11 Month Old Baby Schedule
Posted by Nicole on October 14th, 2008
This article outlines the average 11 month old baby schedule, including feedings, solids, naps and night sleep.
11 month old’s sleep
At this age, most 11 month olds can sleep through the night, without a feeding, and take two naps for a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours per day plus 11-12 hours at night. 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. My younger son seemed to start to transition to one nap around the same time, but went back to two naps within a week or two and continued taking two naps until 15 or 16 months. It makes me think my older son would have gone back to two naps, too, had I given him more time to try. Learn from me. Your 6 month old should be taking 2-3 naps per day for a total of 2-3 hours per day plus 11-12 hours at night. If you’re having trouble with naps, you might be interested in helping your baby nap.
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.
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’re looking for ways to get your baby or toddler into a healthy sleeping routine during the day, I encourage you to explore Mastering Naps and Schedules, a comprehensive guide to napping routines, nap transitions, and all the other important “how-tos” of good baby sleep. With over 40 sample sleep schedules and planning worksheets, Mastering Naps and Schedules is a hands-on tool ideal for any parenting style. For those persistent nighttime struggles, check out Help Your Child Sleep, a Step-by-Step Guide. Using the same unique approach and practical tools for success, this e-book helps you and your baby sleep through the night. Or, join our Members Area packed with premium content and resources: e-Books, assessments, detailed case studies, peer support, and more. It actually costs less to join than buying products separately! For those looking for a more customized solution for your unique situation with support along the way, please consider one-on-one baby and toddler sleep consultations.
What is your 11-month old’s schedule?
Tags: 11 month, 11 month old feeding schedule, 11 month old schedule, 11 month schedule, baby nap, baby on schedule, baby schedule, baby sleep schedule, feeding schedule, nap schedule, schedule for 11 month, sleep schedule
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December 16th, 2008
My son will be 11 months old on December 25th. He has always pretty much had the same schedule.
10am-1pm: wake up, have a bottle(6oz)
1 hour later have breakfast (usually pancakes)
2 hour later take a nap (usually for 2 hours)
wake and have a bottle(6oz)
then have a snack (usually puffs, baby cookies, etc)
2 hours later dinner (little chicken dinners etc)
then around 8pm he gets a bath
around 9pm a bottle(6oz) and bed by himself….
do you think i should change his schedule? any advice??? if you have advice email me @ babydletsc [at] yahoo [dot] com
December 16th, 2008
@Stephanie I need more information to give you good advice, but typically at this age they need 2 naps and an earlier bedtime. But, as I always say, if it works for the family, that is what matters. All babies will be different. My son could never have that schedule, but if yours is happy and well-rested then it might be okay for you.
Note: I received an e-mail from someone upset that I did not address nutrition in Stephanie’s question. That I should have said that pancakes aren’t nutritious and 18 oz is not enough in a day. I want to amend that I agree that if this baby is drinking formula, 18 oz is not enough and this mom should reduce solids. If the baby is drinking breast milk, 18 oz is within normal range. This is really a topic for the doctor (I am not a doctor). As for pancakes and cookies. I put flax seed and wheat germ in our pancakes, but regardless, I do not have the details about this mom’s baby’s complete diet and this is a judgment-free website. She did not ask me my advice about her diet, but did ask about his schedule, so I just wanted to make sure others knew why I did not mention anything about the diet. 1/8/2010
January 7th, 2009
My son is 11 months. U sually used to sleep thrgh the night 10pm – 6am. This week however he is waking up until 12;30 am. He’s energetic and wants to play with us at this hour. He only has 2 naps a day now each for about an hour so I don’t understand why he’s up this late. He doesn’t eat much solids unless I blend it. If it’s harsh or grainy he gags himself until he vomits. He has four meals a day usually baby cereal and snacks like puffs and yogurt. He already has 6 teeth but still refuses solids. I’ve tried schedules such as this and it isn’t working out. What should I do?
January 7th, 2009
Nerissa,
I am a long time nanny and currently have an 11 month old foster son, named Justice, who also has a problem with grainy foods, gagging etc.
I found he does really well with regular oatmeal (not the baby instant kind, I use regular instant oatmeal packs, plain, and sometimes add in a little molassas for extra iron, and I prepare it with formula or organic whole milk). I make sure it is cooked to the consistancy of paste, then a little extra formula mixed in (this helps cool it, too). This still has some texture to it, but it is “slimy” for lack of a better word.
When I have an issue with a new texture, I mix in a little oatmeal, it seems to make the bits more “slimy” and hidden I do not get the reaction. Then, each time I give him that food again, I decrease the amount of oatmeal until he accepts the texture. Rice cereal also works to smooth out the grainier foods, but doesn’t have the bits to hide the new texture in.
Justice seems to prefer his foods mixed, and hates the jarred stuff, so I make up fresh oatmeal in the morning and use the 1st stage meats, veggies, and fruits to make our own blends through the day. He will eat a few bites of single item foods, and likes them, but I think the flavors are a bit to strong for him right now. He is eating tons of different fruits, veggies, and meats, but still hates the texture of the meats by themselves, even when I grind up fresh stuff, unless at least a little oatmeal or rice are mixed in. Hope this helps!
Jen
January 9th, 2009
@Nerissa He might be getting close to transitioning to 1 nap. He might just need too much wake time between nap and bedtime to be able to go to bed earlier. I would need to ask more questions and find out more details to be able to advise you much more than that, but it sounds like he just might not be tired. You may want to try moving the first nap later and not giving a second nap at all. Good luck!
@NannyJen Thank you for sharing!
January 10th, 2009
My son will be 12 months on Jan 30. His schedule now is:
6:30a Wake up
8a Breakfast (yogurt or fruit puree, cheerios, 3-4 oz whole milk)
9:30a Nap (1 hour)
11a Might have a snack if he’s interested
12:30p Lunch (varies, 4-5 oz Gerber Garden juice)
1:30p Nap (1 hour)
3:30p Snack (yogurt or crackers plus juice)
5:00p Dinner (varies, 3-4 oz whole milk)
6:00p Might snack depending on how well he ate dinner
7:00p Bedtime
He also drinks water and Garden juice throughout the day when he indicates he’s thirsty (likes to smack his lips together to show he wants a drink).
He was weaned off a bottle/formula around Christmas as the combination was causing him a lot of gas pain at night that kept him from sleeping well.
Every once in a while he’ll take just 1 nap in a day, but that causes him to be extremely cranky in the evening and sleep poorly at night so we really encourage two naps a day for him.
February 13th, 2009
Our baby girl is almost 12 months. She used to be sleeping by 9pm with no problem, she usually wakes up around 9am, she takes 2 naps of an hour at least: 1st nap is around 12ish pm and 2nd around 5ish pm. Now every time my wife puts her to bed after nursing she cries for almost 40 minutes and finally falls sleep. We can see she’s tired because she has red eyes, robs her eyes yawns etc.
What is wrong now? why does she cry so long? is her bed time too late? Any idea will be appreciated. Thanks!
February 20th, 2009
@xavier Your daughter is on a shifted-forward schedule, but now that she is older, it’s possible there is not enough time before her bedtime after that last nap, especially if it’s anything longer than 30 minutes. I’d need to know more information to give you more advice, though.
March 1st, 2009
My 10 month old son is a very good eater but at the end of every meal he puts his fingers in his mouth until he vomits. I can’t think of any way to make him stop and I don’t know if this is normal? I’m afraid if he keeps doing that he will start to lose weight?
March 2nd, 2009
@Brittany I am not a doctor, but my son has done this before. I think they get to understand cause and effect. Don’t worry I don’t think he’s learning to purge or anything. I would not worry too much about him losing weight. Healthy babies neither under-eat or over-eat and will eat to be healthy. The primary nutrition for the first year is formula or breast milk and solids is largely for practice, so I wouldn’t worry too much about this. I’m sure it’s a short phase. Good luck!
March 16th, 2009
Hayden wakes very early between 5 and 6, has a bottle at 6.30, then solids 30mins later, he has a morning nap about 9/10 for 1-2 hrs and lunch (sandwich) at 12, then a nap about 1.30 for 1-2hrs then dinner (jar/homemade) A 5ishm, bottle at 7.15ish and bed.
although today he woke at 7.30 had milk. then brekkie at 9.30 (cos of school run) then had nap at 11.30-2.50. and had a very late lunch, and will give him a slightly later dinner, then bed at usual time.
Does this sound ok to u
March 25th, 2009
My daughter will be 11 months on April 8th. Here is her schedule:
8am Wakes
8:40ish Bottle 6 oz
10:45 Breakfast….cereal and a fruit
11am Nap (atleast an hour)
1pm Bottle 8 oz
4pm Nap (typically 1.5 hours)
6pm Dinner….meat and veggie
9pm Bottle 8oz
9-9:30 She’s asleep
I want to start giving her three meals a day….any suggestions? Does this sound ok?
March 26th, 2009
My Baby is 11 months old and used to sleep well through the night (although had very short naps in the day) until 2 months ago when she started waking several times in the night. (but she now has really good daytime naps as some sort of pay-off!) Sometimes she just needs a bit of shh-ing back to sleep, other times she screams for an hour before she will settle. Her routine at the moment is;
6.30/7am wake and breakfast (ready brek or weetabix with fruit)
9am nap for about 1 hour
10.30am snack, crumpet or toast
12pm lunch
1pm nap for about 1 and half hours
2.30 snack (bf)
4pm dinner
6pm bath and bed routine
6.30 breastfeed
7pm sleep (with varied wakings after that!)
3.30am-ish night feed (bf)
How does this sound?
March 27th, 2009
@Emma Sounds ok to me!
Sometimes they do have to be a little flexible when there are other things to do, but your regular schedules sounds good. Good luck!
March 27th, 2009
@Elaine It is possible bedtime is too late for the naptime. Would she be able to nap at 1:30 until 3, instead? The 30 minutes might make a difference in how overtired she is come bedtime. If she can’t make it to 1:30, you might try bumping bedtime 15-30 minutes earlier for less night-wakings. Good luck!
March 27th, 2009
@Connie Your schedule looks shifted forward, but if it works for you and your family, the schedule looks ok to me. If she’s sleeping well at night and doesn’t seem hungry during the day, you don’t *have* to add a 3rd meal since she is still taking in just 22 oz. If you did want to add lunch, you’d probably just start to offer her lunch after that first nap around 12 or 12:30 before her bottle. Good luck!
April 18th, 2009
Hi,
My daughter will be 11 months old tomorrow, April19th. This is her schedule:
6:30 bottle
9:00 breakfast
10:30 nap for about 40 minutes
1:00 pm lunch
2:30 nap for about 30 min
4:00 bottle and/or fruit
5:30 or 6:00 nap
7 dinner
8:40 bath
9: bottle
She sleeps from 9:15 until 6:30 or 7:30.
Is she going to be too late? I work the whole day, so I have tried to create this schedule so I can share some time with her at night, but concerns me that she does not have the right schedule for herself… any thoughts will be appreciated!
April 26th, 2009
Hello!
My 11-month old was going to bed at 9pm waking up between 830 and 9am. She’d take a nap from 11-12:30 and then 3-5. She recently switched and didn’t fall asleep until noon, but slept until 3:30. She then tried to take a nap at about 6pm for an hour, but wouldn’t want to go to bed until 11pm. Anyway for 5 days straight she went to bed at 9pm woke up at 830am and took a nap from 12:00-3:30. I thought this was great and she had transitioned to 1 nap. Now for the last 2 days she refuses to take a nap at all. I let her cry it out for 10min walked in pat her tummy told her I loved her and she kept screaming would not stop! I picked her up and she kept screaming for 25 min. The interesting thing is that she’d get cranky I’d try to put her down and she wouldn’t sleep and then acted as if she took a nap for about 1.5 hours. So, basically she has not taken a nap for 2 days! Her night sleep is the same. So, is this just a phase of some sort?
April 28th, 2009
Hi there,
Help my son is 11 months and is continually waking throughout the night. I think he is manipulating us into picking him up as well as coming into our bed.
He usually wakes up at around 8am eats, takes a 2 hour nap around 10:30am, but doesn’t take an afternoon nap.
we do the whole bedtime routine (bath, book, bed), he also gets a bottle at 10:30 (dream feed) we are trying to wean him off the bottle.
but by the time 1am comes around hes awake crying histraically, i calm him down and hes up again byt he fifth time i bring him into bed with us he is ready to play!
HELP!!! please email me back ASA|P! (alyshah777@hotmail.com)
May 7th, 2009
@Carolina I believe all families need to find what works for them. The question is whether she is happy and healthy. If she is cranky during the time before bedtime, then you are probably doing her a disservice keeping her up to spend time with her. Believe me, I know how hard it is. It goes quickly and before you know it, she will be able to stay up more. At this age, 11-12 hours at night is typical so unless she’s napping a lot during the day, she is most likely not getting enough sleep only getting 9 1/2 to 10 hours at night. Good luck!
May 7th, 2009
@kiki Sleeping until 8:30 a.m., noon might just be too early with only 3 1/2 hours of wake-time. Try bumping the nap a bit later. She might just be trying to spread the sleep out more (subconsciously, that is). You might do better with a 8:30-1:30-9pm schedule. Good luck!
May 7th, 2009
@Alisha Don’t think about it as he is manipulating you as much as he has expectations and desires and learning he has a voice to tell you what he wants. So, your job, as the parent is to decide what’s good for him or not and set limits accordingly. If it’s an option to come into bed with you and play, who wouldn’t want to do it?
You might also need to tweak his schedule if he has transitioned to one nap. You might check out the toddler schedule with just one nap. Good luck!
May 8th, 2009
Hi
My son is 11 months old. He wakes up 4 to 7 times at night. I feed him and then he goes back to sleep. He wakes up between 8:00-8:30am, takes two naps for an hour or two. I nurse his before he goes to sleep. He doesn’t take a pacifier or stuff toy while sleeping. Sometimes it takes me from 30 minutes to an hour to put him to sleep. After putting him to sleep, I move him in his crib and he sleeps there for an hour or two and then he cries and we move him back to our bed. We have a one bed room apartment. I am very exhausted because my husband and I are unable to get enough sleep.
Pleeeeeeeease HELP me.
Thanks
May 8th, 2009
Hi
My son is 11 months old. He wakes up 4 to 7 times at night. I feed him and then he goes back to sleep. He wakes up between 8:00-8:30am, takes two naps for an hour or two. I nurse his before he goes to sleep. He doesn’t take a pacifier or stuff toy while sleeping. Sometimes it takes me from 30 minutes to an hour to put him to sleep. After putting him to sleep, I move him in his crib and he sleeps there for an hour or two and then he cries and we move him back to our bed. We have a one bed room apartment. I am very exhausted because my husband and I are unable to get enough sleep.
May 13th, 2009
My daughter is 11 1/2 months old. Her current schedule is:
up at 7a
7:30 – cereal/fruit
9-10:30 – bottle/nurse and nap
12p – lunch
2-3:30p – bottle/nurse and nap
5:30 – dinner
7p bath, books bedtime and nursing.
I’m concerned she needs the bottle or to nurse to fall asleep. She won’t take her bottle at any other time and isn’t big on drinking out of sippy cups. I want to take away the bottle but I’m concerned she won’t get enough fluids if I take away the naptime/bedtime bottles or nursing.
Is this a good schedule and should I be taking the bottle away by the time she’s a year old?
May 14th, 2009
Occasionally my daughter (11 1/2mos) will have a wakeful night and not sleep very well. As a result she sleeps past her regular 6:30-7a wake up time. When she does this should I wake her up per her schedule and resume naps, etc. throughout the day? Or just let her “oversleep” and throw off her schedule for that day and try to resume her schedule the following day?
Thanks,
Janelle
May 15th, 2009
@Anne It sounds like your son definitely has a sleep association with nursing. Please read my free guide or my article about sleep associations, here: http://www.babysleepsite.com/sleep-training/sleep-association/ My son woke up every 1-2 hours ALLLL night long before I broke his sleep associations and helped him learn how to fall asleep without nursing and without rocking, his two “things”. It was a long journey and now I’m here trying to help others through it, too. Please look over my articles or consider a private sleep consultation to bypass some of the research. I’ve done it for you and am here to let you pick my brain.
May 15th, 2009
@Janelle I’d need to know more information, but if she’s sleeping well, even falling asleep nursing or taking a bottle, it’s probably okay. There will be transition when you take away the bottle, but they do adjust. When you first switch to a sippy cup, they don’t drink as much milk, but slowly but surely, they go back to what they were drinking before. I recommend transitioning away from the bottle between 12 and 15 months. It is not recommended to remove pacifiers or bottles between 18 months and 2 years because of their attachment and the their strive for independence being so strong. It’s usually more difficult after 18 months because they still can’t be reasoned with that much and are very attached to the nipple (in one way, shape or form). I transitioned away from bottles with both my sons at 15 months. I first weaned from breastfeeding around 1 year and didn’t want to do both at the same time. It was rough, but both boys adjusted.
In regards to keeping to schedule. For highly inconsistent babies, I typically recommend not letting wake time vary by more than 1/2 an hour. You can get to a really bad scheduling problem when you let them sleep in, because they can start to have a long night-waking every night. Hope this helps. Good luck!
May 18th, 2009
my son is gonna be a year on june 6th. actually im very worried about his growth. he doesnt seem to be getting bigger. his birth weght was 3.39 kg and now he is only 8 and an half kg. but he eats well,infact, he eats anything given to him. but at the milk deprtment he is very down. he doesnt feed on breast unless he is asleep , that too, at night. not a single feed at day time. not even on formula. can u suggest me someways on how to make him a little chubby?
May 18th, 2009
My 10- month old daughter’s basic schedule:
7am- wake/breastfeed
9am-breakfast
10am-morning nap, one hour
11am-snack/breastfeed
1pm-lunch
2pm-afternoon nap, two hours
4:30pm-snack/breastfeed
6pm-dinner
6:30pm-bath, storytime
7pm- breastfeed/put in bed
Is this normal?
May 26th, 2009
@Mary So I had to convert kg to pounds and see from Google that there are 2.2 pounds in 1 kilogram, so your son was born roughly 7 1/2 pounds and is now 18.7 pounds. That is great growth here in the states! Have you talked to your doctor? Close to 20 pounds or 8 1/2 kg at 11 months sounds fine to me. My first son was about that. He wasn’t even 20 pounds at one year and we had to wait until he was closer to 13 months to turn him around in the car (the law here in the U.S.). Healthy babies will neither starve themselves or overeat (that is learned behavior), so I would not worry. The more active they are, the more calories they’ll burn, too. It is also common for babies to be too distracted by playing to eat during the day. I would just keep a sippy cup available for him to drink anytime he wants during the day. It’s common for them to graze during the day a lot.
May 26th, 2009
@Amy Looks near perfect to me!
May 30th, 2009
My 11 month old has a very similar schedule to your “consolidated” one so is getting a lovely full tummy throughout the day. My problem is she has formula at bedtime as normal but then wakes herself at 10pm for another full bottle, then again at 1am, where she continues to cry until i give her another full bottle, then this is repeated again around 4am. then she sleeps till 7am. She has no wind and has a dummy.
As i have a 2 year old sleeping in another room i can not let her go on crying in the hope that she will settle. Any advice?
June 10th, 2009
@Tebah I would not expect so many feedings at night at this age, but I would need to know more about her solids during the day, too. It looks like she is waking every 3 hours, though, and that most likely means sleep association. There are many things to try between sleep deprivation and cry it out. The key is that she goes to sleep without the bottle, but you’d probably need to slowly reduce the size of the bottle rather than go cold turkey. Good luck!
June 13th, 2009
Hi. My 11 month son is still Breastfeeding and is co-sleeping with us. We live at a 1 bedroom place and I found co-sleeping when he was an infant more convenient. My dilemma is he still wakes up every 2-3 hrs at night and probably 4 hours before waking up in the morning. His schedule is
8-8:30 am: wakes up/nurses
9:30: cheerios or wheat bread or crackers ( he’s doesn’t have much appetite)
10:30-11: nurses/naps 1-2 hrs
12-12:30 pm: lunch (varies) chicken&rice or meat & pasta, musher veggies..
If he didn’t eat much I let him nurse
2-3:30pm: nurse/nap time (1-3 hours)
5:30-6:30: starts dinner
7-8 pm: sleep routine ( bathe, book, other preparations)
8:30 pm: nurse/sleep
He had to stay up later sometime ‘coz his dad comes home late and plays with him and I often get upset for changing the routine. But I let it go sometimes ‘coz it’s important for them to spend time too. And on he weekends when we go out, the whole schedule is completely off,is that bad? What can I do to keep him from waking up every 2-3 hours? I’ve researched that he might be a ” high needs child” and that those symptoms are common. Are all thesevalid reasons?
June 21st, 2009
@Carolynne Some babies take schedule changes in stride and others completely get off kilter. My son just does not like routine changes too much, so we try to stick to it as much as possible. He is outgrowing it some, though, so although some things are not planned, obviously, the structure of our day is mostly the same day-to-day: Get up, breakfast, play/errand/adventure/class/etc., lunch, quiet playtime, snack and TV show, adventure/outside play/errands/etc., dinner, play, bedtime routine, bedtime. If something is different, say watch a TV show in the morning, in the afternoon, he still “needs” his routine of snack and watching a show and even when I explain we already did that, he is pretty insistent. It’s just how he is. His brother is not like that at all. :p Anyway, so, no it’s not bad as long as he is not bothered by it and you aren’t either.
Everyone does what works for them.
As far as the waking up so much at night, it’s just habit at this age because most 11 month olds would maybe need one feeding, but mostly don’t need any. It could be a lot to do with co-sleeping as to why it’s a habit and smelling your milk all night. You’d likely need to encourage him to not nurse during those times, even though you are co-sleeping. Some people find when baby is in his own room the wakings stop, but if you still want to co-sleep, you need to try to limit nighttime nursing to break the habits. Good luck!
June 24th, 2009
My son will be 1 year July 16th. His schedual has been;
7am wake up, 6oz bottle
9am breakfast
9:30 -11:30 nap
11:45pm 5oz bottle
1:30pm lunch
3:30pm 5oz bottle
4-4:30 nap
5:30 dinner
7pm 5oz bottle
7:30 bedtime
However, he is slowly starting to push his first nap to 10am, and is starving for breakfast by 8:15. I would like to give him a bottle before his first nap, as 8:15 to 12:15 is a long space between food, but am worried about starting a sleep association if he gets a bottle before both naps. Any suggestions?
Thanks!
June 29th, 2009
My baby will be 12 months on July 14th. We were on a really great schedule until about a month ago when we came to visit my parents (my husband is out on his ship in the navy).
He was waking up around 8am, taking only 1 3-hour nap a day and going to bed at about 8:30 with no problems at all. Now, even if I put him to bed at 8:00pm, he hasn’t woken up until after 10:00am the last three days. That worries me! Why would he be sleeping so long? He is still taking 1 nap, but his naps are averaging like 2.5 hours now. His schedule is so messed up that I can’t even give you a time frame of when I put him down for his nap.
July 2nd, 2009
@Joanna Giving a bottle before a nap does not automatically make a poor sleep association. Once they CAN fall back to sleep without a bottle or breastfeeding it is usually not a problem. I did it many many times with my sons. If you are worried about it, you can give the bottle and put him down before he is all the way asleep. Good luck!
July 2nd, 2009
@Jess Did your baby just start walking, become more active, or start talking or any other developmental stride? 14 hours is very long, but he must need the sleep right now. I’m sure it’s a short phase and he’ll probably stop soon. Does he seem otherwise happy and normal during the day? If not, you might visit the doctor, but if he’s otherwise happy and content, he’s probably just going through something right now and you will soon see what that is!
July 7th, 2009
Hi there,
My daughter will be 12 months old on July 28th, and she is still having 3 -4 naps. I think that she may be sleeping alot for her age, and she seems tired most of the time if she is up for 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours. She has been on this basic schedule for a few months now. I wonder how I can consolidate these naps into 2. Her basic schedule is as follows:
6:30 am -up and bottle
7:30 am- breakfast
8:00 am- nap, she is always fighting to stay awake by this time, and cranky!
9:30 am- up and morning snack
11:00 am – nap again
12:00-12:30 pm- up and then lunch
2:30 pm- nap
3:30 – 4pm-up and snack
5:30pm- supper
6:30 – 7:00pm bed time
July 11th, 2009
Hi there,
My daugther is 11 months. She sleeps really well during the night. However, I’m having some trouble with her nap times. She will only sleep during the day if I let her fall asleep while nursing. If I take her off and put her in bed before she is asleep, she’ll start crying and wont sleep after. For her bed time though, I usually nurse her, brush her teeth after and put her in bed. She’s not fully asleep but not fully awake either, but she seems to understand that its bed time. How can I teach her to fall asleep on her own for her nap times? Thank you!
Angie
July 12th, 2009
My son will be 11 months on July 19. I recently got layed off from my job and took this time to sleep train. Now he needs no bottle and does not need to be rocked to go to sleep! For a few weeks, his schedule was:
7:00 wake
7:30 or 8 – 3 teaspoons of oatmeal and 2 ounces of fruit and 6 – 8 oz bottle
9 – 1 hour nap
12:30 – lunch (2 – 4 oz of veggies) and 8 oz bottle
2 – 2 hour nap
4 – snack (varies…cherios, cheese, puffs, etc)
6:15 or 6:30 dinner
7:00 – bath
7:15 – bottle
7:45 or 8 – bed
that changed when he started walking. Now he wakes up STARVING inthe middle of the night. I don’t mind feeding him, but I want him to eat more during the day and I don’t know how to get that to happen. He doesn’t like too much meat and he only has 4 teeth so it isn’t like he can chew that much. Any ideas?
July 12th, 2009
@Jenn If she is sleeping well at night, I would not worry too much about her naps, but if she has night-wakings, you might want to make sure she transitions to just 2 naps. Some babies just need more sleep than others, so it sounds like your daughter is just one of them. As long as she’s sleeping well at night, I’d let her nap the 3-4 times per day. Good luck!
@Angie Day and night sleep are handled by different parts of the brain, so it doesn’t surprise me one is giving you grief and not the other. The key is to help her learn to fall asleep without nursing by using a sleep training method of your choice. If you haven’t already, you might want to read my sleep training series which includes no-cry and crying methods. My e-Book also goes into more detail, with examples.
@Hollie Neither of my boys were big meat eaters, either, and walking does use a lot more energy. Have you tried yogurt or lentils or other beans? Those have good protein. I was never afraid to give oatmeal at dinner time, too, either. Good luck!
July 13th, 2009
My son is 11 month old and has been waking up in the morning (on and off) between 4am-5am since he has been 3 months old. We have been hoping that he would get out of this pattern but are now getting very concerned. At 11 months, his schedule is as follows:
4-5am wake time
5:30-6am breakfast (the whole family sits down at this time as my husband and 1st born go to work/daycare at 7am)
6am-8am: play time
8am: feeding (4-6 oz formula) and nap (45 min – 2 hours)
9am-10am: snack and play time
11:30am: lunch
12:30pm feeding (4-6 oz formula) and nap (45 min – 1:30)
2:00pm snack
2:30 to 4:00pm: play time
4:00pm: feeding (4-6 oz formula) – not always
4:30 to 5:30: play time
5:30-6:00pm: supper
6:30pm getting ready for bed
7:00pm: feeding (4-6 oz formuls) and sleep time
We are wondering if this early wake up is ok as he is not napping very well now and always gets up crying (including naps). We have tried giving him a feeding when he wakes in the morming and putting him back down, but he then only sleeps another 30 minutes or so and then he does not eat his breakfast very well. Not sure what to do.
As a side note, he has been eating very well. He has been eating the same as the whole family for the last month. Since 8 months, he would not accept any baby cereal.
Many thanks for any advice you can give us.
July 16th, 2009
My son has the best schedule!! He’s 11 months old. He wakes up at 6:30 am and 7:30 am. Eats Breakfast (baby cereal w/ fruit) at about 8 am. Right after his cereal he has a bottle (8 oz. formula). Nap is at 10ish. He usually wakes up about 11 am. Between 12 and 1 pm he’ll have his lunch (a jar of baby food and then a bottle). His second nap is usually at about 2 pm. He’ll sleep till about 4 pm. 5-6 pm is his dinnertime. His bedtime is between 8-9 pm. He’s been sleeping all night since about 4 – 5 months. we just “trained him” by not picking him up, turning on the light, or talking to him when he cries during the night. That method worked like a charm!!
July 22nd, 2009
First I want to say your articles have been so helpful, so thank your for sharing your knowledge with us!!
My 11 month old girl has had this schedule for while, and I think it’s pretty good:
7am – wake and bottle
8am – breakfast
10am – 1st nap
11am – wake and bottle
12noon – lunch
2:30pm – 2nd nap
3:30/4pm – wake and bottle
5pm – dinner (any later and she won’t have her last bottle)
6:30 bottle and bedtime routine
7pm – bed
Things go pretty smoothly during the day, but at night she tends to wake up a lot. She puts herself to sleep with no dummy and only a security blankie, and quite often she’ll wake, grizzle for 5 or so mins and go back to sleep on and off most of the early evening. But she also randomly wakes during the night at different times (eg 9pm and 3am one night, or midnight and 5 am the next.. it always varies) and becomes very hard to settle.
Then there are random nights where she will sleep through with no worries at all. I check on her and make sure she’s dry, comfortable, not hungry etc but a few times she’s been inconsolable even with lots of cuddles from mum. Do you think there might be other factors that are keeping her from having a proper nights sleep?
Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.
July 27th, 2009
My daughter is 11 months and she fights sleep so bad we still have to rock her to sleep. We’ve tried letting her cry herself to sleep but she screams and cries for atleast 2 hours before we go get her. I feel so bad doing that to her and when we do get her to go to sleep she wakes up in 4-6 hour intervals. I just didn’t know if there was anything we can do to help break her of that that doesn’t involve crying for hours on end… And she also has been in this phase for about 2 months that she really doesn’t eat much food and she has to eat what you eat and she feeds herself.. Where she doesn’t eat much I was just wondering if that was really bad.. It’s not like I don’t try to feed her, she just refuses most of the time
July 27th, 2009
Darbey: I could have posted this exact same question. My son would only fall asleep for naps and night time…it got really rough, especially when I got laid off from my job. A friend of mine gave me this recommendation and within 2 weeks he was falling asleep on his own for naps and bed time. Here it is…when you go to lay them down tell them that is bed time/nap time, give them lots of kisses and love and lay them down. Sit in their room (read a book or something) until they fall asleep. This will get them used to calling asleep wihout being rocked with the comfort of mommy/daddy near by. The key to this is to not touch or talk to them. It may or may not work for you guys, bt worth a shot.
As for the food…our son (who is 11 months old) really wouldn’t eat much for a week or so… I figured out 2 things, 1) he wasn’t ready for the foods I was giving him and 2) he had reflux. I finally found things he will eat…fruit cups, English peas, stage 3 baby food, and most any veggie he can get his hands on. Be paient, I she isn’t losing weight and is happy and healthy…she will eat when she s ready. It may mean trial and error until she finds what she likes
hope this helps!
August 2nd, 2009
hi, my baby is 11 months old he is going lean, he will be good 2 days a weak and again he will feel ill
August 7th, 2009
@Michelle You would be better off reducing the amount of time between nap #2 and bedtime so he’s not as overtired come bedtime. The early bedtime + waking up crying from naps indicates over-tiredness. I’d probably need to know more detail, but if he can stay up a bit longer before both naps you can spread out his schedule a little more to be something like: 6 – Wake, 10 – Nap, 2 – Nap, 7 – Bedtime and avoid as much over-tiredness. Of course, you can’t just jump to a 10am nap, so you have to slowly work your way up 15 minutes a day. Hope this helps and sorry for the delay in response!
August 7th, 2009
@Christina Thank you for sharing your schedule. Sounds like a dream!!
August 7th, 2009
@Rebecca You didn’t say how long her 2nd nap usually is, but have you noticed when she has a rough night that bedtime was too late or anything? Sometimes even 15 minutes can make a big difference. I find that night-wakings and hard-to-settle is due to being overtired where bedtime is too late or she was extra active that day and needed to go to bed early. Sometimes it’s easy to think they aren’t tired and you might let them stay up a little late, but sometimes they can be more tired than they seem. Hope this helps!
August 7th, 2009
@Darbey There is a lot in between rocking to sleep and cry it out. Have you simply tried just not rocking her? Even if you work your way up to holding her while she fell asleep and work your way up to putting her down before she is asleep it will be progress and just take longer. About eating, I wouldn’t worry too much as healthy babies will neither starve themselves or overeat. Their tummies are small and often don’t eat much. I wouldn’t worry too much about it (though that’s easier to say than do, I know!). Good luck!
August 7th, 2009
@Hollie Thank you for sharing and commenting! Good advice!
August 8th, 2009
My daughter is 14mos old. I think she is trying to transition to one nap a day, but she can’t seem to do the same thing two days in a row. She gets up at 6a, 7a breakfast, sometimes a 10:30 nap for 90 mins, then lunch at 12p, dinner at 5p, bedtime at 7p…or she wants two naps, a nap at 9:30 for 90mins, then another nap at 2:30 and I always have to wake her up at 4pm then bedtime at 7p. How do I get her to get onto one schedule or another? Or is this transition time and I need to go with the flow? I feel strange that I always have to wake her up from her second nap if she takes it, but if I don’t she won’t be tired for bed at 7p and I don’t want her going to bed any later.
Thanks
Janelle
August 14th, 2009
Hello,
My 13 month old has been on the same schedule for awhile but I wonder if it’s time to shift to one nap because his afternoon nap is getting so late?
6:30 a.m. wake up
7 a.m. milk
8 a.m. breakfast
9:30-11 a.m. nap
11 a.m. milk
12:30 lunch
2:30 milk
2:45 nap ((now he isn’t falling asleep until 4!!!!)
4:45 I WILL WAKE HIM UP
7:15 BED
What should I do? I feel like he is tired at 9:30 for his am nap but his afternoon nap is such a struggle? He doesn’t seem tired!!
August 14th, 2009
@Supraja I am not sure what you mean by ill, but have you ruled out food sensitivities and allergies? Have you talked to his doctor?
August 14th, 2009
@Janelle It’s very common when they transition to one nap that some days they need two naps. They get really tired during this transition. Soon enough she will go to just one nap every day, so I always suggest just go with the flow, so she won’t get too overtired, which can cause more problems. It won’t be long! Good luck!
August 27th, 2009
Hi! First of all, thank you for this website. Very helpful!
My son is 11 months old and is extremely inconsistent. This is about what his routine looks like:
5-6 am wake up and bottle
7:00 am breakfast (cereal and fruit)
8:00-9:00 am nap (about 1 hour)
10:00 am snack
12:00 pm lunch and bottle
1:00 pm nap (about 1 hour)
3:00 pm snack
5:00 pm dinner
7- 7:30 bottle then bedtime
But he wakes up a few times in the middle of the night and needs his pacifier and then he often wakes up so early that I don’t feel like he’s getting enough sleep. I can’t get him to go back to bed and I’ve tried EVERYTHING. And his lack of sleep at night doesn’t seem to make him nap longer. He never gets more than 2 hours of sleep during the day and sometimes it’s only an hour and a half. Any suggestions? Thank you!!
August 30th, 2009
Hi there! Please tell me if it looks like my baby is getting too mach sleep…. She is 10.5 months old.
Wake@ 7 – 7:30am; bottle
Breakfast@ 8 – 8:30 (fruit & yogurt or cereal)
Nap@ 9:15 – 9:30 (1.5 – 2 hrs)
Wake@ 11:15 – 12; bottle
Lunch@ 1pm (veggies & puffs, cookie)
Nap@ 3pm (1.5 – 2 hrs)
Wake@ 4:30 – 5pm; bottle
Dinner@ 6:30 (veggie w/meat, puffs or cookie)
Bed@ 8 – 8:30pm. Sleeps 11 hours
I feel like her naps are too long? Some days both naps are 2 hours long, even stretching to 2.5 hours each. Should I be waking her so that her naps aren’t so long? She’s a happy, energetic girl but she LOVES to sleep!
September 3rd, 2009
@Lisa C Yes, most likely he is transitioning to just one nap with such a late nap where you are having to wake him. You want to slowly move that 9:30 nap to 11:30 over the course of several days, so he can adjust. It might take awhile for him to sleep longer than 1 1/2 hours for that one nap, though, but in time some will. Make sure you put him to bed early the days he only has one nap and it’s possible some days he will need one and some days he will need two until he is used to it. Good luck!
September 4th, 2009
@Whitney Once a pacifier becomes more of a problem than a solution, it helps to stop using it, at least for sleep at night, so I’d recommend doing that. The too-early waking could be caused by too much wake-time between his last nap and bedtime. If you get that shortened, it could improve the night-wakings and too-early wake-up. Good luck!
September 4th, 2009
@Leslie If she’s sleeping through the night, no don’t wake her!!!
She is just on the higher end of sleep needs. Enjoy it now, because it might change as she gets older!!
October 7th, 2009
What a fab website – thank you!
My son will be 12 months in a couple of weeks. Whilst he’s a very easy-going, happy little soul and we’re relatively happy with his daytime routine, we’re not sure if it’s contributing to his poor night-time sleep (particularly the fact he only has one nap).
His routine is:
5am Breast feed and then back to sleep
8am Wake-up
9am Breakfast (he eats very well at all meals, eating fresh, healthy family food with his hands)
11am Nap for up to 1 and a quarter hours
1pm Lunch
3pm Snack
5.30pm Dinner
7.00 Start bedtime routine of wash or bath, book then breastfeed
7.30 asleep
He was never keen on naps and it took a lot of perserverance at about 9 months before he’d readily have a good morning nap. Previously he’d only nap after a breast feed and then only for 45 mins max.
On a good night he’ll sleep fine until 5am, waking up for his milk (which seems very early).
On a bad night (which is most nights at the moment) he’ll sleep soundly until 1am to 2am, and then if we’re lucky we can pat his bottom and sit next to his cot to get him back to sleep within ten mins.
He has then taken to waking at 4am (arrggh!) and has to be taken into our bed and encouraged to sleep until 5am when he’ll wake like clock-work for his milk!
If he has wind (which is often, despite avoiding the food we know gives him wind!) he might cry and doze on and off for hours and will struggle to get back to sleep for a long stretch even if cuddled or taken into our bed.
The best he’s slept was recently on holiday where he actually had an afternoon nap and went to bed later (around 10pm). He’d then sleep soundly til 5am or later. I’ve tried to get him to have an afternoon nap back at home without success – should I persevere with that even tho he’s probably close to the age when babies drop a nap anyway?
We never leave him to cry himself to sleep on his own, I’d prefer to go without sleep than do that. My friends who have let their babies cry it out certainly get more sleep but their babies often seem much more needy and grouchy (in the day) than my son does. Not a judgement just an observation.
My other concern is that I’ve decided to wean him from the breast over the next couple of months (mainly as we’re trying to conceive number 2 and feel my body could do with a rest!) But he’s never taken an entire milk feed from a cup. He’s happy to drink water or milk from a sippy cup or open cup but won’t drink a whole feed’s worth (the maximum is around 2oz). Despite eating well, he’s on the lean side (health visitors have said it’s because he’s very active) so I’d worry about him losing weight if I dropped his breast feeds.
I’m sorry this is so long! Any advice much appreciated! Thank you.
Lian
October 15th, 2009
@Lian The average age to transition to just one nap is 15 to 18 months, so he does sound very overtired and I would persevere and keep working on the napping. Short naps when he was younger is definitely normal. In regards to nights, you don’t have to let him cry alone, but consistency and helping him learn to sleep on his own will be important for long-term success. For weaning, I used the “Don’t offer, don’t refuse” method that worked very well. I stopped offering one feeding in the daytime and if he didn’t ask, I didn’t offer. I did that for one feeding per week until we were left with just one and he stopped asking. Good luck!
November 4th, 2009
my 11 month old baby girl
gets up about 6-7
have breakfast normally porridge with banana or weetabix
9.30 bottle about 3- 5 oz
then have her first nap (2 -2.5)
12pm lunch which is a cooked meal followed by a yogurt or fruit
2pm bottle 3-5oz
3.00pm her other nap for (1.5 hours)
5pm dinner sandwich ( cheese , ham ,humus ….
6.30-7 bottle 3-5oz
7pm normally in bed by then
she sleeps all night till 6
no snacks in between meals and only drinks water if she wants it
is her routine OK or do u suggest any changes
thank you
November 5th, 2009
Hi Nicole, I wrote you a post in the 10month old section. My son is now 11 months old and his sleeping is no better. He wakes 1-3 times a night, ive tried leaving him and waiting for him to go back to sleep but he isnt just stirring when he wakes he is actually waking up and standing up in his cot and screaming. He can put his pacifier back into his mouth but i am not sure how to go about getting him to do this at night because he just looks for me. I have also got him into the habit of bringing him into my bed, almost every night now just to get some sleep. It getting closer to the time that i can move him into his own room and i want to stop him coming into my bed when i move him out of my room, i dont know how to go about doing this. I have tried leaving him to cry before but i just dont feel comfortable doing it. I thought that stopping feeding him in the night would mean that after a few nights he would start sleeping a bit longer but it has been about 4 months now since i stopped feeding him during the night and nothing has changed. I dont really see it ever getting better!
November 13th, 2009
My daughter will be one, at the beginning of Dec. She started sleeping through the night at 3 months,that lasted for about a month and half, then she started getting ear infections which ruined it. But know those are gone hopefully.
And for the last month or so sleeping through the night has not been possibly. Her schedule is as follows:
7:30- 8:00 wake up
8:30-(baby cereal and 4 oz formula)
10:00 snack and 4 oz formula
10:30 nap
11:30-12 wakes up and lunch
3:00 snack and 4 to 6 oz formula and nap time
4:00 wakes up
6:00 supper
8:30 snack and 6 oz formula, bed time
She normally falls asleep with the bottle.
It seems if we put her to bed any earlier she wants up at 4:30 in the morning.And also Wed,Thurs and Sunday night are never the same as the other nights.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.Thanks, Jessica
November 14th, 2009
@Mary It looks like your routine is great! I think many readers would love those long naps and the 11 hours of sleep at night.
Thank you for sharing!
November 22nd, 2009
@Shivann If all you have to do is replace a pacifier at night, the key is to help him learn to fall asleep without the pacifier. You don’t have to leave him alone to cry, just don’t give him the pacifier.
I know that is easier to say than to do, though. I really do. It might be a few long nights, but it will be worth it in the long run, if you can get through it. Start on a night you don’t have to get up early the next day.
December 4th, 2009
@Jessica What does not sleeping through the night mean in your case? For some people that means waking 10 times and others that means waking for one feeding. One thing I notice is she falls asleep with the bottle, does she need a bottle numerous times a night, too? If so, you probably need to read more about sleep associations in the free guide or this article: http://www.babysleepsite.com/sleep-training/sleep-association Good luck!
December 10th, 2009
My son will be a year old on Jan 06, 2010. He sleeps from 7pm to around 4-6am is breast fed and goes back to sleep until 8-9am sometimes needing to be awakened so that my wife can take our 3.5 yo son to pre-school(9-11:30am). When she gets home she puts him down for a nap but sometimes has to wake him so she can pick up our son at pre-school @ 11:30am. Then they have lunch. She trys to put him down for a nap around 2pm with usually no luck. My son is averaging 1/2 to 3/4 sleep all day during his two naps, he just screams and screams for up to an hour before my wife is forced to comfort him. How can we get him to sleep during the day? My wife is loosing her mind.
December 21st, 2009
Hi
Austin will be 11 months on 28 Dec. I would like him to try to sleep later than 5am. Should I try to put him to bed later in the evenings?
His schedule is as follows:
He’ll wake up during the morning anywhere between 03:00 and 04:30 for a bottle
05:00 – 05:30 wake and wants to play
06:30 breakfast (baby cereal or morvite)
08:00 day care
08:30 – 9 bottle and nap (45 mins)
11:15 lunch (cooked meal that the school provides)
12:00 nap (1 – 2 hours)
14:00 bottle and a snack (fruit, yoghurt, chippies, biscuits etc)
17:30 dinner (cooked meal or jarred meal) with desert
18:00 bath
18:30 bottle, but doesn’t fall asleep with it, he then has a dummy to fall asleep, by 19:00 he is asleep. I hold him in my arms to fall asleep, otherwise he just stands in his cot and cries. I don’t know of any other way of putting him to sleep. The school also hassles, they tried to put him to sleep in their arms, as soon as they put him in the cot, he wakes up and doesn’t go back to sleep. They are now trying to put him to sleep by himself in the cot, but it doesn’t always work, they say he just stands there crying. They later give up and take him out and then he doesn’t get the 2nd nap.
Thanks any advise
December 29th, 2009
@Eric It sounds like your son has shifted some of his sleep from daytime to night, since he sometimes sleeps up to 14 hours at night alone. Babies will do that pretty readily if they are “allowed” to. The key will be to limit night sleep to 12 hours, so there is more sleep to be had during the daytime. That should rebalance his day and night sleep, so he will nap more. Hope this helps and good luck!
January 15th, 2010
My 11 month old daughter sleeps great at night and has since she was 4 months. 7:30pm to 7am. She was also taking two naps daily up until lately. I try putting her down for her first nap about 2 1/2 to 3 hours after she wakes up. She has never needed to be rocked to sleep. She does stay up playing in crib/crawling around for usually about a 1/2 hour and then will fall asleep, again this is only for naps, not at night. She does not cry at all. She actually seems to enjoy her alone time, but, it can be frustrating b/c I never know when she’s going to fall asleep as it can take up to an hour. Am I putting her down to late or early? I really think it’s too early to drop the two naps. If she wakes between 7 and 7:30 what time should I put her down?
Thank you!
January 17th, 2010
I have somewhat the same problem as the previous poster.
My daughter is 11 months old and I have a very hard time knowing when she needs/wants to nap. We had a wonderful routine up until about a month ago. She would sleep for 1.5 hours in the morning 2 hrs after waking, and then another 30-45 mins in the afternoon. I don’t know whwat happened but we are fighting naps every single day. It’s awful! She has been sleeping the same amount of time since she was about 6 months old. asleep by 7pm, awake at 7-8am. Today she woke up at 7:30 and around 10:45 she was getting cranky and looking dazed. So I read her a couple books (she was looking very sleepy in my arms and had heavy eyes) and then when I layed her down she was wide awake and wanted to play. She does this often, no matter what time I try to put her down for a nap, she will want to play for 1/2 hr and then gets angry and starts to cry. I get fed up after an hour and get her out of her crib. I will try agin an hour later with no luck. Am I putting her down too late or too early? I’ve tried putting her down after 2-3 hours or awake timme with the same problem. Sometimes I want until more like 4-5 hours or awake time, and I have the same problem…
January 19th, 2010
My daughter is 11 months. She is so easy going and never complains, I really don’t ever know if she is hungry or thirsty. She never seems to “ask” for anything as I have heard others say. Her pediatrician has never given any feeding or scheduling advice. She is always great on the hgt/wgt charts and certainly is not thin. She was easily weaned off all her bottles except the one at night, and frankly, if I cut it out, she would never miss it either. I have been trying to teach her sign to tell me if she wants something, but she isn’t interested. She has always been a great sleeper too, I trained her early. She eats 3 meals a day with formula. She occasionally has a snack in the afternoon right after her last nap if we are planning to go out for dinner so that she can eat with us later at 5:30 or 6pm. I am still trying to figure out what to feed her. She is bored with stage 3 foods in the jar, but I still give it to her sometimes if I need a quick meal when we are out to dinner and then she eats off my plate as well. I have been giving her some “mini meal” stage 4 foods now, and some home cooked meat, veggies and whole wheat pasta or toast.
Her current schedule is:
7-7:30am wake
8:00 4oz formula in a cup and breakfast (oatmeal and fruit usually)
10:00 nap (1 hour)
12:00pm 4 oz formula in a cup and lunch (meat and veggies)
2:00 nap (1 hour)
4:00 4 oz formula in a cup and dinner (meat and veggies)
7:30pm bath, 8 oz bottle of formula and then bedtime at 8pm.
Should I be giving her snacks in between her meals? She has reflux, and I have always been afraid of overfeeding her, I suppose. She has been on Zantac since she was 3 months, and she still regurgitates during the day sometimes in between meals, I catch her swallowing it back down.
Also, I have noticed that her morning nap is starting to move later and later. Sometimes she doesn’t go to sleep until 11 am. She would then take her afternoon nap at 3pm or even later. But, anytime after about 3:30, her nap will shorten to 1/2 an hour instead of an hour, and she wakes up cranky and tired. How will I know when she is ready to switch to one nap? She does so good on 2 naps right now. She used to nap sometimes 2 or more hours when she was younger and took 3 naps, but now she refuses to sleep longer than an hour. You can set your watch by it. I am afraid when I cut out one of her naps, she will still only sleep for an hour for that one nap, and I know when she goes to one nap, it should be longer than that. Even now, sometimes her naps are only 40-45 mins long and she wakes really screaming. If she only gets a half an hour and wakes screaming, I usually rock her back to sleep and try to put her back to bed, but it doesn’t always work. It’s weird, for naps and for bed, I just get her drowsy and put her in the crib and leave. Sometimes it takes her 15 or 20 mins to stop crying (whining, really) and lay down, but she goes to sleep just fine on her own. I don’t know why she wakes like that sometimes, but she can’t get back to sleep on her own all the time if she wakes early from a nap. If she wakes at night, she just goes right back to sleep. I have literally never had to go in there at night since she was 3 months old. The early waking from the nap is making me a little nuts, she is obviouly still sleepy, but is frantic unless I hold her. She is having bad separation anxiety problems that just started last month, could that be a factor?
January 21st, 2010
hi!
my son is a sleeps pretty good.
7:30am wake, breastfed
9:30am breakfast
10:30am nap
11:45 am wake, breastfed
2:00pm lunch
3:00pm nap
4:15pm wake, breastfed
6:00pm dinner
7:30pm sleep
sometimes wakes up at 5 am to eat, but goes back to sleep,
i am satisfied with this schedule, but the question is, and i couldn’t find more info on your site, he will soon go to daycare (in one week, he will also be 11 mo old), and they have a 1 nap at noon policy: how can I do this transition? they are willing at daycare to help me, but i need a plan!
I really don’t have a choice, since I will start work, so please point me the right direction! thank you!
January 22nd, 2010
@Jana Most of the time changing bedtime alone doesn’t always work and if he doesn’t have a second nap, he’s probably overtired come bedtime which can cause the early wake-ups. It would help to have your son learn to fall asleep at nap time on his own, so he can nap well at school, too. You might want to have a look at my pamphlet on waking too early here: http://www.babysleepsite.com/waking-too-early or my book about naps: http://www.babynapswell.com
January 28th, 2010
My son turned 11 months on the 25th of this month. My son would go down for bed at 8pm with no problems, sleep through, and wake up between 6 and 7am ready to go. I would put him down for a nap about 930am, he would sleep until 11am. He would go back down at about 2pm and sleep for another hour and a half. He went down for naps and bedtime very easily.
For a while now, well over a week, my son has not been happy with this schedule… He will take 30 mins or more to get to sleep with lots of crying and screaming, and will then only sleep for *maybe* 30 mins. This goes for both naps, morning and afternoon. He has also started waking in the middle of the night again and refusing to go back down in his bed, I’m guessing because of the poor sleep he is getting during the day. He still goes down at his regular bedtime with no issues though.
What I’m wondering is… Is my son needing to move to one nap for the day? I have started pushing his morning nap later, I have put him down around 11 the last couple of days with the intention to try to move it later slowly and he has slept for an hour and a half both times. I think he still needs more day sleep though. Today I put him down a couple hours after he woke up from his first nap and he went to sleep very easily. I don’t know how long he should sleep though, if I should let him sleep as long as he needs or wake him up within a certain period of time so he doesn’t get too much day sleep? He has been down about a half hour now… Is there a way to get these sleep times to blend together into one long nap? Is there a way to make his first nap longer? Is this even the right thing to do at this time? Any advice would be very much appreciated… Thanks
January 29th, 2010
@Gina I’d probably bump awake time to 3 1/2 hours at this age. It’s great she’s playing and not crying!
February 6th, 2010
My son, Aristotle will be 11 months old next week. He is our first child and we are attachment style parents. He is breastfed and he co-sleeps with me every night since he was born (he didn’t even sleep in the nursery at the hospital). Every nap he has ever taken has always been with me holding him, him sleeping next to me in bed (all while attached to the breast) or his father holding him in a carrier. He won’t let us put him down to sleep, he just wakes up immediately. He is very good at sleeping through the night, usually about 9 to 10 hours. His naps vary between 30 minutes to 2 hours. The problem I’m having is he still takes 3 naps a day. He wakes up somewhere between 7am and 10 am, depending on when he goes to sleep, which is usually between 11 pm and 2am. I know it sounds crazy but we are an up late family. I wish I could get him down earlier, but he won’t have it. When we try to eliminate his last nap and put him down earlier, like around 10 pm, he will, every time wake up an hour later and not go back to sleep for 3 to 4 hours! Which means we are up till 3am or sometimes even 4 am!!! Please help! We don’t know what to do.
Sincerely Andrea
February 8th, 2010
My daughter is 11 months old. She used to sleep through the night from 7-6/7am – but as of last Oct, she started waking up at 1am and then 5am and as of a few weeks ago, added waking at 11pm.
I know my husband and I spoiled any chances of proper sleep training by giving her a bottle each time she wakes up so now she expects a bottle at each wake time. She recently started eating solids without issues just before christmas ..she naps very well and NO issue putting her down – she self soothes during the day but night is a totally different scenario.
this is what her schedule looks like:
5am: 4 oz formula
7-7.30am: Wakes up
9am: cereal+fruit/yoghurt
10-12: nap #1
12: Lunch – jar of food+bread+fruit/yoghurt
12.30: bottle – 5oz formula
2-4: nap#2
4: 5oz formula bottle
6.30: dinner – jar of food+ yogurt+ apple sauce
7-7.30: bath
8pm: 5-6oz formula
11: First wakes up
2: Second time wakes up
5: Third time wakes up
… We tried the CIO – but it’s too painful – PLUS we’re expecting our second one in July and I would really love to have her sleep through the night before the baby arrives as I’m constantly exhausted from looking after her day & night and being pregnant … my husband helps a lot but she’s a handful at times.
Please help! Thanks!