6 Month Old Baby Schedule
Posted by Nicole on July 31st, 2008
Many parents want to know what a common schedule is for their baby’s age. This article outlines the average 6 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 6 month old baby schedule
At this age, if you are not lucky enough to have a baby who sleeps through the night, many 6 month olds are still waking 1-2 times to eat at night. Anything more and likely you have a sleep problem (aside from the 6-month growth spurt that should only last a few days). 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
- 2 servings (2-3 Tablespoons) fruit
- 2 servings (2-3 Tablespoons) vegetable
Note: If you wait to start solids until 6 months, you will obviously not be giving as many solids as the above (and that’s ok!). I, personally, did not start solids with my two boys until almost 6 months old.
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
- 2 servings (2-3 Tablespoons) fruit
- 2 servings (2-3 Tablespoons) vegetable
Note: If you wait to start solids until 6 months, you will obviously not be giving as many solids as the above (and that’s ok!). I, personally, did not start solids with my two boys until almost 6 months old.
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 6-month old’s schedule?
Category: SchedulesTags: 6 month babies, 6 month baby schedule, 6 month feeding, 6 month feeding schedule, 6 month old feeding schedule, 6 month schedule, 6 month sleep, 6 month training, 6 months schedule, baby nap schedule, baby on schedule, baby schedule, baby sleep schedule, feeding schedule for 6 month, schedule 6 month, schedule for 6 month old
July 31st, 2008
My son needed to stagger his food as well. I also think this helped him stay full for his morning and afternood naps. Before I staggered his food, her would sometimes wake up early from nap and have a hard time going back to sleep and I think sometimes it was out of hunger.
My son also really loved his bottles. He hated to have it taken out before he finished the whole things. Six months was a real trying time with naps, but working to get on a schedule really helped alot. Liam knew what to expect and so did I.
August 1st, 2008
@Jana Thank you for your comment!
Nicoles last blog post..6 Month Old Baby Schedule
August 3rd, 2008
My daughter just turned 6 months old and we’ve had to go back to basics with the solids because her stomach wasn’t handling what we had introduced in the past month (apples, sweet potatoes and carrots along with oatmeal cereal). So, her schedule is currently:
Wake at 7
Breastfeed at 8:30
Morning Nap at 9 (1 hour or more)
Breastfeed at 11:30
Catnap at 12 noon (30-45 minutes)
Breastfeed at 2:30
Afternoon Nap at 3 (1 hour or more)
Breastfeed but just a snack really at 5
3 tbsp. Rice Cereal/Oatmeal mixed with 1.5 oz. breastmilk at 6
Bedtime Routine begins
Breastfeed at 7:30
Asleep by 8
Night feeding at 1 or 2
Night feeding at 4 or 5 (this one is currently phasing itself out)
I’ve tried playing around with the bedtime but she just won’t go down before 7:30 at the earliest. She only sleeps 10 hours at night no matter what, nevermind what the sleep books say about infants her age “needing” 15 hours of sleep a day. I’m lucky she gets 12!
Moniques last blog post..Why Not Dad?
August 3rd, 2008
@Monique Thank you for posting your schedule! I did not start solids with either of my boys until 5 1/2 or 6 months old, so we are definitely in the lower solid levels at this age. It sounds like she is going to bed later because her last nap is long. Usually that’s the catnap of the day. And, my 1st son never did more than 11 to 11 1/2 hours in a stretch. 12 1/2 hours in 24 hours is on the lower end of sleep needs, but there is always a range. If she is happy, that’s a good sign.
Nicoles last blog post..6 Month Old Baby Schedule
August 17th, 2008
My daughter is 6 1/2 months old and I am trying to get her to sleep thru the night. We started solids at almost 6 months her schedule is:
6am Wake up/Nursing
back to sleep
8am 3 Tbsp. Cereal with fruit
play time
10am Nursing
Nap 1 hour
Wake up/ Play time
Noon Lunch Vegetable with fruit puffs for snack
play time
2pm Nursing
Nap 1 hour
play time
5pm Nursing
30-45min cat nap
6:30pm Dinner 3 Tbsp cereal with fruit
play time
8:30pm Bed time bottle of 6oz breastmilk
give or take of course …
I had to switch to bottle at night because she seemed to get too relaxed on my breast and would fall asleep before she was full it has really helped my sanity!!
September 26th, 2008
THANK YOU, my daughter has created her own schedule, feed her when shes hungry, go to sleep when shes tired, but recently shes been staying up til 1 or so, and waking uparound 8 or 9, i figured ITS TIME FOR A SCHEDULE. im going to try this out, most definately!