Archive for the ‘Schedules’ Category

Just a quick announcement. I am now offering a pamphlet on shifting your baby or toddler’s schedule. This is designed for those parents who have already mastered most of their child’s sleep problems, but their baby or toddler is simply waking too early in the morning or going to bed too late at night. Your child is getting all the sleep he needs, but the schedule does not seem to fit in with the family. I recommend only attempting a schedule shift once your baby or toddler is already sleeping fairly well and he is old enough to withstand some over-tiredness without too much trouble. For babies very sensitive to becoming overtired this might not be until 8 or 9 months old. For those not very sensitive to over-tiredness, this can be as soon as 6 months old. Toddlers are usually ready and should be no problem to shift.

Note: If you already have my e-Book, Help Your Baby Sleep, a Step-by-Step guide, you already have this information.

Learn more about the Shift Your Child’s Schedule pamphlet, now!

This article outlines the average 10 month old baby schedule, including feedings, solids, naps and night sleep.

Skip to the schedule

10 month old’s sleep

At this age, most 10 month olds can sleep through the night, without a feeding, and take two naps. If your baby is having trouble napping, you may be interested in how you can get your baby to nap. A very small percentage transition to one nap as early as 10 months, but not many, so assume 2 naps unless you are certain. Most babies get very very overtired and sleep can spiral out of control, so I always recommend keeping one nap for as long as possible. The average age to transition to 1 nap is 15-18 months.

Although many babies can go all night without a single feeding, in my experience, some do better with one feeding after 4 or 5 a.m. and sleep longer than not feed and get an early wake-time. I would need to know your specific situation to make a recommendation, but just recognize that all babies are different. By this age I would not expect more than 1 feeding, typically, if any at all. I would recommend at least an attempt at night-weaning because it is a chicken and egg problem. It’s hard to encourage more eating during the day when he is eating at night and it’s hard to discourage eating at night when he isn’t eating more during the day.

All babies vary, but here are some rough schedules you can use to make your own for your unique baby. I should warn you that I am in the camp that breast milk or formula should be the primary nutrition for the first year and solids come secondary. Below are the amounts recommended from Super Baby Food, the book I use for reference (as a guide, not as the end-all-be-all because I don’t give my kids nuts before a year or follow other things in the book, but it’s a good reference guide). Another useful reference is Wholesome Baby Food. Although I work full time, I did make most of my baby food (I’d make 1 big batch of something each weekend in 1-2 hours), but even if you don’t, the website is useful as a guide when to introduce what food and other meal ideas.

Note: At 10 months, sometimes you notice a sharp increase in appetite (no doubt partially due to activity levels with crawling and possibly cruising), so what’s different about the 9 month schedule is the addition of another snack, some of the serving sizes and the # of servings.

Amounts per day:

• At least 3-4 nursing sessions per day or 24-32 ounces formula or combination of both
• No more than 6-8 oz of water or juice (to ensure they drink enough breast milk or formula)
• 2 servings (1 serving = 1-2 Tablespoons dry) baby cereal
• 2 servings grain (1 serving = 1/2 slice bread, 2 crackers, 1/2 cup Cheerios, or 1/2 cup whole grain pasta)
• 2 servings fruit (1 serving = 3-4 Tablespoons)
• 2-3 servings vegetable (1 serving = 3-4 Tablespoons)
• 2-3 servings protein (1 serving = 1-2 Tablespoons)
• 1 serving Dairy (1 serving = 1/2 cup yogurt, 1/3 cup cottage cheese or 1 oz grated cheese)
• You can also offer cooked egg yolk (but no egg whites until 1 year old due to allergans)

The first schedule is 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.

Sample 10 month old schedule

7:00 - Wake and Breast milk or Formula
9:00 - Breakfast
10:00 - Morning Nap (at least 1 hour)
11:00 - Breast milk or Formula plus snack
1:00 - Lunch
2:00 - Early Afternoon Nap (at least 1 hour)
3:00 - Breast milk or Formula plus snack
5:00 - Dinner
6:15 - Begin bedtime routine
7:00 - Breast milk or Formula and Bedtime (goal to be asleep at this time)

If your baby doesn’t mind a more “consolidated” approach to eating, like my second son, here is another type of schedule:

Schedule 2

7:00 - Wake
7:15 - Breakfast plus Breast milk / Formula feeding
9:15 - Snack
10:00 - Morning Nap (at least 1 hour)
12:00 - Lunch plus Breast milk / Formula feeding
2:00 - Afternoon Nap (at least 1 hour)
3:30 - Snack
5:00 - Dinner plus Breast milk / Formula feeding
6:15 - Begin bedtime routine
7:00 - Small BM/Formula feeding (possibly) and Bedtime (goal to be asleep at this time)

Note: When giving any feedings during your bedtime routine, be careful not to create sleep associations, which we saw become important at 4 months old.

If you need help with your baby’s schedule or night-weaning, you may be interested in Help Your Baby Sleep, a Step-by-Step 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 baby sleep advice.

What is your 10-month old’s schedule?

This article outlines the average 9 month old baby schedule, including feedings, solids, naps and night sleep.

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9 month old’s sleep

At this age, if you are not lucky enough to have a baby who sleeps through the night, most 9 month olds can sleep all night without a feeding and take two naps. If your baby is having trouble napping, you may be interested in how you can get your baby to nap. However, some babies, in my experience, do better with one feeding after 4 or 5 a.m. and sleep longer than not feed and get an early wake-time. I would need to know your specific situation to make a recommendation, but just recognize that all babies are different, but by this age I would not expect more than 1 feeding, typically, if any at all. All babies vary, but here are some rough schedules you can use to make your own for your unique baby.

I should warn you that I am in the camp that breastmilk or formula should be the primary nutrition for the first year and solids come secondary. Below are the amounts recommended from Super Baby Food, the book I use for reference (as a guide, not as the end-all-be-all because I don’t give my kids nuts before a year or follow other things in the book, but it’s a good reference guide). Another useful reference is Wholesome Baby Food. Although I work full time, I did make most of my baby food (I’d make 1 big batch of something each weekend in 1-2 hours), but even if you don’t, the website is useful as a guide when to introduce what food and other meal ideas.

Amounts per day:

• At least 3-4 nursing sessions per day or 26-32 ounces formula or combination of both
• 2 servings (1 serving = 1-2 Tablespoons dry) baby cereal
• 1-2 servings grain (1 serving = 1/2 slice bread, 2 crackers, 1/2 cup Cheerios, or 1/2 cup whole grain pasta)
• 2 servings (1 serving = 2-4 Tablespoons) fruit
• 2 servings (1 serving = 2-4 Tablespoons) vegetable
• 2-3 servings (1 serving = 1-2 Tablespoons) protein
• 1 serving Dairy (1 serving = 1/2 cup yogurt, 1/3 cup cottage cheese or 1 oz grated cheese)

The first schedule is 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.

Sample 9 month old schedules

7:00 - Wake and Breast milk or Formula
9:00 - Breakfast
10:00 - Morning Nap (at least 1 hour)
11:00 - Breast milk or Formula
1:00 - Lunch
2:00 - Early Afternoon Nap (at least 1 hour)
3:00 - Breast milk or Formula plus snack
5:00 - Dinner
6:15 - Begin bedtime routine
7:00 - Breastmilk or Formula and Bedtime (goal to be asleep at this time)

If your baby doesn’t mind a more “consolidated” approach to eating, like my second son, here is another type of schedule:

Schedule 2

7:00 - Wake, 1/2 Breast milk / Formula feeding, breakfast and other 1/2 BM / Formula
10:00 - Morning Nap (at least 1 hour)
11:00 - 1/2 BM/Formula, Lunch, and other 1/2 BM/Formula
2:00 - Afternoon Nap (at least 1 hour)
3:00 - BM or Formula Feeding plus snack
5:00 - Dinner and 1/2 BM / Formula feeding
6:15 - Begin bedtime routine
7:00 - Small BM/Formula feeding and Bedtime (goal to be asleep at this time)

Note: When giving any feedings during your bedtime routine, be careful not to create sleep associations.

If you need help with your baby’s schedule, you may be interested in Help Your Baby Sleep, a Step-by-Step 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 baby sleep advice.

What is your 9-month old’s schedule?

This article outlines the average toddler schedule, including feedings, naps and night sleep. If your toddler is having trouble napping, you may be interested in my toddler nap tips. And, for good ideas on feeding your toddler, check out Wholesome Toddler Food. You may also want to encourage your toddler to get involved in his routine by teaching him to tell time with this Melissa and Doug Wooden Shape Sorting Clock.

 
 
Two Nap Schedule | One Nap Schedule | No Nap Schedule

Toddler Schedules - General Info

At this age, your toddler should be sleeping through the night, with no night feedings. Obviously, all babies vary, but here are some rough schedules you can use to make your own for your unique baby.

I think of a “toddler” as a 1-3 year old, which is a wide range. Sleep needs change in that time-frame. While your one year old may be sleeping 12 hours at night and 2-3 hours during the day made up of 2 naps, on average, your three year old is likely starting to transition into not napping all together and will do so most likely before the age of four. At 2 years old, the average amount of sleep drops to between 12 and 12 1/2 hours in 24 hours, including just one afternoon nap. The average age for a toddler to transition to just one nap is 15-18 months. Transitioning too soon can have disastrous results with a very cranky toddler.

This article will give an example of 3 different types of schedules, 2 naps, 1 nap and no naps.

Toddler Schedule - Two Naps

7:00 - Wake
7:00/7:30 - Breakfast
9:30 - Light snack if she needs it
10:00 - Morning Nap (at least 1 hour)
11:30/12:00 - Lunch
2:00 - Afternoon Nap (at least 1 hour)
3:30 - Afternoon Snack
5:30 - Dinner
6:30 - Begin bedtime routine
7:00 - Bedtime

Toddler Schedule - One Nap

7:00 - Wake
7:00/7:30 - Breakfast
9:00 - Light snack if she needs it
11:00 - Lunch
12:00 - Nap (at least 1 hour)
3:30 - Afternoon Snack
5:30 - Dinner
6:30 - Begin bedtime routine
7:00 - Bedtime

Toddler Schedule - No Naps

7:00 - Wake
7:00/7:30 - Breakfast
9:30 - Light snack if she needs it
12:00 - Lunch
1:00 - Quiet/Rest time (45 minutes to 1 hour)
3:30 - Afternoon Snack
5:30 - Dinner
6:30 - Begin bedtime routine
7:00 - Bedtime

If you need help with your toddler’s schedule, you may be interested in Help Your Child Sleep, a Detailed Guide, which discusses naps, schedules, and shifting schedules for children waking too early or going to bed too late (among many other things) or get one-on-one sleep advice.

What is your toddler’s schedule?

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.

Breastfeeding

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.

Formula

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?

Many people wonder when they can put their baby on a schedule. Today’s sleep quick tip is that babies will vary, but the average age that I recommend to start trying a sleep schedule is around 6 months old. Depending on how consistent they are, how sensitive they are to becoming overtired and how over-tiredness affects their napping will drive when a schedule is comfortably achievable. Of course, many people try schedules sooner and some will succeed, but if pushing them to be awake too long makes them nap worse, you aren’t helping you or him get enough sleep. The main obstacle in short-napping in babies under 9-10 months old is over-tiredness. When they are over-tired, they have more trouble settling down to sleep. This is usually done by keeping them up too long between naps. Strange, but true!

Would you like to learn more about baby schedules?

I will be posting sample schedules for a variety of ages. So far, I have the 8 month schedule done. On Thursday, I will post the 6 month schedule. I’ll update this post as I get more up.

You can also read about napping in my free guide, 5 Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night as napping can affect nighttime sleep. And, I also talk a lot about schedules in my e-Book, Help Your Baby Sleep, a Detailed Guide. The e-Book also covers how to shift schedules in 8+ month olds and toddlers when they are waking up too early and/or going to bed too late, complete with examples on how to shift the schedule.

When did you put your baby on a schedule?

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.

Breastfeeding

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.

Formula

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?