5 mo old needs early evening nap, but messes up bedtime

[lkmiscnet]

My son will start getting very cranky and cry around 6:30/7pm. He will nap about 60-90 min, falling asleep on my shoulder typically, but it messes up trying to get him to bed by 9/10pm.

I'm not sure how to handle this.

His nap times during the day are erratic, and I haven't been able to see any type of pattern forming.

Ditto for nights. Some nights he will go 4 hours, but lately, most nights he wakes up every 2.5-3 hours to nurse.

Advice?

Linda

[Deir]

Can you make that his bedtime? I understand with a 5 month old who does alot of waking, that is kind of arbitrary but can you do the whole bedtime routine at that time instead of treating like a nap. My kids go to bed at 6:45.

[Jayray]

My 4.5 mo also goes to bed between 6 and 7, usually about 6:30. Sometimes he wakes up after one sleep cycle, but DH rocks him back down usually in less than 5 minutes.

Supposedly early bedtime = better night sleep.

[Frankie'sMom]

This is exactly the problem I'm having. Mine is 4 1/2 months and he'll fall asleep at 6:00 or 7:00, which is nice for my husband and me, but he'll start waking up to eat every 2-3 hours right as we're going to bed, around 10:00. His naps are also erratic since our work schedules are all over the place and he's at day care, where he just sleeps whenever. I thought it was teething that was messing up his sleep schedule, since up to about a week ago he was only waking up once, maybe twice, per night. I'm hoping that means that this will pass.

It's earlier than I wanted to, but has anyone tried the cereal/solid foods before bed trick to see if it helps them sleep longer? We're mixing formula into his milk now (pumping/working issues) and we're going to try to get him to take a bigger bottle of formula/breastmilk before bed to see if it keeps him satiated longer.

[Louisep]

I recommend making it his bedtime. 7pm is very common as a bedtime. We just put our DS down at 6:30pm tonight because he was exhausted.

[PatchChild]

DS was also and early to bed kid right from the start. Bedtime was around 6:45. Now at 2.5 years old, he still goes to bed around 7-7:30.

[LadyCatherine185]

I agree with the PP's who said to make that his bedtime. Also, going 2.5 to 3 hours at 5 months is normal, and better than my 14 mo. DS has always been an early to bed, and early to rise baby. He goes to bed around 6:30-7:30 and wakes for the day at 6. Even if he goes to bed later, he always wakes at the same time.