Archive for the ‘Schedules’ Category
Owls and Larks
Tuesday, March 10th, 2009
Owls are creatures of the night. They get energized at night and have great difficulty waking up early. Larks, on the other hand, love to go to bed early and wake up early, ready to go! You may have noticed your baby or toddler fall into one of these two categories or show a tendency of one over the other. Now that the time has changed, you might be hoping your lark wakes up later and will be disappointed when their schedule shifts back to where it was. If you have a night owl, you are cringing at getting baby to bed earlier now that the time has shifted forward.
Developmentally, many babies go through a period of waking very early in their first year. This does NOT mean they will always be this way (for some that is sadly not the case). And, for many babies, they get “trained” to wake up early (I’ve worked with parents whose baby wakes up as early as 4!!). Since light is what cues our brain to be awake and set our internal clock, one of the bigger mistakes you can make during the first year is allowing your baby to get up much before 5:30 or 6 a.m. and continue to do it for months on end. Do NOT start your day before 6 a.m., if you can help it.
With that said, you also have to have realistic expectations and be fair to your baby. You can’t put your baby to bed at 6 p.m. and expect her to necessarily wake up at 6 a.m. or later. 11-12 hours at night is normal for babies and toddlers under 2 (after 2 is variable), with a minimum of 10 hours, so it’s important to know your baby’s tendency for night sleep (to figure that out track your baby’s sleep for 2+ weeks) and set her schedule accordingly.
My eldest son (youngest son is still up in the air) is a NIGHT OWL! It is very challenging because the bedtime routine tends to shift later and later and later if we don’t set firm limits, but too late and it used to lead to night-wakings and now it just leads to a too-early wake-up and crankiness. He is so afraid he’s going to miss something and just doesn’t want the day to end…EVER. Add to that, when he was a baby, he was mostly an 11-hour baby (until he went to one nap), so we did have a 5 or 5:30 a.m. wake-time from around 6 to 8 or 9 months (before I shifted his schedule). For awhile he was waking up after 8 or 8:30 a.m., but now he has hovered around 6:30 or 7:00 a.m. where I expect it to stay until he becomes a teenager and I have to drag him out of bed. 
Can you change a lark into an owl or vice versa?
No, not really. It’s biological. According to Ferber, they have even found a specific gene responsible! So, it’s not people’s imagination when they just aren’t “morning people” and “hate” those who bounce off the walls in the morning. However, some people’s tendency is stronger than others, so it IS possible to shift schedules at least a little bit for many babies who wake too early or go to bed too late after 9 or 10 months old. In fact, somehow I have changed into a night owl myself! I used to be a big time morning person, but I have built this entire website mostly at night (some very late ones I might add!) and I tend to have trouble getting up early these days. I blame the kids. 
Is your baby or toddler a lark or an owl? What about you?
Spring Forward Sleep Survival with Kids
Tuesday, February 24th, 2009
Some of you just got over the fall time change and now in a few weeks, we spring forward one hour. Just when you think you were out, they pull you back in! Fortunately, many of you are hoping for good things to come out of this time change, if your baby is waking too early and are excited at the prospect of “sleeping in” (after kids that means, what? 8 a.m. Ha!). Here is your Spring Forward Sleep Survival Guide with Kids. In honor of Spring Forward, you can also use coupon code “SPRING25″ to receive 25% OFF any service from now until March 8th, the day of the time change. Just log in to my baby sleep helpdesk to get started!
In the U.S. and Canada, the time changes on Sunday, March 8, 2009. In Europe, the time will change the last Sunday in March, on the 29th. Just as a reminder, the reason we have Daylight Savings is that it allows us to use less energy in lighting our homes by having longer and later daylight hours. Nowadays, it’s more important than ever for us to be more “green”.
Spring Forward Sleep Strategies
Your first option is to not do anything. If your baby or toddler or young child is going to sleep at 7 p.m., he will wake up at 8 a.m. the next day. Yay! You get to “sleep in” and all is right with the world. If you want to keep this schedule, you will put him down at the same times you always do and bedtime will be one hour later.
For some, the first option isn’t really an option because they need their child up by a certain time or don’t want to have an 8 p.m. (or later) bedtime. Maybe your child is already going to bed too late and the time change will make her go to bed even later, which has you wondering just when you will spend any time with your spouse or partner or clean the house or relax or whatever.
If you don’t want your future schedule, you will need to take steps to prevent it. After all, you can’t “sleep in” until 8 a.m. and then expect your child to automatically feel sleepy at the new 7 p.m., when it’s really 6 p.m. Your second option is to wake your baby one hour early the day of the time change whereby he will nap one hour earlier and go to bed one hour earlier, normal time on the clock. There is only one caution. Some people’s internal clock is so strong that no matter what time they wake up, they won’t get sleepy until their “normal” time. That means even if you wake your child an hour earlier, he might not nap early or go to sleep early at bedtime. Imagine you get up at 5 a.m. one day to catch a flight or to get to work for an early meeting. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you will go to bed at 9 p.m. just because you usually go to bed at 10 p.m.
Your third and final option, just like in the Fall, is to split the difference and wake your child just half an hour early and move his schedule slower over the course of 2-3 days. This is likely the option I will take because my kids are currently waking around 7 a.m., but bedtimes are around 7:30 p.m. for the younger, but 8 to 8:30 p.m. for the older. I really don’t want that 8:30 p.m. bedtime getting any later!!!
Whatever the path you choose to take, some kids will just take a few days to even a week or longer to really adjust. Your best bet is to keep to the schedule you make. The light stimulating our eyes and your morning and night routines will be most what drives your kids’ schedules. The same internal clock that drives our sleep schedules also drives our appetites. If you typically have dinner at 5:30 p.m. and bedtime is 7 p.m., it will probably be difficult to maintain a 6:30 p.m. dinner and 8 p.m. bedtime. Whatever drove you to have the 5:30 p.m. dinner in the first place likely has not changed. Just remember to be realistic and not to just focus on one part of the schedule (i.e. just bedtime or just lunch) and set the whole schedule accordingly. The rest will follow.
What are you most worried about or hoping for Spring Forward this year?
4 Month Old Baby Schedule
Tuesday, January 20th, 2009
This article outlines the average 4 month old baby schedule, including feedings, solids, naps and night sleep. If your baby is having trouble napping, you may be interested in how you can get your baby to nap.
4 month old baby’s sleep
Pediatricians disagree high and low about when a baby is capable of sleeping through the night and only a handful of parents who reach this page will have a 4 month old that sleeps all night without even a single feeding (those that do are LUCKY!).
At this age, if you are not lucky enough to have a baby who sleeps through the night, many 4 month olds are still waking 1-3 times to eat at night and many will continue to eat 1-2 times until 9 months old. Anything more and likely you have a sleep association problem. If your baby has recently started sleeping worse, you may want to read my article about 4 month old baby sleep.
Obviously, all babies vary, but here are some sample (loose) schedules you can use to make your own for your unique baby. Most babies, at this age, can’t be on a strict schedule because many babies are still taking shorter naps while their brain matures and they simply can not stay up very long to get to the next scheduled nap-time, so at this age, it’s likely naps are still on the short side, but come frequently and every day will still likely be different. Don’t worry, that will change! Most babies can get down to just 3 naps around 6 months or 7 months.
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. I did not start my boys on solids until close to 6 months old. If you have or want to start solids at 4 months (some pediatricians do recommend or agree with this), below are the amounts recommended from Super Baby Food, the book I use for reference (as a guide, not as the end-all-be-all because I don’t give my kids nuts before a year or follow other things in the book, but it’s a good reference guide). Another useful reference is Wholesome Baby Food. Although I work full time, I did make most of my baby food (I’d make 1 or 2 big batchs of something each weekend in 1-2 hours), but even if you don’t, the website is useful as a guide when to introduce what food and other meal ideas.
Amounts per day:
• At least 5-6 breastfeeding sessions per day or 32 ounces formula or combination (decrease solids if your baby is not taking in at least this much)
• Water is unnecessary (breast milk and formula have plenty of water in them). If your baby has any constipation issues, focus on “P†foods (pears, prunes, etc.)
• 1-2 servings baby cereal (1 serving = 1-2 Tablespoons dry)
• 1-2 servings fruit (1 serving = 1-2 Tablespoons)
• 1-2 servings vegetable (1 serving = 1-2 Tablespoons)
Note: Don’t worry about feeding this much right away! You will start with just 1 teaspoon of dry cereal (before mixing w/ breast milk or formula) and work your way up. Don’t forget to wait at least 3-4 days before introducing a new food for food allergy reasons.
Sample 4 month old schedule
This schedule assumes baby can stay up 1 hour 15 minutes before needing to sleep again. At this age, wake-time should be 1-2 hours TOPS, to avoid baby getting overtired.
6:30 - Wake and Breast milk or Formula
7:15 - Breakfast
7:45 - Nap
8:15-8:45 - Breast milk or Formula
9:45 - 10:00 - Nap
10:45 - 11:15 - Breast milk or Formula
11:45 - 12:00 - Nap
1:15 - 1:45 - Breast milk or Formula
2:00 - Nap
3:45 - 4:15 - Breast milk or Formula
4:45 - Nap
5:45 - Begin bedtime routine
6:00 - Breast milk or Formula
6:15 - Bedtime (Goal to be asleep at this time)
+Plus probably 1-3 nighttime feedings
Note: This schedule follows the eat-play-sleep routine, however, it is sometimes hard to do 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.
You may also be interested in tracking your baby’s sleep and schedule, feedings, medication doses, immunizations, etc. using online baby software. You can even use it on your mobile device for when you’re on the go!
If you need help with your baby’s schedule or night-weaning, you may be interested in Help Your Baby Sleep, a Step-by-Step Guide, which discusses naps, schedules, and shifting schedules for babies waking too early or going to bed too late (among many other things) or get one-on-one baby sleep advice.
What is your 4-month old’s routine?
7 Month Old Baby Schedule
Thursday, 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 three naps. If your baby is having trouble napping, you may be interested in how you can get your baby to nap. Some babies don’t ever have 3 naps, but many will have 3 naps until around 9 months.
All babies vary, but here are some rough schedules you can use to make your own for your unique baby. I should warn you that I am in the camp that breast milk or formula should be the primary nutrition for the first year and solids come secondary. Below are the amounts recommended from Super Baby Food, the book I use for reference (as a guide, not as the end-all-be-all because I don’t give my kids nuts before a year or follow other things in the book, but it’s a good reference guide). Another useful reference is Wholesome Baby Food. Although I work full time, I did make most of my baby food (I’d make 1 big batch of something each weekend in 1-2 hours), but even if you don’t, the website is useful as a guide when to introduce what food and other meal ideas.
The amount of food at 7 months is very similar to the 6 month baby schedule, but you can introduce egg yolk (not whites) if you want and some dairy.
Amounts per day:
• At least 5 nursing sessions per day or 30-32 ounces formula or combination
• Although some say 4-6 oz of water is okay, I usually discourage it at this age
• 1-2 servings baby cereal (1 serving = 1-2 Tablespoons dry)
• 1-2 servings fruit (1 serving = 1-2 Tablespoons)
• 1-2 servings vegetable (1 serving = 1-2 Tablespoons)
• 1 serving Dairy (1 serving = 1/3-1/2 cup yogurt or 1/4 cup cottage cheese)
• You can also offer cooked egg yolk (but no egg whites until 1 year old due to 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
5:30 - Dinner plus Breast milk / Formula feeding
6:15 - Begin bedtime routine
7:00 - Breast milk or Formula
+Plus possibly 1-2 nighttime feedings
Note: Many people prefer to follow an eat-play-sleep routine, which is a good routine to follow, however, sometimes hard to implement at this age when the amount of time between naps is not long enough and your baby wakes too early from his nap because of a feeding. I take all of that into consideration when making my schedules. The most important part is to be careful not to create sleep associations with feedings too close to sleep times, which we saw become important at 4 months old.
You may also be interested in tracking your baby’s sleep, feedings, medication doses, immunizations, etc. using online baby software at Babble Soft. You can even install on your mobile device for when you’re on the go!
If you need help with your baby’s schedule or night-weaning, you may be interested in Help Your Baby Sleep, a Step-by-Step Guide, which discusses naps, schedules, and shifting schedules for babies waking too early or going to bed too late (among many other things) or get one-on-one baby sleep advice.
What is your 7 month old’s schedule?
Category: Schedules
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
Tuesday, November 4th, 2008
So, how did your time change go? Have your babies adjusted yet? I, the sleep obsessed, messed up my own children’s schedule on the day after the time change. D’oh! Here’s what happened…
As expected, my kids woke up “one hour early” with the time change. Not a surprise because their internal clock doesn’t know what our digital clock says, right? So, we went about our day and my goal was to put the boys to bed 1/2 hour later than their internal clock and 1/2 hour early on the digital clock. So, I decide to go out to an early 5pm dinner with a friend, her husband and their baby boy to make it easier for the kids to stay awake being out and about. The kids did GREAT at dinner…all 3 of them. It was great! But, the one problem was we waited 10 minutes for a table and the server was sloooow, so we ended up not getting home until after 7pm! D’oh! So, in actuality my sons both went to bed WAAAAY later than I intended by almost an hour. *sigh*
Both boys seem to talk to each other and were up at 5:50 yesterday morning, which was 20 minutes later than the day before, and at 6:10 this morning, so they are going in the right direction. It does take a few days for most kids. My younger son made up for the late bedtime on Sunday with a 50 minute morning nap and 3 hour afternoon nap yesterday and was asleep in bed by 6:45 last night. My eldest was asleep by 7:30 (doesn’t nap anymore but almost fell asleep during his 1 hour rest-time, which for us is a no-no because it makes him stay up past 9 or 10 p.m. at night). I’m expecting a post 6:15 a.m. waking tomorrow, so we should be back on track.
All this to show you that even someone who is obsessed with sleep can make mistakes sometimes and things do just happen. I know a lot of parents out there really kick themselves and I feel for them when they contact me and say things like “I know I messed up” and I tell them it’s really okay. Everything WILL be okay. If something goes wrong, just make changes for the next time. Now, in the past, my mistake (you know because going out to dinner is so risky when you have a challenging sleeper LOL) would have been HUGE because one slip up with my eldest when he was a baby would set us back about a week or more, but now that he’s older, things are sooo much easier and my youngest is definitely more adaptable. Phew! My eldest son is having some behavior issues, so it still does affect him somewhat, still.
The highlight of my day, yesterday, was I received an update from one of my clients whom I’ve been helping for over 2 weeks because her daughter had been getting up at 6 a.m. and she did not want the time change to bump them back to 5 a.m. I was happy to hear that her daughter happily slept until 6:30 a.m., the new time, Sunday. I was ecstatic as shifting schedules is not always easy and she worked really hard for the past 2 weeks to make it happen. I’m so happy for her!
If your child is still having trouble adjusting to the new schedule, make sure you encourage them to stay in bed and in the dark, as the light stimulating our eyes cues us when it’s time to get up and it’s easy to get into a rut of waking at 5 a.m. every day. Hang in there!
How is the time change going for you?
11 Month Old Baby Schedule
Tuesday, 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. If your baby is having trouble napping, you may be interested in how you can get your baby to nap. A very small percentage transition to one nap as early as 10 months, but not many, so assume 2 naps unless you are certain. My eldest son did transition to one nap one week before his first birthday, so it was in the 11th month that I started seeing his morning nap get later and later. Most babies get very very overtired and sleep can spiral out of control, so I always recommend keeping two naps as long as possible. The average age to transition to one nap is 15-18 months.
Although many babies can go all night without a single feeding, in my experience, some do better with one feeding after 4 or 5 a.m. and sleep longer than not feed and get an early wake-time. I would need to know your specific situation to make a recommendation, but just recognize that all babies are different. By this age I would not expect more than one feeding, typically, if any at all. I would recommend at least an attempt at night-weaning because it is a chicken and egg problem. It’s hard to encourage more eating during the day when he is eating at night and it’s hard to discourage eating at night when he isn’t eating more during the day.
All babies vary, but here are some rough schedules you can use to make your own for your unique baby. I should warn you that I am in the camp that breast milk or formula should be the primary nutrition for the first year and solids come secondary. Below are the amounts recommended from Super Baby Food, the book I use for reference (as a guide, not as the end-all-be-all because I don’t give my kids nuts before a year or follow other things in the book, but it’s a good reference guide). Another useful reference is Wholesome Baby Food. Although I work full time, I did make most of my baby food (I’d make 1 big batch of something each weekend in 1-2 hours), but even if you don’t, the website is useful as a guide when to introduce what food and other meal ideas.
The amount of food at 11 months is very similar to 10 months, but she may be eating a little more.
Amounts per day:
• At least 3-4 nursing sessions per day or 24-32 ounces formula or combination of both
• No more than 6-8 oz of water or juice (to ensure they drink enough breast milk or formula)
• 2 servings (1 serving = 1-2 Tablespoons dry) baby cereal
• 2 servings grain (1 serving = 1/2 slice bread, 2 crackers, 1/2 cup Cheerios, or 1/2 cup whole grain pasta)
• 2 servings fruit (1 serving = 3-4 Tablespoons)
• 2-3 servings vegetable (1 serving = 3-4 Tablespoons)
• 2-3 servings protein (1 serving = 1-2 Tablespoons)
• 1 serving Dairy (1 serving = 1/2 cup yogurt, 1/3 cup cottage cheese or 1 oz grated cheese)
• You can also offer cooked egg yolk (but no egg whites until 1 year old due to allergans)
The first schedule is what I call a “staggered” approach. My first son did better nursing fully and then having solids a bit in between nursing sessions. He was a little hungry but not famished. He just didn’t do well with stopping nursing mid-way to eat solids.
7:00 - Wake and Breast milk or Formula
9:00 - Breakfast
10:00 or 10:30 - Morning Nap (at least 1 hour)
11:00 - Breast milk or Formula plus snack
1:00 - Lunch
2:00 or 2:30 - Early Afternoon Nap (at least 1 hour)
3:00 - Breast milk or Formula plus snack
5:00 - Dinner
6:15 - Begin bedtime routine
7:00 - Breast milk or Formula and Bedtime (goal to be asleep at this time)
If your baby doesn’t mind a more “consolidated” approach to eating, like my second son, here is another type of schedule:
Schedule 2
7:00 - Wake
7:15 - Breakfast plus Breast milk / Formula feeding
9:15 - Snack
10:00 or 10:30 - Morning Nap (at least 1 hour)
12:00 - Lunch plus Breast milk / Formula feeding
2:00 or 2:30 - Afternoon Nap (at least 1 hour)
3:30 - Snack
5:00 - Dinner plus Breast milk / Formula feeding
6:15 - Begin bedtime routine
7:00 - Small BM/Formula feeding (possibly) and Bedtime (goal to be asleep at this time)
Note: When giving any feedings during your bedtime routine, be careful not to create sleep associations, which we saw become important at 4 months old.
You may also be interested in tracking your baby’s sleep, feedings, medication doses, immunizations, etc. using online software. You can even install on your mobile device for when you’re on the go!
If you need help with your baby’s schedule or night-weaning, you may be interested in Help Your Baby Sleep, a Step-by-Step Guide, which discusses naps, schedules, and shifting schedules for babies waking too early or going to bed too late (among many other things) or get one-on-one baby sleep advice.
What is your 11-month old’s schedule?
Baby Sleep, Daylight Savings and Time Changes
Thursday, October 9th, 2008
Here in the U.S. (in most states), we are going to be “falling back” (changing our clocks one hour back) this year on Sunday, November 2, 2008. In Europe, they will be changing their clocks the last Sunday in October, or October 27th. The reason we have Daylight Savings is that it allows us to use less energy in lighting our homes by having longer and later daylight hours. Whether you are changing the clocks or traveling with baby through time zones, most parents want to know what to do with their baby’s sleep when the clock says one time and baby says another.
For some, they are anxious for the time change to happen because their baby is going to bed too late, but other parents are freaking out because their baby or toddler is already waking too early and now the clock will say it’s even earlier!
What strategies can you use to handle the time change?
The first option is to do nothing. Your baby is waking at 7 a.m. and going to bed at 7 p.m. The day the clock changes, it will say 6 a.m., but it really is no different than the day before. You will stick to the same schedule and put him to bed when the clock says 7 p.m. that night, which, to him, will really be 8 p.m. For babies or toddlers who are not sensitive to being overtired or go with the flow, this is a fine strategy and within a day or two, he will be all set and re-settle into the same schedule. If your baby is an early bird (lark) who wakes up at 5 a.m., for example, he will fall back to the normal routine of waking at 5 a.m. after a few days to a week and if you are happy with that, I would simply suggest going with this option and planning to wake up at 4 a.m. for a few days.
The second option is to slowly change your baby or toddler’s schedule over the course of a few days before the time changes. On Wednesday, before your time changes, put your baby or toddler to bed 15 minutes later than normal in hopes that he wakes up 15 minutes later in the morning (I can’t promise that will happen because of our internal clocks, but it does work for many). Also, offer him naps 15 minutes later. Keep putting him to bed 15 minutes later each night until the night of the time change. By the time the clock changes, you would have shifted his schedule by 1 hour, the clock will change, and you will be back to your normal schedule. Unfortunately, this option can have a rippling bad effect on babies or toddlers who are sensitive to becoming overtired, possibly leading to crankiness, early morning wake-up, night-wakings and short naps.
The third option is to stick to the regular schedule leading up to the time change and once the time changes, be flexible and alter the schedule only as much as she can handle. The first night, you may only get to a 6:30 p.m. bedtime, for example, and she will go to bed earlier than normal (clock-wise). It’s the light that stimulates our eyes and sets our internal clock as to when we should sleep or not, so after a few days, she should re-settle into her normal schedule. Unfortunately, this option is really hard on those with babies or toddlers who are already waking up at 5 a.m. You may want to consider shifting your baby or toddler’s schedule in the 3 weeks leading up to the time change and, again, a week after the time change (if you do not like the 5 a.m. wake-up).
There are a variety of things you can do that fall somewhere in between any of these options, but these are the main options you have. If you’d like help with a custom solution for your unique baby, please contact me by purchasing my baby sleep consulting services. I’d love to help you!
10 Month Old Baby Schedule
Tuesday, September 16th, 2008
This article outlines the average 10 month old baby schedule, including feedings, solids, naps and night sleep.
10 month old’s sleep
At this age, most 10 month olds can sleep through the night, without a feeding, and take two naps. If your baby is having trouble napping, you may be interested in how you can get your baby to nap. A very small percentage transition to one nap as early as 10 months, but not many, so assume 2 naps unless you are certain. Most babies get very very overtired and sleep can spiral out of control, so I always recommend keeping two naps as long as possible. The average age to transition to 1 nap is 15-18 months.
Although many babies can go all night without a single feeding, in my experience, some do better with one feeding after 4 or 5 a.m. and sleep longer than not feed and get an early wake-time. I would need to know your specific situation to make a recommendation, but just recognize that all babies are different. By this age I would not expect more than 1 feeding, typically, if any at all. I would recommend at least an attempt at night-weaning because it is a chicken and egg problem. It’s hard to encourage more eating during the day when he is eating at night and it’s hard to discourage eating at night when he isn’t eating more during the day.
All babies vary, but here are some rough schedules you can use to make your own for your unique baby. I should warn you that I am in the camp that breast milk or formula should be the primary nutrition for the first year and solids come secondary. Below are the amounts recommended from Super Baby Food, the book I use for reference (as a guide, not as the end-all-be-all because I don’t give my kids nuts before a year or follow other things in the book, but it’s a good reference guide). Another useful reference is Wholesome Baby Food. Although I work full time, I did make most of my baby food (I’d make 1 big batch of something each weekend in 1-2 hours), but even if you don’t, the website is useful as a guide when to introduce what food and other meal ideas.
Note: At 10 months, sometimes you notice a sharp increase in appetite (no doubt partially due to activity levels with crawling and possibly cruising), so what’s different about the 9 month schedule is the addition of another snack, some of the serving sizes and the # of servings.
Amounts per day:
• At least 3-4 nursing sessions per day or 24-32 ounces formula or combination of both
• No more than 6-8 oz of water or juice (to ensure they drink enough breast milk or formula)
• 2 servings (1 serving = 1-2 Tablespoons dry) baby cereal
• 2 servings grain (1 serving = 1/2 slice bread, 2 crackers, 1/2 cup Cheerios, or 1/2 cup whole grain pasta)
• 2 servings fruit (1 serving = 3-4 Tablespoons)
• 2-3 servings vegetable (1 serving = 3-4 Tablespoons)
• 2-3 servings protein (1 serving = 1-2 Tablespoons)
• 1 serving Dairy (1 serving = 1/2 cup yogurt, 1/3 cup cottage cheese or 1 oz grated cheese)
• You can also offer cooked egg yolk (but no egg whites until 1 year old due to allergans)
The first schedule is what I call a “staggered” approach. My first son did better nursing fully and then having solids a bit in between nursing sessions. He was a little hungry but not famished. He just didn’t do well with stopping nursing mid-way to eat solids.
7:00 - Wake and Breast milk or Formula
9:00 - Breakfast
10:00 - Morning Nap (at least 1 hour)
11:00 - Breast milk or Formula plus snack
1:00 - Lunch
2:00 - Early Afternoon Nap (at least 1 hour)
3:00 - Breast milk or Formula plus snack
5:00 - Dinner
6:15 - Begin bedtime routine
7:00 - Breast milk or Formula and Bedtime (goal to be asleep at this time)
If your baby doesn’t mind a more “consolidated” approach to eating, like my second son, here is another type of schedule:
Schedule 2
7:00 - Wake
7:15 - Breakfast plus Breast milk / Formula feeding
9:15 - Snack
10:00 - Morning Nap (at least 1 hour)
12:00 - Lunch plus Breast milk / Formula feeding
2:00 - Afternoon Nap (at least 1 hour)
3:30 - Snack
5:00 - Dinner plus Breast milk / Formula feeding
6:15 - Begin bedtime routine
7:00 - Small BM/Formula feeding (possibly) and Bedtime (goal to be asleep at this time)
Note: When giving any feedings during your bedtime routine, be careful not to create sleep associations, which we saw become important at 4 months old.
You may also be interested in tracking your baby’s sleep, feedings, medication doses, immunizations, etc. using online software. You can even install on your mobile device for when you’re on the go!
If you need help with your baby’s schedule or night-weaning, you may be interested in Help Your Baby Sleep, a Step-by-Step Guide, which discusses naps, schedules, and shifting schedules for babies waking too early or going to bed too late (among many other things) or get one-on-one baby sleep advice.
What is your 10-month old’s schedule?
9 Month Old Baby Schedule
Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008
This article outlines the average 9 month old baby schedule, including feedings, solids, naps and night sleep.
9 month old’s sleep
At this age, if you are not lucky enough to have a baby who sleeps through the night, most 9 month olds can sleep all night without a feeding and take two naps. If your baby is having trouble napping, you may be interested in how you can get your baby to nap. However, some babies, in my experience, do better with one feeding after 4 or 5 a.m. and sleep longer than not feed and get an early wake-time. I would need to know your specific situation to make a recommendation, but just recognize that all babies are different, but by this age I would not expect more than 1 feeding, typically, if any at all. All babies vary, but here are some rough schedules you can use to make your own for your unique baby.
I should warn you that I am in the camp that breastmilk or formula should be the primary nutrition for the first year and solids come secondary. Below are the amounts recommended from Super Baby Food, the book I use for reference (as a guide, not as the end-all-be-all because I don’t give my kids nuts before a year or follow other things in the book, but it’s a good reference guide). Another useful reference is Wholesome Baby Food. Although I work full time, I did make most of my baby food (I’d make 1 big batch of something each weekend in 1-2 hours), but even if you don’t, the website is useful as a guide when to introduce what food and other meal ideas.
Amounts per day:
• At least 3-4 nursing sessions per day or 26-32 ounces formula or combination of both
• 2 servings (1 serving = 1-2 Tablespoons dry) baby cereal
• 1-2 servings grain (1 serving = 1/2 slice bread, 2 crackers, 1/2 cup Cheerios, or 1/2 cup whole grain pasta)
• 2 servings (1 serving = 2-4 Tablespoons) fruit
• 2 servings (1 serving = 2-4 Tablespoons) vegetable
• 2-3 servings (1 serving = 1-2 Tablespoons) protein
• 1 serving Dairy (1 serving = 1/2 cup yogurt, 1/3 cup cottage cheese or 1 oz grated cheese)
The first schedule is what I call a “staggered” approach. My first son did better nursing fully and then having solids a bit in between nursing sessions. He was a little hungry but not famished. He just didn’t do well with stopping nursing mid-way to eat solids.
7:00 - Wake and Breast milk or Formula
9:00 - Breakfast
10:00 - Morning Nap (at least 1 hour)
11:00 - Breast milk or Formula
1:00 - Lunch
2:00 - Early Afternoon Nap (at least 1 hour)
3:00 - Breast milk or Formula plus snack
5:00 - Dinner
6:15 - Begin bedtime routine
7:00 - Breastmilk or Formula and Bedtime (goal to be asleep at this time)
If your baby doesn’t mind a more “consolidated” approach to eating, like my second son, here is another type of schedule:
Schedule 2
7:00 - Wake, 1/2 Breast milk / Formula feeding, breakfast and other 1/2 BM / Formula
10:00 - Morning Nap (at least 1 hour)
11:00 - 1/2 BM/Formula, Lunch, and other 1/2 BM/Formula
2:00 - Afternoon Nap (at least 1 hour)
3:00 - BM or Formula Feeding plus snack
5:00 - Dinner and 1/2 BM / Formula feeding
6:15 - Begin bedtime routine
7:00 - Small BM/Formula feeding and Bedtime (goal to be asleep at this time)
Note: When giving any feedings during your bedtime routine, be careful not to create sleep associations.
You may also be interested in tracking your baby’s sleep, feedings, medication doses, immunizations, etc. using online software. You can even install on your mobile device for when you’re on the go! Or, you may be interested in more advice about 9 Month olds from Mamasource.
If you need help with your baby’s schedule, you may be interested in Help Your Baby Sleep, a Step-by-Step Guide, which discusses naps, schedules, and shifting schedules for babies waking too early or going to bed too late (among many other things) or get one-on-one baby sleep advice.
What is your 9-month old’s schedule?
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