Posts Tagged ‘baby schedule’

This article outlines the average 7 month old baby schedule, including feedings, solids, naps and night sleep.

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7 month old baby’s sleep

At this age, some 7 month olds can sleep through the night, without a feeding, and take three naps. If your baby is having trouble napping, you may be interested in how you can get your baby to nap. Some babies don’t ever have 3 naps, but many will have 3 naps until around 9 months.

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.

The amount of food at 7 months is very similar to the 6 month baby schedule, but you can introduce egg yolk (not whites) if you want and some dairy.

Amounts per day:

• At least 5 nursing sessions per day or 30-32 ounces formula or combination
• Although some say 4-6 oz of water is okay, I usually discourage it at this age
• 1-2 servings baby cereal (1 serving = 1-2 Tablespoons dry)
• 1-2 servings fruit (1 serving = 1-2 Tablespoons)
• 1-2 servings vegetable (1 serving = 1-2 Tablespoons)
• 1 serving Dairy (1 serving = 1/3-1/2 cup yogurt or 1/4 cup cottage 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 7 month old schedule

Here is a what I call a “staggered” approach. My first son did better with a full feeding and then having solids a bit in between. He was a little hungry but not famished. He just didn’t do well with stopping nursing or his bottle mid-way to eat solids.

Schedule 1

7:00 - Wake and Breast milk or Formula
8:15 - Breakfast
9:00 - Morning Nap (at least 1 hour)
10:00 - Breast milk or Formula
12:30 - Breast milk or Formula
1:00 - Early Afternoon Nap (at least 1 hour)
2:00 - Breast milk or Formula
4:00 - Optional Catnap (30-45 minutes)
4:30 or 5:00 - Dinner
6:15 - Begin bedtime routine
7:00 - Breast milk or Formula and Bedtime (goal to be asleep at this time)

+Plus possibly 1-2 nighttime feedings

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 or Formula feeding
9:00 - Morning Nap (at least 1 hour)
10:00 - Breast milk or Formula
12:30 - Breast milk or Formula
1:00 - Afternoon Nap (at least 1 hour)
3:00 - Breast milk or Formula
5:30 - Dinner plus Breast milk / Formula feeding
6:15 - Begin bedtime routine
7:00 - Breast milk or Formula

+Plus possibly 1-2 nighttime feedings

Note: Many people prefer to follow an eat-play-sleep routine, which is a good routine to follow, however, sometimes hard to implement at this age when the amount of time between naps is not long enough and your baby wakes too early from his nap because of a feeding. I take all of that into consideration when making my schedules. The most important part is to be careful not to create sleep associations with feedings too close to sleep times, which we saw become important at 4 months old.

You may also be interested in tracking your baby’s sleep, feedings, medication doses, immunizations, etc. using online baby software at Babble Soft. You can even install on your mobile device for when you’re on the go!

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 7 month old’s schedule?

This article outlines the average 11 month old baby schedule, including feedings, solids, naps and night sleep.

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11 month old’s sleep

At this age, most 11 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. My eldest son did transition to one nap one week before his first birthday, so it was in the 11th month that I started seeing his morning nap get later and later. Most babies get very very overtired and sleep can spiral out of control, so I always recommend keeping two naps as long as possible. The average age to transition to one 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 one 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.

The amount of food at 11 months is very similar to 10 months, but she may be eating a little more.

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 11 month old schedule

7:00 - Wake and Breast milk or Formula
9:00 - Breakfast
10:00 or 10:30 - Morning Nap (at least 1 hour)
11:00 - Breast milk or Formula plus snack
1:00 - Lunch
2:00 or 2:30 - 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 or 10:30 - Morning Nap (at least 1 hour)
12:00 - Lunch plus Breast milk / Formula feeding
2:00 or 2:30 - 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.

You may also be interested in tracking your baby’s sleep, feedings, medication doses, immunizations, etc. using online software. You can even install on your mobile device for when you’re on the go!

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 11-month old’s schedule?

Here in the U.S. (in most states), we are going to be “falling back” (changing our clocks one hour back) this year on Sunday, November 2, 2008. In Europe, they will be changing their clocks the last Sunday in October, or October 27th. The reason we have Daylight Savings is that it allows us to use less energy in lighting our homes by having longer and later daylight hours. Whether you are changing the clocks or traveling with baby through time zones, most parents want to know what to do with their baby’s sleep when the clock says one time and baby says another.

For some, they are anxious for the time change to happen because their baby is going to bed too late, but other parents are freaking out because their baby or toddler is already waking too early and now the clock will say it’s even earlier!

What strategies can you use to handle the time change?

The first option is to do nothing. Your baby is waking at 7 a.m. and going to bed at 7 p.m. The day the clock changes, it will say 6 a.m., but it really is no different than the day before. You will stick to the same schedule and put him to bed when the clock says 7 p.m. that night, which, to him, will really be 8 p.m. For babies or toddlers who are not sensitive to being overtired or go with the flow, this is a fine strategy and within a day or two, he will be all set and re-settle into the same schedule. If your baby is an early bird (lark) who wakes up at 5 a.m., for example, he will fall back to the normal routine of waking at 5 a.m. after a few days to a week and if you are happy with that, I would simply suggest going with this option and planning to wake up at 4 a.m. for a few days.

The second option is to slowly change your baby or toddler’s schedule over the course of a few days before the time changes. On Wednesday, before your time changes, put your baby or toddler to bed 15 minutes later than normal in hopes that he wakes up 15 minutes later in the morning (I can’t promise that will happen because of our internal clocks, but it does work for many). Also, offer him naps 15 minutes later. Keep putting him to bed 15 minutes later each night until the night of the time change. By the time the clock changes, you would have shifted his schedule by 1 hour, the clock will change, and you will be back to your normal schedule. Unfortunately, this option can have a rippling bad effect on babies or toddlers who are sensitive to becoming overtired, possibly leading to crankiness, early morning wake-up, night-wakings and short naps.

The third option is to stick to the regular schedule leading up to the time change and once the time changes, be flexible and alter the schedule only as much as she can handle. The first night, you may only get to a 6:30 p.m. bedtime, for example, and she will go to bed earlier than normal (clock-wise). It’s the light that stimulates our eyes and sets our internal clock as to when we should sleep or not, so after a few days, she should re-settle into her normal schedule. Unfortunately, this option is really hard on those with babies or toddlers who are already waking up at 5 a.m. You may want to consider shifting your baby or toddler’s schedule in the 3 weeks leading up to the time change and, again, a week after the time change (if you do not like the 5 a.m. wake-up).

There are a variety of things you can do that fall somewhere in between any of these options, but these are the main options you have. If you’d like help with a custom solution for your unique baby, please contact me by purchasing my baby sleep consulting services. I’d love to help you!

How have you handled time changes in the past that has worked?

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.

You may also be interested in tracking your baby’s sleep, feedings, medication doses, immunizations, etc. using online software. You can even install on your mobile device for when you’re on the go!

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 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.

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6 month old baby’s sleep

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 association problem (aside from the 6-month growth spurt that should only last a few days to a week).

Obviously, all babies vary, but here are some sample schedules you can use to make your own for your unique baby. Schedules are iffy at this age because many babies simply can not stay up past 2 hours to get to the next scheduled nap-time, so at this age, it’s likely naps are still on the short side, but come frequently. Over the next several weeks, you can work on getting down to just 3 naps to get closer to the 7 month schedule.

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 or 2 big batchs 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 5-6 breastfeeding sessions per day or 32 ounces formula or combination (decrease solids if your baby is not taking in at least this much)
• Water is unnecessary (breast milk and formula have plenty of water in them). If your baby has any constipation issues, focus on “P” foods (pears, prunes, etc.)
• 1-2 servings baby cereal (1 serving = 1-2 Tablespoons dry)
• 1-2 servings fruit (1 serving = 1-2 Tablespoons)
• 1-2 servings vegetable (1 serving = 1-2 Tablespoons)

Note: If you did not start solids until 6 months (I did not start until 6 months), you will work your way up to the amount of servings above. Don’t worry about feeding this much right away!

Sample 6 month old schedule

Here is a what I call a “staggered” approach. My first son did better with a full feeding and then having solids a bit in between. He was a little hungry but not famished. He just didn’t do well with stopping nursing or his bottle mid-way to eat solids.

Schedule 1

6:30 - Wake and Breast milk or Formula
7:45 - Breakfast
8:30 - Morning Nap (at least 1 hour)
10:00 - Breast milk or Formula
11:30 - Nap (often 30-45 minutes at this age)
1:00 - Breast milk or Formula
2:00 - Nap (often 30-45 minutes at this age)
4:00 - Breast milk or Formula
4:30 - Catnap (30 minutes)
5:00 - Dinner
6:00 - Begin bedtime routine
6:30 - Breast milk or Formula and Bedtime
7:00 - Goal to be asleep

+Plus possibly 1-2 nighttime feedings

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 and Breast milk or Formula, then Breakfast
9:00 - Morning Nap (at least 1 hour)
10:00 - Breast milk or Formula
12:00 - Nap (often 30-45 minutes at this age)
1:00 - Breast milk or Formula
2:30 - Nap (often 30-45 minutes at this age)
4:00 - Breast milk or Formula
5:00 - Catnap (30 minutes)
5:30 - Partial Breast milk or Formula Feeding, then Dinner
6:30 - Begin bedtime routine
7:00 - Bedtime
7:30 - Goal to be asleep

+Plus possibly 1-2 nighttime feedings

Note: Many people prefer to follow an eat-play-sleep routine, which is a good routine to follow, however, sometimes hard to implement at this age when the amount of time between naps is not long enough and your baby wakes too early from his nap because of a feeding. I take all of that into consideration when making my schedules. The most important part is to be careful not to create sleep associations with feedings too close to sleep times, which we saw become important at 4 months old.

You may also be interested in tracking your baby’s sleep, feedings, medication doses, immunizations, etc. using online baby software at Babble Soft. You can even install on your mobile device for when you’re on the go!

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 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?

This article outlines the average 8 month old baby schedule, including feedings, solids, naps and night sleep.

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8 month old’s sleep

At this age, many 8 month olds can sleep through the night, without a feeding, but some won’t and will continue to need 1-2 feedings up through 9+ months old. And, 8 month old babies take 2-3 naps, daily. If your baby is having trouble napping, you may be interested in how you can get your baby to nap.

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.

The amount of food at 8 months is very similar to the 7 month baby schedule, but you will most likely go to 3 small meals per day, rather than just 2.

Amounts per day:

• At least 5 nursing sessions per day or 30-32 ounces formula or combination
• No more than 2-4 oz of water or juice (to ensure they drink enough breast milk or formula)
• 2-3 servings baby cereal or grains (1 serving cereal = 1-2 Tablespoons dry and grains include Cheerios, 2 crackers, etc.)
• 2 servings fruit (1 serving = 2-3 Tablespoons)
• 2-3 servings vegetable (1 serving = 2-3 Tablespoons)
• 1-2 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 with a full feeding and then having solids a bit in between. He was a little hungry but not famished. He just didn’t do well with stopping nursing or his bottle mid-way to eat solids.

Sample 8 month old schedule

If your baby has already transitioned to just 2 naps, please see the 9 month old baby schedule for a sample schedule.

Schedule 1

7:00 - Wake and Breast milk or Formula
8:15 - Breakfast
9:00 - Morning Nap (at least 1 hour)
10:00 - Breast milk or Formula
11:00 - Lunch
12:30 - Breast milk or Formula
1:00 - Early Afternoon Nap (at least 1 hour)
2:00 - Breast milk or Formula
4:00 - Optional Catnap (30-45 minutes)
4:30 or 5:00 - Dinner
6:15 - Begin bedtime routine
7:00 - Breast milk or Formula and Bedtime (goal to be asleep at this time)

+Plus possibly 1 nighttime feeding

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 or Formula feeding
9:00 - Morning Nap (at least 1 hour)
10:00 - Breast milk or Formula
11:00 - Lunch
12:30 - Breast milk or Formula
1:00 - Afternoon Nap (at least 1 hour)
3:00 - Breast milk or Formula
5:30 - Dinner plus Breast milk / Formula feeding
6:15 - Begin bedtime routine
7:00 - Breast milk or Formula

+Plus possibly 1 nighttime feeding

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.

You may also be interested in tracking your baby’s sleep, feedings, medication doses, immunizations, etc. using online baby software at Babble Soft. You can even install on your mobile device for when you’re on the go!

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 8 month old baby’s schedule?