By 4 months, most babies hold their head steady without support and push up onto their elbows and forearms during tummy time. They make cooing sounds like "oooo" and "aahh", bring their hands to their mouth, and chuckle when you try to make them laugh. [1]
The next set of movement milestones is coming into view. By 6 months, most babies roll from tummy to back. Many also push up with straight arms during tummy time and lean on their hands for balance when placed in a sitting position. [2] Your 5 month old is somewhere in the middle of that work, so expect a lot of wobble before each skill settles. One practical note: a baby who has rolled once can roll again at any moment, so keep a hand on your baby during changes on any raised surface.
Babbling is turning into conversation. By 6 months, many babies take turns making sounds with you and blow raspberries. [2] When your baby makes a sound and you copy it back, you are teaching the rhythm of talking. It counts as language practice even when the whole exchange is "bababa".
Teething may be on the horizon. A first tooth usually appears around 6 months, and the range is wide: some babies have no teeth by their first birthday. Extra drool and hands in the mouth start around 3 months and do not by themselves mean a tooth is coming. [3] Signs a tooth is actually on the way include sore red gums where it is pushing through and a flushed cheek. Many babies also chew and dribble more than usual. [4]
The CDC lists 12 to 16 hours of sleep per 24 hours for infants 4 to 12 months, naps included, and credits the American Academy of Sleep Medicine for the recommendation. [5] Where your baby lands inside that range is individual. A baby at 12 hours and a baby at 16 can both be doing fine.
The sleep setup stays the same as in earlier months. Place your baby on their back for every sleep, on a firm flat surface, and keep soft items like blankets and pillows out of the sleep space. [6]
New rolling skills change sleep too. This is a good month to ask your pediatrician about moving on from swaddling and what to do when your baby rolls at night. The AAP parent guide to safe sleep is a solid reference to keep at hand. [6]
A wake window is how long your baby is comfortably awake between sleeps. Cleveland Clinic publishes them by age band, and at 5 to 7 months the expected window is 2 to 4 hours. [14]
| Age | Expected wake window |
|---|---|
| Birth to 1 month | 0.5 to 1 hour |
| 1 to 3 months | 1 to 2 hours |
| 3 to 4 months | 1.25 to 2.5 hours |
| 5 to 7 months | 2 to 4 hours |
| 7 to 10 months | 2.5 to 4.5 hours |
| 10 to 12 months | 3 to 6 hours |
Cleveland Clinic's table, copied as published. Their table has no row between 4 and 5 months, so a baby that age sits between the 3 to 4 and 5 to 7 rows, and we say so rather than inventing one. [14]
The window is a guess, not an alarm clock. Cleveland Clinic also lists the cues worth more than the clock: yawning, rubbing eyes, blinking more often, staring off, and a general drop in activity. [14] A baby showing those at 2 hours is not failing the 4 hour end of the range.
Here is the honest version, because it is the part most pages skip: no health organization publishes a clock-time schedule for a 5 month old. What they publish is four ranges. So rather than hand you times and pretend a doctor picked them, here are the four numbers with their owners, and then the arithmetic done in the open.
Put them together and a 5 month old day tends to land on three naps: wake, 2 to 4 hours up, nap, repeat, with the longest sleep at night. Three windows of about 3 hours plus three naps of about an hour fills roughly a 12 hour day, which leaves the night to reach the 12 to 16 hour total. That paragraph is arithmetic from published ranges, not a recommendation from anyone. Your baby has not read it.
One more published habit, because a routine is the part you can actually control: MedlinePlus says to make the bedtime routine consistent and pleasant, and to give the last nighttime feeding shortly before putting the baby to bed. [15] The order matters less than the sameness.
Not one that any health organization names. Searching for it returns a lot of confident week counts, and none of them come from a body that publishes clinical guidance.
What is published is the mechanism underneath. The AAP writes that babies usually do not develop regular sleep cycles until about 4 months of age. [16] Real cycles mean brief surfacings between them, and a baby who has always fallen asleep one way looks for that same way at 2 a.m. If your fifth month got harder, that is the documented change arriving on its own schedule rather than a separate event with a name.
So we will not tell you it lasts two weeks. Nobody who published a number knows your baby, and we would be inventing one to sound certain.
Breast milk, formula, or a combination still provides everything your baby needs right now. All three are workable paths, and the pattern that fits your family is the right one to keep.
If you are breastfeeding: as babies grow, their bellies grow too, and they can take more milk at a feeding. Feedings often space out as a result. Your baby's hunger and fullness cues are a better guide than the clock. [7]
If you are formula feeding: by 6 months, babies typically take 6 to 8 ounces (180 to 240 mL) at each of 4 or 5 feedings in 24 hours. [8] At 5 months, many babies are moving toward that pattern, and that sentence is ours, not the AAP's.
One supplement to keep in mind: babies fed only breast milk, or breast milk plus formula, need 400 IU of vitamin D every day, starting shortly after birth. Babies taking 32 ounces or more of formula a day do not need it, because formula is fortified. [9]
Solid foods usually start around 6 months, so this month is for watching, not spoon-feeding. The readiness signs matter more than the date: your baby sits up with support, controls their head and neck, swallows food rather than pushing it back out, and brings objects to their mouth. [10] When the time comes, the AAP has a calm walkthrough of first foods. Nothing needs to happen yet. [11]
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Browse the week by week Learn libraryMost of what a 5 month old does is normal, including skipped naps and drool by the ounce. A short list of signs deserves a call, so you never have to wonder.
Fever. The AAP says to call the doctor if your child has had a seizure, if a baby younger than 3 months (12 weeks) has a temperature of 100.4 F (38.0 C) or higher, or if the temperature rises above 104 F (40 C) repeatedly at any age. The AAP also says to call if your child still acts sick once the fever is brought down, seems to be getting worse, or the fever persists. [12]
Teething is not a fever. The AAP writes that body temperature may rise slightly with teething, but that per a 2016 study in Pediatrics a true fever, over 100.4 F (38 C), is not associated with teething and is a sign of illness or infection. [3] The NHS draws the same boundary from the other side: it describes the teething rise as slightly raised but less than 38 C. [4] Above the line, it is not teething.
Dehydration, and the AAP publishes two lists rather than one. Mild to moderate: playing less than usual, urinating less often (for infants, fewer than six wet diapers a day), a parched dry mouth, fewer tears when crying, a sunken soft spot of the head, and changes in stools. The AAP says to notify the pediatrician immediately if any of those develop. [13]
Severe dehydration adds, on top of that list: being very fussy, being excessively sleepy, sunken eyes, cool discolored hands and feet, wrinkled skin, and urinating only one to two times a day. [13] We show the two lists separately because the AAP does. An earlier version of this page merged them, which quietly moved sunken eyes out of the severe column, and that was our error rather than the source's.
If your baby is not doing things most babies do by this age, or has lost skills they once had, talk with the doctor. The CDC milestone checklists make that conversation concrete, and acting early helps. [2]
LEELALU is education, not medical care. Nothing here is a diagnosis. For anything on this list, or any symptom that worries you, contact your pediatrician. If it feels like an emergency, call 911.
Around 6 months, most families begin solid foods, once the readiness signs are in place. Plan to talk it through at the 6 month checkup, including which foods are choking risks. [10]
The first tooth often arrives around the same time, so a soft baby toothbrush is worth buying before you need it. [3]
Next month's page covers first foods and the 6 month visit.
The CDC, crediting the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, publishes 12 to 16 hours per 24 hours including naps for infants 4 to 12 months. Where your baby lands inside that range is individual, and a baby at 12 hours and a baby at 16 can both be doing fine. [5]
Cleveland Clinic publishes 2 to 4 hours awake between sleeps for babies 5 to 7 months old. It is a guess rather than an alarm clock: the same source lists yawning, rubbing eyes, blinking more often, staring off and a drop in activity as cues worth more than the clock. [14]
MedlinePlus publishes 1 to 4 naps a day across the first year, each lasting 30 minutes to 2 hours. Combined with a 2 to 4 hour wake window, a 5 month old day most often lands on three naps, though that last part is arithmetic from published ranges rather than a recommendation from anyone. [15]
No health organization publishes one by that name. What is published is the mechanism underneath: the AAP writes that babies usually do not develop regular sleep cycles until about 4 months of age, and real cycles mean brief surfacings between them. If your fifth month got harder, that is the documented change arriving on its own schedule, and we will not invent a number of weeks for it. [16]
Some 5 month olds roll, others get there later. The CDC lists rolling from tummy to back among the milestones for 6 months, so practicing without success yet is on schedule. Floor time with a toy just out of reach is the best gym. If your baby is not rolling from tummy to back by 6 months, bring it up with your doctor. [2]
The CDC says a child can begin solid foods at about 6 months, and lists readiness signs that matter more than the calendar: sitting up alone or with support, controlling head and neck, opening the mouth when offered food, and swallowing food rather than pushing it back out. If your baby seems ready early, ask your pediatrician first. [10]
LEELALU is education, not medicine. This page cannot diagnose or treat anything, and it never replaces your clinician. For anything on the "call your doctor" list, or anything that worries you, contact your provider. Found an error? Write to hello@leelalu.com and a person will read it. Our method: Editorial Standards.
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