7 Month Old Baby Schedule
Posted by Nicole on November 6th, 2008
This article outlines the average 7 month old baby schedule, including feedings, solids, naps and night sleep.
7 month old baby’s sleep
At this age, some 7 month olds can sleep through the night, without a feeding, and take two to three naps. Some babies don’t ever have 3 naps, but many will have 3 naps until around 9 months. The third nap is almost always a short 30-45 minute cat nap. Your 7 month old should be napping a total of 2-3 hours per day plus sleeping 11-12 hours at night. If you’re having trouble with naps, you might be interested in helping your baby 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 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 allergens)
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.
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)
3:00 – 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
4:00 – Optional Catnap (30-45 minutes)
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’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 exclusive content and resources: e-Books, assessments, detailed case studies, expert advice, 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 7 month old’s schedule?
Tags: 7 month babies, 7 month baby schedule, 7 month feeding, 7 month feeding schedule, 7 month old feeding schedule, 7 month schedule, 7 month sleep, 7 month training, 7 months schedule, baby nap schedule, baby on schedule, baby schedule, baby sleep schedule, feeding schedule for 7 month, schedule 7 month, schedule for 7 month old
advertisement
March 24th, 2009
Great website — thanks for the information!! We have nap issues, but other than that, this is just about right on our routine. My 7 month old wakes anytime between 6:30 and 7:15, nurses, then goes to daycare. He takes 3 six ounce bottles at daycare (about 3 hours apart — EBM and formula). He eats cereal with fruit in the morning and veggies in the afternoon. Depending on what time we get home (work fluctuates), he’ll either nurse right when we get home, or we’ll give him a veggie if he’s just had a bottle. Bedtime routine is anywhere from 6:30 to 6:45, he nurses, and then he’s in bed by 7:15ish. At daycare, his standard is three 30 minute naps. We’re lucky if we get anything approaching an hour. He naps better at home. Oh, and he wakes at least once, usually twice, to eat overnight (sometimes he wakes and goes back to sleep, but we can definitely tell the hungry cries from the interrupted sleep cries!). I’d be giddy if his daycare napping can improve and we can get down to just one overnight feeding (or no overnight feedings!). The tips on your website are super helpful … thanks again!
March 27th, 2009
@Heather You’re welcome! Thank you for sharing your schedule. Many babies eat 1-2 times through 9 months old. Hopefully your he’ll stop waking to eat on his own, soon!
May 11th, 2009
I have 7 month old twins. They both take 2 naps per day; usually one around 9am for about an hour. Then another one around 1pm for about an hour and a half. They are in bed by 7:30pm. One of them will sleep great – straight through until 6:30-7am. The other wakes every night at 4am! I know she isn’t hungry because she rarely finishes her 1st morning bottle. She doesn’t cry when she wakes – she just seems to be ready to start the day. She babbles and squeels in her crib until around 6am when she’ll finally fall back asleep. I wake her at 7am to keep her on schedule. Any suggestions on how I can get her to sleep past the 4am wake up?
May 15th, 2009
@Jill Any reason they aren’t taking 3 naps? One might be more sensitive to being overtired and therefore without a 3rd nap, bedtime is too late, so she is having trouble sleeping through that 4-6 a.m. window of lighter sleep that we all have.
June 2nd, 2009
I just had a question, I have a 6 1/2 month old she pretty much feel into her own schedule with her dad that takes care of her early morning, with both of us running a business we have her on this schedule.
7am wake up- bottle
7:30-9- swing for cartoons and takes about an hour nap
9:00-10 play
10:00 breakfast- oatmeal and fruit/ bottle
11:00 Nap for 1 1/2 to 2 hours
mid afternoon- play bottle
3:00 Nap
5:00 Dinner- Veggies/ bottle
play
6:00 cat nap followed by bottle
8:00 bedtime
the only concern I had after reading example schedules, info books etc. is that all the breakfast times seem to be earlier morning before 9- this make any difference? She doesn’t really take that much bottle early morning so we have found her to be more interested in eating later
June 10th, 2009
@Ashton If your baby doesn’t get hungry for breakfast until 10 then it’s perfectly fine that she doesn’t eat earlier than that. Some people eat a big breakfast while others don’t. I would not worry at all. It sounds like it’s working for her, so I wouldn’t change it.
August 6th, 2009
Thanks for all the advice. Can you help me?
My 7 month old is eating 3 meals a day (seems to be eating alot, but keeps opening her mouth for more) I am struggling to get her to take the 7pm feed before bed. She eats dinner at about 5/5:30 and is still having a dreamfeed (which we are starting to phase out).
Should I be concerned? She only wakes at about 4am for her dummy and goes straight back to sleep.
Debby
August 11th, 2009
I have a 7 month old who pretty much set his own schedule. I am worried that he is not eating enough food in the day without taking out some formula.
7-7:30 formula- 8oz
10:30 nap (anywhere from 1-2 hrs)
12:30 formula-8oz
3:30 nap (again anywhere from 1-2 hrs)
5:00 dinner with cereal and alternating fruit & veggie -2T of cereal & 2oz of formula & 1 container of satge 1 food
7:30 last bottle of formula -8oz
He sleeps through the night.
Do I need to do breakfast and half the amount of formula for his first feeding?
August 14th, 2009
@Debby I would not worry at all. A healthy baby will neither starve herself nor overeat. Sounds like she’s doing great!
August 17th, 2009
HI, my baby (almost 7 months) has 3 naps during the day – generally 2 hours long each… however does not sleep great at night – goes to bed around 8.30sh and wakes maybe twice during the night (definetly once). How do I get him to sleep all night through? Thanks
August 17th, 2009
Hi, my baby (7 months in 2 days time) past few days failed to have her morning & afternoon naps, she will only naps 1/2 hour to 15 mins, this really worries me, but she will go to bed latest at 9pm and will sleep throughout the night till bout 5am, then will sleep back after nappy changed and formula and wake up at 8am, should i be worried if my baby didn’t get enough of her nap time during the day? thanks
August 19th, 2009
My 7 month old loves to eat baby food, but I am having trouble getting her to eat formula during the daytime hours. If she gets up early (6-7am), we’ll give her a bottle and then breakfast a bit later. if she sleeps in (8am) I’ll give her breakfast right away.
During the day, she seems to have no interest in a bottle. Unless I wait a good 4 hours between eating, then she may be hungry enough to eat 4 oz. There is no way she’s getting more than 20 oz. a day. I do give her a little water here and there from her sippy cup, which she loves. I also will offer her formula inthe sippy cup, since she likes drinking from it so much right now.
September 3rd, 2009
I know I am doing something wrong because my little guy is 7 1/2 mo old now and his schedule sucks. Ours does to so that doesn’t help.
4-5 wake
Eat breakfast
play
Depending on when he has woken up he will nap around 6:30-7 and this will be from 30-1 hour.
He then goes to the babysitter and eats 20-24 oz during the day plus solids
total he eats about 32 oz formula plus 8 – 12 oz solids
i pick up the baby around 4-5p
the babysitter says that he takes 2 naps in the daytime but sometimes when i get him home he is exhausted.
by the time i get him home which is a half an hour from when i pick him up he won’t nap again and wants to play
dinner is at 5:30
we start his bedtime routine at around 6-6:30
This is where the fun starts. He goes to sleep great. Hope reigns that he will sleep through the night like he used to when he was 5 months old. on a good night the boy will wake up at midnight, 2, 4 and finally at 5 or 6
on a bad night- it is once an hour with a desire to play at 4.
I do feed him at night because there seems to be no other way to get him to go to sleep. he hates pacifiers and won’t be rocked until he has a bottle.
I hope you all have suggestions.
September 3rd, 2009
@Courtney A healthy baby will neither starve himself or overeat (those are learned behaviors), so I would try not to worry he isn’t eating enough. Solids should come secondary to formula in the first year, so I would not worry about making any changes if it’s working for him and he’s sleeping through the night. That’s great!
September 3rd, 2009
@Dee 1 or 2 feedings are normal up through 9 months. Is he eating during the wakings or just not sleeping? Three two-hour naps is a lot of daytime sleep, so if the night-wakings are not feeding related, I would limit the first 2 naps to 2 hours each and limit the 3rd nap to just 30-45 minutes and see if night sleep improves. Good luck!
September 3rd, 2009
@Jeng A 15 minute nap is not really a nap at all. Your baby should be napping 2-3 hours during the day and sleeping 11-12 hours at night, on average. Without knowing all your details, she probably needs to learn how to fall asleep on her own at nap time in order to lengthen her naps. Any “help” you are giving her to fall asleep is probably keeping her from being able to get through her sleep cycles. Hope this helps! Good luck!
September 15th, 2009
My baby is almost 7 months old
His normal schedule is
9-9:30am eats 4TB cereal, 6oz bottle
1-1:30 eats 1/2 container veggie or fruit, 4oz cup formula
5-5:30 eats 1/2 cotnainer veggie or fruit, 4oz formula
9-9:30pm eats 4Tb cereal, 6oz bottle
Then bed
Wakes up at 4-5:30am for 6oz bottle
Is this too much food and not enough formula, any suggestions will be helpful! He is spitting up alot lately
September 18th, 2009
@Heather That sounds exhausting! I remember those days. It sounds like your son has a sleep association with needing to eat to fall back to sleep. This is common. The key is to break the association. Here is an article that explains it: http://www.babysleepsite.com/sleep-training/sleep-association/
September 21st, 2009
My baby is 7 months and one week.
8:00-9:00 has a 6oz bottle and plays in her jumper
9:00-9:30 oat cereal with fruits and plays for half an hour
10:00-2:00 sleeps for a nap (sometimes sleeps until 4:00)
2:00-4:00 6 oz bottle and plays
4:00-6:00 nap
6:00-8:00 6oz bottle and mashed up dinner that we are having and jar of fruits.
8:00 bed time for 12 hours straight through the night.
My concern is, is she getting too much sleep? My baby does not eat heavily but seems to be very chubby. Is it because she sleeps too much and not working the fat off? Since age of one she has been sleeping 12 hours through the night and three huge naps during the day. I am not complaining, just wondering why she is in 95th percentile for weight when she only has three bottles and eats solids twice a day.
September 22nd, 2009
From what I gather here, every baby has a pretty different schedule. Mine is 7 months and a half, wakes at 7am ish, nurses immediately, and about every 2-3 hours. He’s awake between naps for about 2-3 hours as well, but his naps are short, at most 45 min, but mostly only 30min. On rare occasions when he’s super tired, he might nap up to 1 hour. His bed time routine starts around 6pm, and his bed time feed is around 6.50pm, he falls asleep totally by 7.30pm to 8.00pm. He does wake up for night feeds but not consistently. On a good night, he wakes up at 11pm, 4am and up to the morning, but there are nights that he wakes up more often. Though he only wakes for feeds and it takes 15 min to put him back to sleep, which is not a huge problem for me. My question is, is it ok to bring him out at nights past 9pm once in a while when there is a special occasion? I am so far really afraid top bring him out and has been turning down invitations, as I don’t know how that will affect his sleep pattern.
Leona´s last blog ..Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-09-20
September 25th, 2009
@Jennifer It looks like enough formula but if the spitting up is new, he might be overeating a bit. My younger son did that a lot, but they do start to learn to stop doing that. You might just give him time to feel full by giving a break in the bottle or between solids and bottle if the spitting up is a problem. Good luck!
September 25th, 2009
@Tamara Wow! She does need a lot of sleep, but if she’s happy and healthy I wouldn’t worry. She must just need a lot of sleep. Enjoy it now because I’m sure it will change.
She could be chubby because she sleeps so much, but once she starts crawling and moving more, that will change. My younger son was in the 95th percentile by 6 months, but once he started moving he slimmed down A LOT and he’s now 50th percentile, but very healthy so I’m not worried. He never slept that much, though. If your doctor is not worried I would not be either. Good luck!
September 25th, 2009
@Leona Special occasions are bound to happen, so I don’t think life should stop. The main “issue” really depends on your baby. My first was soooo NOT go-with-the-flow so we passed up MANY invitations and it really had to be something special for us to break our routine (like when my husband’s grandmother died and there was a late wake). He would just get so overtired and overstimulated that it would take us a good week to get back to normal, so we just didn’t do it often. With my second I can definitely see how some people can do way more things. He’s so much more laid back and although he can get overtired, he’s much more go-with-the-flow and we can get back to normal so much quicker not to mention he’s just not as cranky as my first was when he didn’t get sleep! So, it highly depends on your baby as to how she will react when she doesn’t nap on time or go to bed on time and then it will be up to you whether want to “weather the storm” if there is one. We chose not to with our first. It is obviously healthiest for them to get all their sleep, but again, life should not stop either. Finding a good balance is what I’m all for! Good luck!
September 26th, 2009
THANKS NICOLE! WE HAVE CHANGED HIS SCHEDULE NOW TO
BREAKFAST: CEREAL MIXED WITH FRUIT
1HOUR LATER: 6OZ BOTTLE
LUNCH: 1 CONTAINER OF VEGGIE OR COMBINATION
MIDDAY: 2OZ OF JUICE OR TEETHING BISCUIT
DINNER: 1 CONTAINER OF VEGGIE OR COMBINATION
BEFORE BED: 6OZ BOTTLE
I COULD CHANGE MIDDAY OR LUNCH TO A BOTTLE
HE HAS BEEN WAKING UP TWICE A NIGHT NOW FOR A BOTTLE OR ATLEAST ONCE.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? I DO NOT WANT TO KEEP CHANGING HIS SCHEDULE! BUT THIS SCHEDULE SEEMS TO HELP WITH SPIT UP.
September 27th, 2009
@Jennifer I would definitely err on more bottle and less solids at this age. Maybe try 1/2 container + bottle for lunch. I’d skip the juice and offer a small bottle, instead, too. 1-2 feedings up through 9 months is normal, so I’d keep one feeding at night at least for now. Good luck!
September 27th, 2009
what do you think about
earlymorn: 6oz
breakfast: cereal with fruit
midmorning: 6oz bottle
lunch: veggie/meat
midafternoon: 6oz or 5oz bottle
dinner: veggie
before bed: 6oz bottle
this I got the idea from Gerber a little
what do you think?
October 6th, 2009
Our son is a wonderful baby but he seems to be stuck on waking around 4am. He is napping well – 2-3 naps per day equalling a total of about 3 hrs. He goes down every night around 8pm without much trouble – unless he’s in the midst of cutting teeth. However, we can’t seem to get him to sleep past 4-4:30am before he wants to eat. After a 15-20 min feeding (nursing) he goes right back to sleep until about 7:30. What is frustrating is that a few weeks ago he was starting to sleep until 5:30-6:30am but now he’s back to 4 or 4:30. We actually let him fuss (it’s not an all out cry) until 5am before feeding him and occassionally he falls back asleep until 5:30 or 6am. Any suggestions on how to get him to 5am before waking? I hate to sound selfish, but I did the 4:30am feeds for about 6 months and my body didn’t respond well to that type of sleep schedule and I found myself getting sick quite frequently due to lack of sleep.
October 6th, 2009
I HAVE A 6 MONTHS 3 WEEK OLD SON HE SEEMS TO EAT ALOT.. HE IS VERY ACTIVE HE IS WAKING UP ABOUT 3 TIMES A NIGHT HE IS IN A ROUTINE OF
6.30-7.30 WAKES UP, HAS BREAST
7.30-8.00 PLAYS ON HIS MAT
8.00-8.45 CUDDLES AND PLAY TIME WITH ME
8.45- BREAKFAST EITHER BABY YOGHURT OR CERAL
9.00- BATH
9.30- NAP MAYBE FOR AROUND 40 MINS
10.15- CUDDLES
10.30 PLAY TIME/QUIET TIME ON HIS OWN
11.00- BREAST
11.30 PLAY & CUDDLES
12.00-12.30- LUNCH EITHER FRUIT,OR VEGGIES
1.00- NAP 30MINS
1.30 BREAST- THEN PLAY
2.00 QUIET TIME ON FLOOR MAT WATCHINBG ME
3.00 BREAST
4.00 NAP 30N MINS
5.00 DINNER EITHER VEGGIES OR MEAT AND VEGGIES
5.30 BATH-THEN BREAST
6.00 NAP 30 MINS
6.30 PLAY
7.00 CUDDLES- BREAST
7.30-8-30 BEDTIME
HE WAS SLEEPING ALL NIGHT FROM 3 MONTHS OLD BUT JUST AFTER HIS 4 MONTH NEEDLES HE STARTED WAKING DURING THE NIGHT WHICH I PUT DOWN TO TEETHING WHICH AT 6 MONTHS HE CUT HIS 2 BOTTOM TEETH WHICH HE NOW HAS…..
I AM UNSURE IF I AM DOING THINGS RIGHT OR NOT .I AM HAVING TROUBLE WITH THE SLEEPING AS I AM GETTIN VERY TIRED.. PLEASE HELP ME I WOULD LOVE SOME TIPS ON WAT TO DO ?????
October 8th, 2009
Hi, Nicole! Thanks so much for your schedule articles. Every month when I start to have doubts about the next step in feeding or sleeping I read your post and I’m always reasured. I do have some concerns about my own schedule…
We followed (loosely) an eat/play/nap schedule from the beginning and that has worked well for getting our seven and a half month old to sleep through the night. (We had to wake her for a feeding in the night for the first few months to keep my milk supply where it needed to be.)
I’m home with her five days a week and she is at a sitter two.
Here is her schedule w/ Me:
5:30/5:45 – Wake/Diaper Change/Nurse (Usually 30-45 minutes)
)
6:30 – Back to sleep
8:30 – Wake/Play on the floor/read/sing
8:45 – Solids (1 T Oatmeal/2 T Veg/1 T Fruit)
9:15 – Nap some days/Play others depending on her
10:00 Nurse
10-12 Play/Sing/Go for a walk/Run errands
12-2 – Nap
2:00 – Nurse
2-4:00 – Play/Sing/Go for a walk/Run errands (or visit my husband for a quick middle of the day daddy time)
4-6:00 – Play, but sometimes a nap of 45 min-1.5 hours depending on previous naps
6:00 – 6 oz bottle of breastmilk from dad
7:00 – Solids
8:00 – Bath Time! (Beginning of bedtime routine – sometimes this is just a water sport
8:20 – Nurse (usually half an hour)
9:00 – Bed. She is always awake when I lay her down, but settles herself to sleep by 9
When she is at the sitter, the feeding schedule stays the same, but the sleep is significantly decreased. Sometimes only one nap of an hour, which usually indicates a nap all the way home from the sitters and for an hour after we get home and sometimes a nap between 7 and 8pm, thus cutting out the solids at that time.
My question is this, Should she be getting to bed earlier??? If she goes to sleep at 7, my husband would hardly see her! Also, if she naps at 7, she always wakes up by 8:30 without prompting. When this happens, we complete our nighttime ritual, but she has never slept 11-12 hours at night.
We are pretty flexible on everything except the nursing times. These we stick to pretty strictly (meaning we try not to vary them unless she seems hungry early or clearly needs to nap longer.)
Thanks!
AB
October 14th, 2009
I’m having trouble! My son doesn’t go to sleep until between the hours of 5 am & 9 am. I have no clue how to fix this?!?!?! I’ve tried baths, massages, classical music, nature sounds, letting him cry it out. And nothing is working!!
He wakes up around between 2 and 5. And naps a little during the day. But I have no clue how to fix his schedule and I’m just so exhausted!!!! He cries & fusses for hours until he finally conks out… PLEASE HELP ME!!
October 15th, 2009
@Ellen I completely understand wanting to change this. Getting up even one time for months on end is very hard. I fed both boys for the first year and it was ROUGH. Unfortunately, this is normal for this age. You can try to continue not feeding until 5:30+ and he might finally adjust, but that might not happen, either.
You can see if Dad can give him a bottle a few times a week to give you a break, but I also know all too well how it’s hard to go back to sleep once you hear the baby. I wish I had some magical advice, but if he’s hungry, he’s hungry. You can try to offer more to eat during the day, but again, he’s going a good 8 hours. Most likely he will night-wean himself in a month or two! If not, I’d try the “leave until 6am+” again in a month or so. Good luck!
October 15th, 2009
@Tamara Have you tried to consolidate his naps into 3 good naps (1 hour, 1 hour and 30 minutes)? Improving his naps could improve his night-sleep. Does he seem genuinely hungry at night? There is a long gap in nursing sessions in the morning. Have you tried adding another nursing session in? By the way, 4 months is a common time for sleep to go downhill. You can read my article about it here: http://www.babysleepsite.com/how-we-sleep/4-month-baby-sleep Good luck!
October 15th, 2009
@AB The #1 indicator is how happy your baby is and how she’s handling her schedule. All families have unique needs. While we hardly got to see my son when he was younger, he clearly needed an early bedtime, so this just would not have worked for him (he’s completely different now that he’s older!). It looks like she’s getting enough sleep, so if all of you are happy I wouldn’t change a thing!
October 21st, 2009
Hi there my son will be 7 months on 31st October.
His routine is as follows:-
7-7.30am – Wake
8.00 – Cereal & 9 oz bottle
9.00 – Top & tail wash
10.00 – Nap (1hr 15 mins)
12.00 – Lunch, pudding & juice
2.00 – 2.30 – 7 oz bottle
2.30 – 3 – nap (1hr 15 mins)
5.00 – Tea & juice
6.30 – bath
6.45 – 9 oz bottle
7.00 – bed
He is a very contented baby and plays loads in the day, we sing songs together and nursery rhymes and his routine works great
October 23rd, 2009
@Brandi I’m not 100% sure I understand. Do you mean he’s sleeping 5am to 5pm and up all night? If so, you have to change his internal clock to be up during daylight hours. Wake him every 3 hours and keep him up at least 30 minutes to try to reset his clock to nap during the day and sleep at night. I hope I understand the problem correctly. Most sleep consultations I get a page of detail, so sometimes it’s hard to give good advice in the comments.
I try. Good luck!
October 27th, 2009
The best advice I can give to any parent who really wants to put their child on a good schedule would be to buy the book Contented little baby by Gina Ford….. It worked great for my 2 1/2 year old son and now for my 7 month old daughter. It teachs you when to feed the baby and when they should sleep. Both my kids were sleeping through the night from 7 – 7 by 12- 14 weeks…. and still are today!!
Some kids need more sleep than others, and you have to learn that by your child and make changes when needed…. but it ’s been the best thing since becoming a mother!
October 27th, 2009
Number 1 I have always held to with both my kids…. is that kids are ready to go sleep every two hours. It’s like clockwork….
And you do have to train your kids how and when to sleep and eat… Some things don’t come as naturally as others. But yet all kids are different… some kids are harder than others.
October 29th, 2009
My Daughter just turned 7 month old and i wanted to know if this sounds like a normal schedule.
Wakes up between 5-6 am
6:00 – 6oz Bottle Formula
Usually goes back to sleep from 7:00 – 8:00
9:15 – Take her to school
10:00 – 1 jar fruit
10:15 – 3 oz Danimals Yogurt
12:30 – 6oz Bottle Formula
Usually takes about 30 min nap
3:30 – 6oz Bottle Formula
Naps from 4:00 – 5:00
5:30 – 1 jar veggies
5:45 – 4 oz Fruit Juice
7:00 – 6oz Bottle Formula
7:30 Bed
November 6th, 2009
@Hannah That’s great!!
Thank you for sharing your schedule.
November 12th, 2009
hi, your site is really interesting, so i decided to post my question.
my son is 6 1/2 months old now. here is his schedule:
6-7 wake up and play
7 6 oz formula
8 cereal (which is doesn’t like very much) with fruit
8:30-9 nap for about 1 to 1 1/2 hrs
10 4-5 oz formula
11:30-12 lunch (veggies)
13:00 6 oz formula
13:30 nap for about 2 to 2 1/2 hrs
16:00 6 oz formula
17:30 dinner (veggies)
18:15 bedtime routine (bath, massage, bed time stories)
18:45 6 oz formula
19:00 he is fast asleep by this time
he sleeps through the night till the morning time. he might wake up but he just babbles in the crib and puts himself back to sleep.
my question: he doesn’t have any teeth yet but he is probably teething. he has been having trouble finishing his bottles and closes his mouth after 3-4 oz and i have to try to force him to eat some more. i try to keep his formula total at least 24 oz a day but it’s painful and i don’t like forcefeeding him. do i get rid of the 10:00 formula and see what happens? or should i move it to 11:00? that might be too close to his lunch and 13:00 formula time and he may stay full??? he is above 90% percentile in all three parameters.
thanks so much.
November 13th, 2009
My 7 1/2 month old son does pretty well with feedings. But he doesn’t nap well at daycare. He’ll maybe have 1 hour-long nap or 2 30-minute naps. So when I pick him up at 5:00, he’s exhausted and sleeps all the way home (about 30 minutes). On the weekends, he naps very well at home.
My question is: should I wake him when I get home and keep him awake until bedtime at 6:30/7:00? (He’s fussy if I do this) Or should I just put him to bed when we get home at 5:30?
When he was younger, I would just let him nap and he would wake around 7:00-7:30PM. Then I’d get him changed into PJs and feed, etc for bed. But I did that because he was younger and I figured he needed more sleep. He was waking up twice a night at that time. But I haven’t done this in a while because I don’t know if such a late nap is good for him. Not sure what to do.
His schedule follows:
6-6:15AM: wake
7AM: 4 oz formula
8:30ish: cereal & fruit
10ish: 6 oz formula
12:30ish: 4-6 oz formula
3:00ish: 4-6 oz formula with veggies
4:45: 3-6 oz formula
5:00-5:30: nap on the way home. Waay too tired for any solid dinner food
6:15: start bedtime routine, 4-8 oz formula
Usually asleep by 7PM. Wakes frequently between 9-11PM, usually because pacifier has come out.
2-2:30AM: Wakes for 4-6 oz formula
Falls back asleep within the hour and sleeps til 5 or 6AM.
What should I do about that late nap?
Thanks for your website! =)
November 13th, 2009
@Carrie Thank you for sharing with all of us!
November 13th, 2009
@Laura The schedule looks fairly normal. The only thing that gave me pause was whether she is getting enough formula. 24 ounces is on the lower end, though you might check with your daughter. I opted not to give juice until past a year, for the most part, so you might omit that so she will drink a little more formula. Always talk to your pediatrician about diet, though. Good luck!
November 15th, 2009
Hi,
My son is 6 and a half months, closer to 7mths old however i was advised by a Health Visitor that the normal daily milk intake at this age is between 16 and 20Oz. I am getting confused with the differing information as, although some of the daily schedules on this page resemble ours, some contain much more milk! My schedule is approx as follows:
6 – 7am wakes up and has early morning breastfeed (amount unknown)
7.15 – 8.30 – playtime
8.30 – breakfast of cereal and fruit puree with formula and water, drink of cooled boiled water
9.30- nap of 30 to 60mins
10.30 or 11am – formula feed – baby usually takes between 5 and 6 Oz
11.30/12 noon – nap of about an hour
1pm – lunch vegetables or meat and veg baby meal with a yoghurt and beaker of cooled boiled water or juice
2.30/3pm – 2nd formula feed of 5 to 7 Oz
4pm – nap 30 to 45 mins
5pm dinner of veg and meat with juice or water
6pm bathtime
6.30 breastfeed baby (amount depends on how tired he is)
7pm baby asleep and usually sleeps through the night unless he has been very tired at bedtime and hasnt had enough milk.
Is this routine okay? Should I try to add an additional formula feed with lunch for example? As it is, it is difficult to get the baby to drink a full bottle.
Thanks,
Grainne
November 20th, 2009
we have a pretty solid routine at night. Most of the time my son will sleep through the night but when he is teething he wakes up and then does not want to go to sleep. We tried the cry it out method for 1.5 last night. do you recommend that? or just postpone it?
Our schedule is a little different:
6am wake up
6:20 breakfast of 1tbsp cereal 1/2 jar of baby food and 5oz bottle formula
8-11 nap at daycare
12-12:30 8oz formula bottle
between 3 and 4 he will have a 2-4oz formula bottle
3-5 nap at daycare
6:30 5 oz bottle with 2 tbsp cereal and 1/2 jar of baby food with water (he likes it a little watery)
9:25 bath, diaper, 6-8oz bottle with story.
He is 5.5months old. we don’t pick him up from daycare until 6:00 so we don’t usually make him go to sleep that early. Is this schedule normal?
December 4th, 2009
@Nasim A healthy baby will neither starve himself or overeat, so he is probably doing just fine. I would talk to your doctor if you are concerned and you always have the option of cutting back solids to get more formula. He might just not want his bottle right after his nap. You might try waiting 20-30 minutes and seeing if he’ll be more ready for it. Either way, I would not worry. Good luck!
December 4th, 2009
@Giulia That’s a tough one. My son had a lot of trouble napping at daycare, too.
A 2 hour nap at 5pm is sure to mess with bedtime, eventually, as he gets older and then he will start to get less sleep at night. I’d probably continue with the 30 minute nap on the way home and help him learn to sleep without the pacifier, so he can get a more restful sleep at night. This is not ideal, but I believe this is your best option. Good luck!
December 4th, 2009
@Grainne You can’t compare breast milk quantities and formula and given you are feeding a combination, you won’t ever know how much your baby is getting and that’s ok! A healthy baby will neither starve or overeat. If a baby is eating breast milk from a bottle all day, it wouldn’t get much past 20 oz, usually, but formula is different. If he is hungry he would let you know loud and clear, so I would not worry too much about it. Always listen to your doctor or healthcare visitor as they are trained in the medical profession and see your baby up close and personal. I try to provide accurate information as much as possible, but what’s happening in your home is unique to you and your baby. If you feel your baby is not getting enough breast milk or formula, you always have the option of reducing the amount of solids, but overall, it sounds like he’s doing great! Good luck!
December 4th, 2009
@Thea You might want to look at the 6-month schedule here: http://www.babysleepsite.com/schedules/6-month-old-baby-schedule/ He is napping quite a bit at daycare. 5 hours? Is that correct? It sounds like he might be making up night sleep in the daytime and that can cause some of the night-waking. If you KNOW the problem is teething, that would be a temporary problem and I’d advise to make him comfortable, since he’s in pain. It can feel like they are constantly teething for 2 years, so it’s important not to assume it’s teething for longer than a week or two before you need to make some changes. I would need to know more details and progress on the 1 1/2 hours of crying. That’s definitely on the longer end of crying sessions I hear from parents. Good luck! I hope it’s going well!
January 3rd, 2010
My 7 month old daughter sleeps wonderfully at night. 6:30 pm to bed and I don’t hear from her again until 6:30-7 am. However, day sleep is another matter. Her first nap is around 9 am for about 30 minutes and that’s about the extent of her schedule for the rest of the day. I have tried and tried to get her on a schedule and have had no luck, mostly due to her very short day naps. I know she needs more sleep because by the middle of the day I deal with a very cranky, miserable little girl. I don’t know how to help her. I don’t know how to get her to sleep longer. She is eating at 7, 11, 3 and 6pm. She is on solids and doing well. I have never rocked her, from the day she was born she would kick and wriggle when she was held, so I just plop her into bed and she seems fine with that. My doctor said you can’t extend naps, but tell that to my very tired little girl.
January 14th, 2010
This is my 7 month old’s schedule -
Wake up between 6 to 7 a.m., BF 20-25 minutes.
Sometimes goes back to sleep till 8 a.m., sometimes up and playing in crib.
9:15 a.m. EBM 5-6 oz.
10 a.m. nap for about 30 minutes.
11:30 a.m. stage 1 food – veg or fruit.
1 p.m. Formula 6 oz.
1:30 p.m. nap for about an hour.
4 p.m. EBM 5-6 oz.
5:30 p.m. dinner – cereal.
6:30 p.m. bath and bedtime routine.
7 p.m. BF 15-20 minutes, asleep in arms.
Sleeps in crib till 10:30-11 p.m. (Sometimes wakes up couple of times between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. and has to be soothed back to sleep).
10:30 p.m. BF 25 minutes, asleep in arms.
Sleeps in crib till 2-3 a.m., wakes, nurses for 15-20 minutes (eyes shut, almost asleep).
Wakes up again sometimes around 4-5 a.m. and has to be soothed back to sleep.
Question – do I need to add a breakfast of solids to her routine? Can I stop the 2-3 a.m. nursing and let her go till she wakes up between 6-7 a.m.? I am not sure how much she is eating really, her eyes are always shut and sometimes she’s asleep within 5 minutes of being at the breast.
Thanks!
January 14th, 2010
Forgot to add…she takes about 3 naps every day but they are usually not longer than an hour. Sometimes she asks for a nap very late, like 4:30 or 5 p.m. and that is so close to her bedtime of 7 p.m. But if she is fussy, I still put her down for a nap that late.
January 16th, 2010
when ever she crys she takes the breast
when ever she says ee she takes the breast
when ever she bump her head she takes the breast
really i’m serious
January 22nd, 2010
My daughter is 7 1/2 months old and her schedule goes like this.
5:30-6:00 ~ Wake up with 7oz bottle
7:30-8:30 ~30-45 minute nap
8:30 ~ 1 jar of 2nd stage fruit w/6oz bottle
10:30-11:30 ~ 45 minute to 1 hour nap
11:30 ~ 3-4 tablespoons of cereal or oatmeal w/6oz bottle
1:30-3:30 ~ 1 1/2-2 hour nap
3:00-3:30 ~ 1 jar of 2nd stage veggies w/6oz bottle
5:30 ~ Bathtime (every other day)
6:00-7:00 ~ 6oz bottle and bedtime
I try to shoot for every 2 hours after my daughter awakes, she needs to go down for a nap. By doing this, my daughter has been able to get onto a schedule.
January 22nd, 2010
@Michelle You probably want to shorten her awake time and give her some time to go back to sleep after she wakes too early. I encourage you to read more about naps in my e-Book: http://www.babynapswell.com My son was a 45-minute napper until I worked on his naps and then he slept at least an hour for 90% of his naps (not all were perfect). Good luck!
January 26th, 2010
Hi,
My baby is about to enter his seventh month and he’s in the 90th percentile for weight and the 75th percentile for height. I give him 120ml of formula four times a day and he eats wheat cereal for breakfast, vegetables for lunch, fruit in the afternoon, and wheat cereal again before he sleeps. Am I feeding him too much? Also, on a totally different subject, I’m thinking of trying to get pregnant again and I’ve been reading arguements that say it’s fine and others that say it’s too early. What do you think? Much appreciated
January 26th, 2010
I forgot to mention that my baby doesn’t like drinking formula much these days but gobbles down food. It’s a struggle to get him to finish a 120ml bottle, even when it’s the first thing he’s had all day and he’s on an empty stomach. Thanks for any advice you can offer
January 29th, 2010
@Michelle Some babies can “do” a schedule sooner than others. My son was horrible at a schedule until he was 7 1/2 months old because he just couldn’t stay up longer than 1 hour 15 minutes before he needed to sleep again. You might give her more time to be able to stay up longer and opt to put her down sooner rather than later for more frequent naps. Also, don’t rush in after she wakes early, so she can go back to sleep. I disagree with your doctor that you can’t extend naps. My son used to be a 45-minute napper and I did successfully extend his naps and I’ve helped many parents with the same. All of it is in my book: http://www.babynapswell.com. Good luck!
January 29th, 2010
@Jessy It does not sound like a hunger issue, but your daughter needs to learn how to fall asleep on her own, so she can go BACK to sleep on her own. The more she practices this, the better at it she will get. The key is finding a method that will work well for both of you and that you can stick with. Make a plan and then commit. Good luck!
January 29th, 2010
@Jessy A later nap like that is normal and it’s usually better to give her the nap and avoid over-tiredness than to keep her up until bedtime, at this age. Good luck!
January 29th, 2010
@Unknown Breast feeding is about more than just food. It sounds like it’s her comfort, too. Have you tried a lovey? http://www.babysleepsite.com/sleep-quick-tips/baby-lovey/ Hang in there!!!