8 Month Old Baby Schedule
Posted by Nicole on July 3rd, 2008
Many parents want to know what a common schedule is for their baby’s age. This article outlines the average 8 month old baby schedule, including feedings, solids, naps and night sleep. If your baby is having trouble napping, you may be interested in how you can get your baby to nap.
I have two sample schedules for breastfeeding mothers and two for formula feeding mothers. If you do a combination, you may need to tweak the schedule.
Jump to: breastfeeding section or the formula section
Sample 8 month old schedule
At this age, if you are not lucky enough to have a baby who sleeps through the night, many 8 month olds are still waking 1-2 times to eat at night until about 9 months old. Obviously, all babies vary, but here are some rough schedules you can use to make your own for your unique baby.
Goal per day:
- 5-6 nursing sessions per day, on-demand
- 2 servings baby cereal
- 1/2 slice bread or 2 crackers
- 2 servings fruit
- 2 servings vegetable
- May offer yogurt, cheese or cottage cheese
- May offer 1 serving meat, cooked dried beans, or egg yolk
If you breastfeed, here is a what I call a “staggered” approach. My first son did better nursing fully and then having solids a bit in between nursing sessions. He was a little hungry but not famished. He just didn’t do well with stopping nursing mid-way to eat solids.
Schedule 1
7:00 - Wake and breastmilk
8:30 - Breakfast - Cereal mixed with breast milk and fruit
9:00 - Morning Nap (at least 1 hour)
11:00 - Breastmilk
12:30 - Lunch - Crackers / Bread + Veggies
1:00 - Early Afternoon Nap (at least 1 hour)
3:00 - Breastmilk
4:00 - Optional catnap (30-45 minutes, on average)
5:00 - Dinner - Cereal + Veggies
6:30 - Begin bedtime routine
7:00 - Breastmilk and Bedtime (goal to be asleep at this time)
2:00 - First (and possibly only) nighttime feeding - Note: Feeding shouldn’t need to be earlier than 2 or 3 a.m.
If your baby doesn’t mind a more “consolidated” approach to eating, here is another type of schedule:
Schedule 2
7:00 - Wake, nurse 1 side, cereal with breastmilk & fruit, and other side
9:00 - Morning Nap (at least 1 hour)
11:00 - Nurse 1 side, lunch Crackers / Bread + Veggies, and other side
1:00 - Early Afternoon Nap (at least 1 hour)
3:00 - Nurse
4:00 - Optional catnap (30-45 minutes, on average)
5:00 - Nurse 1 side, dinner (Cereal + Veggies), then other side
6:30 - Begin bedtime routine
7:00 - Nurse (probably won’t eat much) and Bedtime (goal to be asleep at this time)
2:00 - First (and possibly only) nighttime feeding - Note: Feeding shouldn’t need to be earlier than 2 or 3 a.m.
Goal per day:
- 3-5 6-8 oz bottles per day
- 2 servings baby cereal
- 1/2 slice bread or 2 crackers
- 2 servings fruit
- 2 servings vegetable
- May offer yogurt, cheese or cottage cheese
- May offer 1 serving meat, cooked dried beans, or egg yolk
Here is a “staggered” approach. Like I said above, my first son did better nursing fully and then having solids a bit in between nursing sessions. He was a little hungry but not famished. He just didn’t do well with stopping nursing mid-way to eat solids.
Schedule 1
7:00 - Wake and bottle
8:30 - Breakfast - Cereal mixed with formula and fruit
9:00 - Morning Nap (at least 1 hour)
11:00 - Bottle
12:30 - Lunch - Crackers / Bread + Veggies
1:00 - Early Afternoon Nap (at least 1 hour)
3:00 - Bottle
4:00 - Optional catnap (30-45 minutes, on average)
5:00 - Dinner - Cereal + Veggies
6:30 - Begin bedtime routine
7:00 - Bottle and Bedtime (goal to be asleep at this time)
2:00 - First (and possibly only) nighttime feeding - Note: Feeding shouldn’t need to be earlier than 2 or 3 a.m.
If your baby doesn’t mind a more “consolidated” approach to eating, here is another type of schedule:
Schedule 2
7:00 - Wake, 1/2 bottle, cereal with formula and fruit, then rest of bottle
9:00 - Morning Nap (at least 1 hour)
11:00 - 1/2 bottle, lunch Crackers / Bread + Veggies, and rest of bottle
1:00 - Early Afternoon Nap (at least 1 hour)
3:00 - Bottle
4:00 - Optional catnap (30-45 minutes, on average)
5:00 - 1/2 bottle, dinner (Cereal + Veggies), rest of bottle
6:30 - Begin bedtime routine
7:00 - Small bottle (probably won’t eat much) and Bedtime (goal to be asleep at this time)
2:00 - First (and possibly only) nighttime feeding - Note: Feeding shouldn’t need to be earlier than 2 or 3 a.m.
If you need help with your baby’s schedule, you may be interested in Help Your Child Sleep, a Detailed Guide, which discusses naps, schedules, and shifting schedules for babies waking too early or going to bed too late (among many other things) or get one-on-one sleep advice.
What is your 8-month old’s schedule?
Category: SchedulesTags: 8 month babies, 8 month baby, 8 month development, 8 month feeding, 8 month nap, 8 month old, 8 month old sleep, 8 month schedule, 8 month sleep, baby nap schedule, baby on schedule, baby schedule, baby sleep schedule, feeding, sleep schedule
August 14th, 2008
I have an 8 month old daughter who has recently REFUSED to go to sleep before 3 or 4 in the morning. Her 1pm and 4pm naps have shortened to 45 minutes each. She used to sleep a lot longer. I have problems sleeping and I’m scared she’s inherited that trait. I’m hoping she’s just teething (she just cut her third tooth this week). Anyways, I think part of the problem is that I’m letting her sleep until ten in the morning some days because she’s up so late at night. Tomorrow, I’m getting her up at 7 and I’m going to try your schedule. Hopefully, this will cure her sleeplessness.
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August 17th, 2008
@Tina Good luck! I hope the new schedule works and improves your daughter’s sleep. Day and night sleep are handled by different parts of the brain, so just keep that in mind when dealing with any problems.
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