What Time Should My 5 Month Old Take Her Naps?

I can remember being given the suggetion to stimulate my son while breastfeeding so he wouldn't fall asleep. like play with his feet etc. at 5 months i wasn't bf any longer, but his nap schedule was one in the mid morning and one in the afternoon like around 2ish.. my daughter napped the same way and for a while i actually got them to take naps at the same time once they switched to one nap a day.. ;-))
i agree, all kids are differnet and not sure if there is a 'normal' schedule for all kids.
have you tried letting him sleep in and not waking him up in the mornings to see what his body schedule would be like?
maybe he's waking up too early.. but sounds like you have to wake him up so you can get to work,, so that probably isn't a possibility..hmmm,,
great advice i got.. this too shall pass..
in a few months,, it will change..i think as long as he's happy, healthy and gaining weight,, don't worry about how many naps or how long,, love the naps, hold/cuddle him if you can during those times, because there will come a day very soon,where they won't want to nap in your arms.. that's how i look at it:-) i was blessed to be able to hold my son during naps till he was 9 months old, then my second one came. and i never get to hold her when she naps because her brother wants my attention..:-) now if my daughter falls asleep some where i remind myself how blessed i am to be able to hold her while she sleeps.
Good luck,,
T.

The cat naps are normal. I've heard that it is better to try and get them on nap schedule. But that is harder then it sounds. Me personally, I just let me daughter take a nap when she was tired.

I'm not sure what time kids are "supposed" to take naps, but I can tell you when my five month old USUALLY does. He set his own schedule and has been pretty consistent with it. I usually wake him up around 7 or 7:30 (not sure what time he'd get up on his own, because I've always had to wake him), then he eats a small bottle (maybe 4 oz.) and goes back to sleep until around 11:30 or noon. After that he'll be up until around 2 and take a short nap (maybe an hour or so) and then he'll take another short nap around 4:30. He'll usually exchange those two for one long one if he's home, but I pick him up at 4:00 so my daycare provider wakes him up and he'll nap again when we get home. Then he goes to bed at 8:00 for the night. So... one in the morning, one or two in the afternoon seems to be the schedule he picked out. All babies are different though, and mine is bottlefed. He was on the same schedule with the breastmilk though. I had trouble keeping mine awake during feeding at the beginning too, and the doctors all said to make him uncomfortable while feeding, he didn't like to be really warm so we'd wrap him in a bunch of blankets, or if she doesn't like being cold you could feed her in just a diaper or short sleeve onsie. That way she'll get more to eat and sleep longer.

Hi A.!

I have 5 month old daughter who will fall asleep during BF too. Sometimes I let her sleep, trying oh so carefully not to move so I can enjoy her. I remind myself that soon she will not let me hold her like this. If I think she should be awake then I will sit her up and burp her. Most times if I am moving her around she will wake up. Try changing her diaper, too. As far as when she should nap, I think what ever works for the 2 of you is best. Sometimes my gal will nap 4-5 times a day, short 20 minute naps, other times she'll sleep 2 hours twice a day. Most times she naps 1-2 times in the morning and then 2-3 times during the afternoon. I have yet to get her to sleep more than 4 hours at night so I don't know if she sleeps too much during the day or not? It really doesn't seem like it to me. You can find all different kinds of advice in books and on the internet, but if you find certain times that you know she is tired and cranky, try putting her to bed. I kept track of her habits for a week or so, then I could predict when she needed to go down and could see her tired cues. That helped establish somewhat of a routine for us. Of course she doesn't always stick to it and sometimes I interfere with shopping and things:) Good Luck!

A.,
I have a 3 month old son who, for a while, wouldn't nap at all during the day (but would sleep great at night!), or if he did, it was short cat naps, like your daughter. I am also breastfeeding him. I read the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth. It has truly helped with my son's problem of such short naps (he's been taking 3 good solid naps a day now for the last 3 weeks or so) and gave suggestions for sleeping schedules and how to figure out what is best for your baby. The first section of the book is a little dry, but it explains why napping while they're this little is so important for brain development, and once you get past this part, the book is really very helpful.
I hope this helps! Good luck!