By the time your baby gets older they now are starting to experience more awake time during the day and are not as sleepy as your newborn once was. And just as you start to figure out a sleep and wake schedule….bam it’s time to add in solid foods to the mix!
In today’s blog, I put together some sample schedules to help you see what some of the different wake, sleep, and feeding times may look like for your child. As with any schedule, it’s important to follow what YOUR child needs and there is not a need to adhere to a strict schedule as there are ups and downs when it comes to childhood growth and development.
6 Months- 8 months
Sleeping
At this age your child is likely on 2-3 naps a day, often two longer ones and one catnap towards the end of the day. If naps are short check out some ways to lengthen naps here
Feeding
At this stage you’ll be just starting to implement solid foods and will want to start with just once a day as your baby gets used to eating and you assess for allergies (each new food space out every 3-5 days). Once things are going well you can increase to twice a day feeding schedule.
Sample schedule:
- 7am awake and nurse/bottle feed #1
- 8:30 Breakfast – example pureed egg and water
- 9:30 am nap #1
- 11 am awake and nurse/bottle feed #2
- 1:30 pm nap #2
- 2:30 pm awake nurse/bottle feed #3
- 4 pm cat nap if needed
- 4:30 pm nurse/bottle feed #4
- 5:30 pm Dinner slice of avocado
- 6:30 pm Bath
- 7 pm Last nurse/bottle feed #5 then bedtime routine
- 7:30 lights out
9-12 months
Sleeping
At this age now your baby should be on 2 consistent naps a day taking longer more consolidated naps and for the most part sleeping through the night without overnight feeds (that doesn’t mean at all that you can’t feed overnight if that’s working for you- but from a nutritional standpoint they can get what they need during the day time).
Feeding
At this stage now that baby has improved fine motor skills they can start to take more finger foods and they also can increase solid foods to 3 meals a day and 2 snacks. That being said all babies will eat a different amount. It’s your job as a parent to offer healthy foods and your baby decides when they are hungry or full.
Sample schedule:
- 7am awake and nurse/bottle feed #1
- 8:30 Breakfast – example scrambled egg and pear, water
- 9:30 am nap #1
- 11 am awake and nurse/bottle feed #2
- 12 Noon Lunch- example cooked carrot, cooked chicken, brown rice, water
- 2:00 pm nap #2
- 3:30 pm awake nurse/bottle feed #3
- 4:30 snack example plain yogurt
- 5:30 pm Dinner- example cut up meatball, cooked green beans, water
- 6:00 pm Bath
- 6:30 Last nurse/bottle feed #4 then bedtime routine
- 7 pm lights out
Remember that while every phase is different you’ll want to get support through it all. Keep following along here at Nested Sleep for ways to balance sleep and development throughout your kiddo’s childhood.
References:
https://www.greenlight-program.org/toolkit-components/booklets/browse/us/
