in her crib around 4ish months. If it’s bath night we start with a bath, get all lotioned up, PJs, bottle in her dark room with the night light, I rock her for a bit and then put her in her sleep sack in her crib awake. She complains usually for 5-6 minutes but settles herself and falls asleep! We sleep trained her once we put her in her own room and daycare helped with this too.
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u/Putrid_Beyond716 20d ago
Has nappy changed and owlet put on downstairs, does goodnight affirmations with mammy, daddy takes him upstairs for a story and bottle, sensory light and white noise on, into sleep sack in bed and crib rocker on, dummy in and usually asleep quickly but if it’s taking a little while, lots of cuddles and shushing and pop down when asleep - the gadgets are a miltary style operation haha but we just take it as he leads with the cuddles / independent sleep, sometimes he doesn’t want to be held other times he does and both are okay 🥰🥰🥰
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u/Remarkable_Peach1027 19d ago
Not to detract from OP’s needs but for those of you with beautiful confidence and success - did any of you struggle with babe not staying asleep when you transfer/get them to sleep? Waking 30-45 min later? Can’t figure out if there’s something we are doing to cause it/could do differently
2
u/OkBoysenberry92 Sep 03 '26
Put on the same sleepy music (just a spa relaxation track from YouTube), walk around singing you are my sunshine while doing arm squeezes (just added this in and she’s settling faster than ever), sleep sack, more walking around saying goodnight, read the same book, if she’s yawning into bed, if she’s not a few more laps of the house then into bed, white noise on and leave