my daughter will be 5 months old in about a week. i feed her rice cereal in the morning because thats what my doctor told me to do. then formula the rest of the day. she goes to bed around 9:30-10:00pm and wakes up around 6:00-6:30pm. thats about an 8 hour stretch. when she wakes up i feed her 8 ounces of formula because thats how long she was sleeping for. (doc says about an ounce-two ounces an hour. and no more than 8 ounces at a time) then after feeding her, she falls asleep again until about 10:00am. thats about 3 1/2 more hours of sleep. so overall she sleeps almost 12 hours "through the night" and waking up once. then she takes one 1 1/2 hour nap around 1-2pm then another 1 1/2 hour nap around 5-6pm. i barely get to see her because shes always sleeping! is this normal????
My third one was like that. My second never slept, so I was thrilled that
he was such a good sleeper. Babies are all different.
That's how much sleep babies need! She'll need less as she gets older.
BTW - I wouldn't worry about following "what the doctor says" quite so closely. Follow what your daughter is telling you she needs and you'll both be happier. Most babies do not go "by the book" that your doctor was taught out of.
perfectly fine. you'll be asking in a few months how to get her to sleep again<G>. i agree with the advice to keep your doctor's instructions in mind as a template, but your baby isn't a textbook, you will need to make adjustments in the schedule according to her individual needs and yours. why does he want her to have rice cereal in the morning at this age? just curious.
khairete
S.
Wow, from a mom who has a child that hates sleeping, I am jealous!! That sounds perfectly normal, I remember being very concerned because my daughter has never slept the recommended amount.. I am pretty sure at 5 months they should be sleeping around 15 hours a day, but if you are really concerned you could always ask the doctor.
Love this question. I asked my doctor this on my third child she basicly would eat and sleep all of the time. He looked at me as if I was crazy. It is normal infants need alot of sleep and most do not get all of the sleep that they need. A lot of brain growth , and general growth of the body occurs when they sleep.
My third child stll sleeps alot and has always had great sleep habits. She is now 17 years old, honor roll student taking all AP classes. Although the only problem that we have ever had was she does not want her friends to know how much she sleeps and loves to go to bed. LOL
HI C.,
In my opinion she is going to bed way too late at night. She should be going down at 7 or 7:30 and sleeping 11 or 12 hours. If she is getting enough rest overnight, then she'll only need a few naps during the day.
Here's what info is out on the web:
The poll results indicate that on average, children get less sleep during a 24-hour period than recommended by sleep experts. For example:
Infants get 12.7 hours, when experts recommend that from 3-11 months they should get 14-15 hours.
Toddlers get 11.7 hours, when 12-14 hours are recommended for children aged 1-3 years.
Preschoolers get 10.4 hours, while it’s recommended that children 3-5 years of age should average 11-13 hours.
School-aged children (1st through 5th grades) get 9.5 hours, but experts recommend 10-11 hours.
(Note: All sleep times are averages.)
Children who get less sleep at night (those in the lower 25th percentile) also tend to have more difficulty falling asleep. They are more likely to change where they are sleeping during the night, take fewer naps during the day, and have more sleep problems overall. They also seem sleepy or overtired during the day, according to their parent or caregiver.
OH YOU LUCKY THING! Take it for the blessing it is and run with it. My daughters were like that, slept ALL the time (my son... oh my sweet son, he sleeps through the night, but only takes 2 twenty minute catnaps/day). As long as she is pretty average on hitting all her milestones, and doesn't seem sickly or lathargic when she is awake, I wouldn't worry about it at all. She will eventually grow out of it, so like another mom said, enjoy it while it lasts!! :)
Sounds exactly like the sleep patterns my two girls had when they were young and that age. Mine would go down at 8:00 at night to around 6-6:30 am. Then they napped from 9-11 and 2-4 during the daytime. They were happy and very healthy babies who never gave me sleep problems as they got older because of their schedule as infants. When most babies were cranking the day away, mine were rested and ready to go! Sounds like you have the same thing....good job and let it ride, Mom! You have a well-rested and happy baby!
Sounds totally normal. Enjoy it while it lasts.
that sounds just about perfect, my son 3 yrs sleeps 12-13 hrs at night and sometimes takes a 2 hr nap.
The amount of sleep sounds normal to me! I did find that moving my son's bedtime from 9pm to 7:30/8pm helped him nap a little less during the day, but the amount of time he stayed asleep was the same. I wouldn't worry about it and enjoy your rest!
Very normal. They are supposed to sleep around 14 hours at this age. Enjoy it!! I wish my son slept that much.
Wow! You are very lucky she sleeps so well! My doctor says babies can sleep anywhere from 9-18 hours a day--that 's the extreme. Enjoy it.
