7 month old babies need an average of 14 hours of sleep a day with 11-12 hours of sleep at night and 2-3 hours during the day. Most babies this age can stay awake for 2-3 hours in a stretch. However, some babies are on a 2-nap schedule while others are still taking three naps. Separation anxiety also affects babies this age. This article outlines the average 7-month-old baby’s sleep schedule, including milk feedings for breastfeeding and formula-feeding babies, solids, naps, and nighttime sleep. As a sleep consultant for over 15+ years, I will also share typical sleep habits and tips to get your baby to sleep through the night. Or, you can simply skip to the schedule.
7 Month Old Baby’s Sleep Habits and Expectations
At this age, many 7-month-olds can sleep through the night, without any feedings. This is especially true of formula-fed babies, however, if your baby is breastfed, you may still have one feeding at night.
Regardless of how many naps your baby takes, your 7-month-old should be napping a total of 2-3 hours per day plus sleeping 11-12 hours at night. The average total sleep in a 24-hour period is around 14 hours. However, always keep in mind that some babies will need more or less sleep than the average.
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How Many Naps for a 7 Month Old?
7-month-old babies take two to three naps during the day. Typically, most 5 month olds will transition from four to three naps but then babies will transition to two naps anytime between 6 and 9 months old. If there is a third nap, it is almost always a short 30-45 minute catnap.
Babies this age have wake windows between 2 and 3 hours at a time, on average. A few are dropping the third nap and on a 2-nap schedule sometimes staying awake 3 to 4 hours before bedtime.
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Wake Windows for 7 Month Olds
The typical wake windows for a 7-month-old are 2-3 hours with the first wake window being one of the shortest. Usually, that first wake window is just 2 to 2 1/2 hours. If your 7-month-old baby has already dropped their third nap, they are more likely to stay awake 3 1/2 to 4 hours before bedtime, though, unless they are a really long napper.
7-Month-Olds: Average Milk and Solid Food amounts Per Day
Your baby will sleep better if they are getting all the nutrition they need, obviously. However, it’s easy to accidentally overdo it with solid food if your baby likes it! Keep in mind that breast milk and/or formula should be the primary nutrition for the first year and solids come secondary. Solid food should not decrease milk intake very much if at all. Below are the average amounts we recommend:
- At least 5 nursing sessions per day or 26-32 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 possibly no egg whites until 1-year-old due to allergens — check with your doctor)
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Putting it all together, all babies are unique, but here are sample schedules you can use to make your own for your unique baby.
Sample 7 Month Old Baby Sleep Schedules
The first sample schedule is what I call a “staggered” approach. My first son did better nursing fully and then had 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 solid food at all.
Sample Schedule 1: Staggered Approach
| 7 Month Old Sleep Schedule With Feedings | |
|---|---|
| Time | Activity |
| 7:00 AM | Wake and Milk |
| 8:15 AM | Breakfast |
| 9:00 AM | Morning Nap (at least one hour long) |
| 10:00 AM | Milk (upon waking) |
| 12:30 PM | Milk |
| 1:00 PM | Early Afternoon Nap (at least one hour long) |
| 3:00 PM | Milk |
| 4:00 PM | Catnap (30-45 minutes; can be “on the go”) |
| 4:30/5:00 PM | Dinner (if you offer a second solid meal; sometimes not offered until 8 months old) |
| 6:30 PM | Begin your bedtime routine |
| 7:00 PM | Milk and Bedtime (goal to be asleep by 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:
Sample Schedule 2: Consolidated Approach
| 7 Month Old Sleep Schedule With Milk and Solid Feedings Together | |
|---|---|
| Time | Activity |
| 7:00 AM | Wake |
| 7:15 AM | Breakfast + Milk (offer half milk feeding, then solids, then remaining milk) |
| 9:00 AM | Morning Nap (at least one hour long) |
| 10:00 AM | Milk (upon waking) |
| 12:30 PM | Milk |
| 1:00 PM | Early Afternoon Nap (at least one hour long) |
| 3:00 PM | Milk |
| 4:00 PM | Catnap (can be “on the go”) |
| 4:30/5:00 PM | Dinner + Milk (if you offer a second solid meal; sometimes not offered until 8 months old) |
| 6:30 PM | Begin your bedtime routine |
| 7:00 PM | Milk and Bedtime (goal to be asleep by this time) |
+ Plus possibly 1-2 nighttime feedings
If you prefer an Eat-Play-Sleep Schedule, here’s another sample:
Sample Schedule 3: Eat-Play-Sleep
| 7 Month Old Eat-Play-Sleep Schedule With Feedings | |
|---|---|
| Time | Activity |
| 7:00 AM | Wake |
| 7:30 AM | Milk |
| 8:15 AM | Breakfast |
| 9:00 AM | Morning Nap (at least one hour long) |
| 10:30 AM | Milk |
| 12:30 PM | Early Afternoon Nap (at least one hour long) |
| 1:30 PM | Milk (upon waking) |
| 4:00 PM | Catnap (30-45 minutes; can be “on the go”) |
| 4:30 PM | Milk |
| 5:00 PM | Dinner (if you offer a second solid meal; sometimes not offered until 8 months old) |
| 6:30/7:00 PM | Begin your bedtime routine |
| 7:00/7:30 PM | Milk and Bedtime (goal to be asleep by this time) |
+ 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.
If your baby has already transitioned to two naps, please consider using one of our 8 month old schedules or 9 month old schedule. It’s not always so simple as dropping the last nap. You might need to move the other two naps!
Looking for more sample 7-month schedules?
We have over 40 sample schedules for all ages in our e-Book, Mastering Naps and Schedules. Banish naptime battles and regain control of your day (and your sanity) starting today!
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- 6 Month Baby Sleep Coaching Case Study (VIP Members Area case study)
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Related posts:
10 Month Old Baby Feeding and Sleep Schedule: With Milk, Solid Food, Naps, and Nighttime Sleep – For Breastfeeding and Formula-Feeding Infants
9 Month Old Baby Feeding and Sleep Schedule: With Milk, Solid Food, Naps, and Nighttime Sleep – For Breastfeeding and Formula-Feeding Infants
11 Month Old Baby Feeding and Sleep Schedule With Milk, Solid Food, Naps, and Nighttime Sleep – For Breastfeeding and Formula-Feeding Infants
3 Month Old Baby Sleep Schedules With Feedings: For Breastfeeding and Formula-Feeding Infants
My 7 Month old was sleeping through the night but then about 3 weeks ago he started to wake up after maybe 2-3 hours of deep sleep and will toss and turn, I mean from one side of the bed to another and will sometimes be turned all the way around (I can put the pacifier in his mouth and he will go back to sleep for a short period but this will re-occur for an hour every couple of hours), and sometimes will also wake up and crawl around the bed for at least an hour.
I don’t know if if its teething or what that is causing this. He is definitely not hungry but sometimes I feel that he might stay asleep if I give him a bottle but I refrain from doing so.
What can I do otherwise?
Hi @Chae – Thank you for writing to us! It sounds like you have a very active sleeper! My youngest is the same way and always has been! Active sleeping in one thing, but waking so often at night is another! Your 7 month old may be waking for the pacifier, and/or waking because he cannot fall back to sleep on his own. In this case, you may want to start teaching him to fall asleep on his own, and back to sleep on his own too. This article on our blog can help:
https://www.babysleepsite.com/sleep-training/baby-fall-asleep-alone-5-steps/
We’d love to help more – if interested please contact us for more info and recommendations!
Hang in there Chae!
Hi,
My baby is 7 months old. I have started her feedings at 6AM right before I leave for work. After I feed her I normally put her straight back to bed bc my husband goes into work later and she is normally still tired. I am still feeding her every 3 hours so by the end of the day I feed her at 6pm and then again at 9pm, but it’s so late and I know she should be asleep by then. I feel like if her last feeding is at 6pm, it’s to early still. So i’m not sure when to do her last feeding. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!
Hi @Shelby –
Thank you for writing to us. It sounds like your daughter is sleeping well at night, which is great to hear! If this schedule is working for your family, and she’s getting enough sleep, there’s no need to change it!! If you do want to change things, we have a great resource for help! I’d like to recommend our VIP Members Area, which gives you access to all of our e-Books as well as audio tele-seminar recordings, case studies, and do-it-yourself tutorials, including a workbook designed to help you create your own sleep plan. My favorite feature is the access to our weekly “members only” expert chat sessions, where one of our sleep consultants will answer your specific questions!
You can read more about our VIP Members Area here:
https://www.babysleepsite.com/diy
Please let us know if you have any questions about this or if you need any assistance at any time. We’d love to help!
My 7 month old started daycare and she naps him in the playroom with the other kids playing. Therefore he is very inconsistent with nap time and length. He also has had a reaction to every food we have tried so he is currently all breast milk. Would it be possible to try and night wean or is it unrealistic without food? Thank you
Hi Heather,
Sorry to hear you’re having this trouble! We usually recommend handling health issues before night weaning, so check in with your pediatrician or lactation consultant first. Most 7 month-olds are still eating once or twice at night anyway, so your medical professional can make look at her eating and weight and make sure she’s gaining well before you try night weaning. I hope this helps!
Hello, my name is Ashley I’m a single mother of a 7 month old baby boy. He does not sleep through the night. 15-20 minutes nap. 3 times a day. He goes to bed around 9:30 or 10:30 wakes up around midnight for a bottle. Then goes back wakes up around 3 falls back to sleep then again at 5:30. Tried giving him rice in a bottle and it doesn’t do the trick. He was in the NICU from birth to about 14 days later he was not a premie just because of his health. Looking for suggestions on having him sleep during the night. Tried a bunch of times to get him into a schedule but he cries a lot. Please help thanks
Thanks for writing @Ashley! I’m sorry that your 7 month old is taking SUCH short naps, and is waking so many times at night for a feed! You’re definitely not alone in trying rice to help him sleep longer, and this does not work in many cases! This article on our blog should be helpful with night weaning him:
https://www.babysleepsite.com/sleep-training/baby-night-wean-3-signs/
And you may want to think about how he falls asleep now, and work towards having him fall asleep independently, and see if this helps for the night wakings and the short naps too.
We can definitely help with this!
Please check out our one on one consulting options here, for the quickest help:
https://www.babysleepsite.com/baby-toddler-sleep-consulting-services/
Hang in there Ashley!
I have a question about the last catnap being “optional”. If I opt not to give this nap how can a seven month old go from 2 or 3 pm all the way till 7 oclock bedtime. Wont they be overtired? I just dont understand? I ask because my little boy is waking up from his second nap between 2 and 3 pm. Do I push him till 6 am for bedtime as a 445 or 5 pm is a late time for a cat nap. I thought a seven month old couldnt stay past three hours awake time at this age.
Hi Avalon,
Thank you for your comment! Most 7 month-olds are on a schedule that will include the catnap, but there are some babies who will have a longer nap gap in the late afternoon and will want to stay up until 6:30/7PM after the 1PM nap. It will just depend on your baby 🙂 The schedules we offer are based on the real babies we’ve worked with over 10 years, but will not work for every single baby out there – they’re meant to be used as a guide for you to adapt to your baby. In your case, it may be that offering the catnap is the best option, unless your baby is refusing the nap very often or seems like he can make it to the later bedtime. But if he wakes at 2:30, takes a 30 minute catnap at 4:30, and is asleep at 7:30, that might work? You may have to play around.
If you want to discuss it with a sleep consultant directly, we do offer weekly chats with a consultant in our Members Area, and that can be a great place for these kinds of questions as they come up: https://www.babysleepsite.com/diy/#membership
I hope this helps!
Hi There,
My 7-month-old baby girl goes to sleep at 7ish and wakes up at around 12-1am (not sure because she is hungry or not) I dont think so because she doesn’t even drink her milk bottle then she goes to sleep and wake up again at 2 – 3am (just moving around with her eyes close but moving I think she is trying to find a comfortable place) then she goes to sleep and then she wakes up again at 5am to actualy drink her milk. Now I dont know what to do with all the times she wakes up before 5am. Do I just leave her moving in her cot or make her sleep again and try to feed her? Thank you!
Paola
Hi @Paola – Thanks for writing to us! Sorry your little one is waking a few times at night! This video, article, and quiz should really help you determine if she is ready for night weaning, and help you with tips/resources on how to night wean when you’re ready!:
https://www.babysleepsite.com/night-weaning-2/night-weaning-quiz/
Good luck Paola!
Hi,
My baby is 7 months and has dropped her third nap. She is now napping around 9am and 2pm for 1.5-2 hours each nap. How much awake time is best before bedtime at this age? I have heard that the longest stretch of sleep is when babies first go down for the night. Sometimes she is up after 2-3 hours only….how do I stretch this out? She is currently waking to feed about 3x/night.
Hi @Jennifer – Thanks for writing! Since your little one has moved to two naps, you may want to use the second schedule on this page as a guide for sleep times:
https://www.babysleepsite.com/schedules/8-month-old-baby-schedule/
And this video and quiz can help you learn more about working on night weaning/stretching the feeds out a bit:
https://www.babysleepsite.com/night-weaning-2/night-weaning-quiz/
Hope these help! Please contact us if you have any questions!
Hi,
My just turned 7 month old won’t sleep 🙁 He wakes up every hour and cries and screams while my husband tries to put him to sleep and doesn’t stop unless I allow him to nurse back to sleep. He has gone on screaming for 45 minutes without any sign of settling so we know sleep training is not for us (unless it’s a no cry method). I’ve had to keep him in our bed as it is too much to keep going to his room every hour to settle him back to sleep. Is this common in breastfed babies? He doesn’t take a pacifier and all other babies I know who sleep well at night have a pacifier to help them soothe back to sleep.
Hi @Ali – Thank you for writing! I am so sorry to hear about your struggles with you 7 month old baby’s sleep! Waking every hour is SO tough, and we definitely understand! It sounds like your little guy needs some help learning how to fall asleep and back to sleep on his own, which is very common – especially here at The Baby Sleep Site! Check out this article if you haven’t already:
https://www.babysleepsite.com/sleep-training/sleep-association/
I hope it is helpful! Please contact us if you’d like more help and hang in there!!
My 7 month old doesn’t sleep much and am beginning to get exhausted, which makes me guilty. She can’t nap for more than 30 minutes during the day . In the night she keeps waking up almost every hour and only goes back to sleep when sucking. What do i do??? I’m exhausted!
Hi @Racheal,
Thank you for writing to us. I’m sorry to hear your family is having sleep problems and your 7 month old is struggling with such short naps and not being able to fall asleep on her own. You’re not alone, and we definitely understand how exhausted you are! We help families with babies that need to fall asleep sucking every day, and we’d love to help your little one learn to sleep independently too! It sound like it may be time to work on some sleep coaching, so that she can sleep in longer stretches and learn to fall asleep without sucking! If you haven’t already, we welcome you to continue to peruse our blog for tips. We have E-books and premium resources available where the research has been done for you. Or, for the fastest service, we have expert sleep consultants who can help you determine why your baby is not sleeping well if you’re interested. We are able to tap into over 10 years of experience with thousands of families to quickly create a Plan with you that will work for your unique situation.
You can read about all of our sleep consultation packages and purchase directly online here:
https://www.babysleepsite.com/baby-toddler-sleep-consulting-services
Please let us know if you need any assistance, and hang in there Racheal!!
Hi,
I have 7 months old and she does sleep through the night but she hardly takes nap during day time she takes two naps not more than 40 mins. She always likes to sleep in my arms n as soon as I put her in crib she will wake up. As of now she is taking two solids and 4-5 times bm. Am concerned about her naps during daytime.
@Vanitha – Thank you for reading and for sharing! Hooray for sleeping through the night! 🙂 If your little girl is having trouble sleeping independently during the day, you may want to consider some day time sleep coaching to help her sleep better on her own. Having a good plan of action laid out before you get started is a great first step to help lengthen naps and reach independent sleep. We have many tools and how to’s on the site to help you through your naptime sleep coaching journey. If you’d like more support during this process, we’re always here to help. Hang in there, Vanitha!