7 month old feeding schedule

[newmomma01]

Hi,
Thank you all for your insight. My almost 8 month old baby is waking up 3-4 times a night, usually starting around 11pm and he's up by 5:30-6:30. We sleep trained him several weeks ago but have yet to work on letting him self-soothe during the night.
When I bf him at night he is taking in a lot which makes me think he isn't eating enough during the day but he also seems content during the day. Should I try to encourage him to eat more during the day even though he seems content?
Has anyone had this issue?

[cr8tvm0m]

Hi newmomma01!

I am having the same issue. My son will be 8 mos on the 10th of January. His schedule varies depending on naps but here's an idea...

5 am - I nurse him and he goes back to sleep for a bit.
7 am - I nurse him again.
10 am - 6 oz bottle of formula.
11 am - 1 stage 2 jar of fruit with cereal and museli mixed in.
1 pm - 6 oz bottle of formula and some puffs.
2 pm - 1 stage 2 jar of veggies with cereal and museli mixed in.
4pm - 6 oz bottle of formula
between 5-6 pm will either have a snack of puffs or another jar of food.
7pm - I nurse him (and sometimes top off with 2 oz of formula)

Then he's in bed between 7:30 pm - 9 pm.

But the real problem is he doesn't sleep through the night anymore. He used to get at least 6 hours at a stint, now we're lucky if he gets 2-3 hours at a time. He usually wakes up at 11 or 12am, again around 2 or 3 am and again at 5am. He is usually looking to nurse when he gets up. I think he may also be teething too which may cause him to wake up as well.

Any ideas on how we can get him back to sleeping through the night again?

Thanks!
Mel

[lmcnamara3]

I have a 7 month old boy - my Dr is of the mindset less milk more food - so his schedule is:
Between 6:30 and 7:30 depending on wake up time - Nursing for about 10 minutes
8:30AM - 4 tablespoons of cereal mixed with 2 oz. of breasmilk and a half jar of fruit
10:30AM - 4oz breastmilk
NOON - 1 jar of 2nd stage meats and 1 jar of fruit or vegetable depending on what is mixed with the meats
3PM - 4 oz breastmilk
4:30PM - 15 gerber puffs (sometimes more or less depending on how much he is into it)
5:30PM - 1 jar of 2nd stage meats and 1 jar of fruit or vegetable depending on what is mixed with the meats
7PM - Nurse for about 15 minutes
8PM - bedtime

[jennimjsmama]

Here's my 7-month old's feeding schedule. ( I work full-time and recently quit pumping...I plan to nurse in the morning and at night for as long my supply lasts)

7:00am- wake, nurse for about 15 mins
8:30am- 4oz formula in a bottle, 2tbsp oatmeal cereal mixed with formula, 1 containter of Stage 2 fruit
11:30am- 4oz formula in a bottle, 1 container of Stage 1 veggie OR 1/2 container of Stage 2 veggie and 1 container of Stage 2 fruit.
3:30- 5oz formula in a bottle, snack of about 2 oz fruit juice cut with water and some finger foods
6:30- nurse for about 15 minutes, 2tbsp brown rice cereal mixed with formula and fruit, 1 container of Stage 1 veggie, some finger foods
7:30- 5oz formula
8:00- bedtime

Our ped advised us that until 9 months or so, breastmilk or formula should still make up the majority of his caloric intake. We are also now introducing table/finger foods, like puffs, arrowroot cookies, yogurt, mashed bananas and avocado, small pieces of bread, mashed potato, etc. Things he doesn't need to chew but he can practice picking up and eating. We will also give him some water and juice (cut with water) in his sippy with lunch and dinner.

I think something to keep in mind is our baby's size. Some 7-month olds can take a 7-8 oz bottle, but some, like my peanut who's at the 20th%, still only take 4-5 oz.

For those who have babies waking at night to nurse...the only thing to do to curb this is breaking the sleep association your baby has with nursing to fall back asleep. This can be done gently (Pantley's No-Cry Sleep Solution) or more abruptly (Ferber and others). As long as you continue to feed your baby when he/she wakes, he/she will continue to wake to feed. It's a tough cycle to break but can be done!

[ruthbruin2002@yahoo.com]

I'm glad everyone is asking this question. My 6.5 month old twins recently started on solids, and I am unsure if the schedule I have going is typical appropriate.

6:30am - 8 ounce bottle of formula

10:00-10:30 - 1/4 cup serving of cereal and a 4 ounce bottle to follow

Around 2pm - 8 ounce bottle formula

5:30pm - 1 baby food jar of veggies and 4 ounces of formula to follow

7:30pm - ounces to finish the night.

They sleep through until 6am every night. When do "snacks" come into play? I feel like each feeding time is a meal, not a snack.

[skinnysumo]

My son is a very good eater and sleeps all night as well. We're very lucky!

schedule is
wake up around 7:30 - 8
breakfast about 20min after he wakes up
3 tbsp of cereal with water and a 7oz bottle of formula
lunch is at noon
3 tbsp veggie, 3 tbsp fruit and a 7oz bottle of formula
supper is at 4:40
3 tbsp veggie, 3 tbsp fruit (going to start meat soon) and a 7oz bottle of milk
snack is at 8pm
3 tbsp cereal with water and a 7oz bottle of formula

He is usually in bed just before 9pm and doesn't wake up till around 7:30 or 8 the next morning.
He's been like this for almost a month now.

I have a 3 year old daughter and she ate SO much less but slept a lot more. So each kid is different. As long as your child is happy and is growing you're doing a Great job!!

[onlineclick]

Hello!

I'm new to this forum.. Hope to have nice time around here...

big respect !

[Erica22]

My daughter is almost 7 months and this is her schedule. I am surprised at a lot of the schedules that have been posted. They are very different from ours, but I guess if it works, it works. This is the schedule that I use for my baby and have created it simply by reading her needs the best that I can and using the knowledge that I have learned and researched. I do use flexibility throughout the day and change according to her signals. It works well for my girl, but is probably slightly more demanding than some other schedules that have been posted.

(NOTE: The times vary depending on when she wakes up. She has a bottle every 4 hours and naps once between every bottle feeding. Her wake time is usually no more than 2-2 1/2 hours. Also, ever since she has started crawling she seems to want food more frequently, so I have started giving her snacks during play time-puffs, cheerios, etc. I also use those snacky foods while I am getting her "meal" ready so that she can practice picking them up and is happy waiting in high chair. I home-make and freeze all of her baby food)

8:00-9:30am wake up and have a 6oz bottle
9:00-10:00ish play time
10:15 2oz fruit mixed with 1-2 tbs of oatmeal
10:30ish nap
11:30-12:30 5 oz bottle
12:45-1:45 play time
1:45 3oz "other" veggies (squash/sweet pot./carrot) also a few pieces of soft cooked veggies
2:00 nap
3:00-3:45ish play time
4:00ish bottle
4:15-5:00 play time
5:00ish 3 oz green veggies mixed with 1-2 tbs rice cereal-optional-
5:15 nap
5:45ish-7:30 play time
7:30 6oz bottle
asleep by 8pm

If she wakes up late, I just give her the bottles a little closer together so that she can be in bed by 8pm. I think it's important for babies to have "early" bedtimes.

[Erica22]

I am assuming that your baby already has solids and has already gone through teething? How much breastmilk/formula/solids does he get a day? My little girl started waking up earlier for a while because she wasn't getting enough solids. She will only eat up to 6oz of formula, but will eat more solids. She will refuse formula, but eat more solids. Sometimes older babies need more solids and less liquid. Of course, you will want to make sure that they are still getting enough formula/breastmilk during the day, though.

I'm not sure how to help when your baby is 8 mos, because we started right away to try to get our baby to sleep longer-not even really intentionally. I just stopped responding to her every cry and she would often go back to sleep by herself. So I don't know what will work for an 8 mos old, but I can tell you what worked for me.
-My daughter started sleeping through the night at 2 1/2 months.

I was told by a doctor that studied and researched baby routines and habits that if a baby will "skip" eating during the night, then they were not that hungry. Now I am NOT a big fan of the cry-it-out method, so I made up my own version. I never let my baby cry for more than a few min at a time without me comforting her. (The doctor also said that up to the age of 3 months (or more) a baby needs to know that if they cry and need something that they will get it. It builds trust between a baby and parent to respond to their cries. Now that mine is 7 months, I still maintain that because now she never cries unless she is scared, needs a diaper change, is hungry, or tired. Oh and my child has always been a good sleeper and prefers sleeping even to eating sometimes. I dunno how much is nurture and how much is nature, but that's how she is. She also learned to suck her thumb to soothe herself, so I'm not sure how that would play into your methods if yours is not a thumb sucker. Maybe try a pacifier? Anyway, so here's what I would try:

1. Baby wakes up. WAIT. Do not go in immediately. My baby has a certain cry when she wakes up and doesn't want to vs. when she wants someone to come in and is in distress. Sometimes she will do the first cry and then switch to the distress cry when I don't respond right away and sometimes she will go back to sleep. (She doesn't wake in the night anymore, but the last couple nights she has because her bottom tooth is coming in.
2. Go in, but keep the lights in the room off (use hallway lights). As least disturbing as possible (leave baby in crib), make sure that your child is not poopy or that anything else is possibly wrong.
3. As long as he is fine and doesn't need anything (food/diaper change/medicine/etc) gently touch his face and/or comfort him very briefly, tuck him back in and leave the room.
4. If he cries again wait a few minutes. Then go back in and repeat step 3. Continue this up to 5 times. If he continues crying then he might need something. I would do whatever it takes to get him to go back to sleep at that point-even if you have to bf him to sleep. At least with mine, if she gets worked up and won't go to sleep after 15 min that means she won't go back to sleep period and needs food or something is wrong.
5. Then, if this seems to work, after a night or two, lengthen the time that you wait to check on him. Then continue to do this until you only check once and then leave him to soothe himself and don't go back in.
6. If this doesn't work, I would be a little worried that something else is going on. My baby almost always went to sleep after a few times of my "respond/leave" method.

This worked well for my little one, but again, she was around 2-3 months when I did it, so I'm not sure how it will work for you. I figured that based on what the doctor had said, if she went back to sleep, she wasn't that hungry. It made it harder for me as a mom, but was so worth it when she slept 8-9 hours by the time she was 3 months. (It was harder because she would go back to sleep, but then wake an hour later, hungry. However, in the long run, it would stretch out the time she could go before needing food. I would absolutely NOT recommend forcing a baby to go back to sleep before feeding him/her. I only offered my baby the option and then if she would go back to sleep, I would let her. If not I would go ahead and feed her. But for a child of 8 months this probably doesn't work as well because he/she has the ability to go that long without food already. I have also heard of decreasing amt of time bfing when waking (each night) by about 5 min or less until they don't bf at all. Then maybe you could do it with the method I provided after that.

I do know-this is important-if nothing is wrong with him and all his needs are met and you continue to go into his room every time he wakes you will be fostering a habit. When we went on vacation, my daughter was unsure with a new environment and started waking in the night about twice. She continued to do it when we returned home for several days until I realized why she was waking and then delayed going to her, then briefly comforted her, and then left her to fall back asleep. Then she fell back into the routine. Babies are sooo versatile and your baby may be thinking that this is part of the new routine... I know for a fact that a healthy/happy momma makes an even healthier/happier baby.
Also, I would recommend starting with one thing at a time. If your baby needs to be rocked to sleep still, then rock him to sleep when he wakes at night until he does not anymore. Then try to help him learn to soothe himself to sleep. Sometimes when there is too much that is different, it's hard for a baby to know what to do.

Whew. Sorry this is so long. I hope I helped you or maybe somebody else. I know it doesn't really apply to this thread...

[loveme74]

Here is my schedule and Im still lost for the morning. She is 6 months

7:00 Breakfast: Oatmeal and half of fruit
9:00 8 oz bottle
1:00 8 oz bottle
5:30 Dinner: Veggie Stage 2 and half of fruit
7:00 - 7:30 8 oz bottle

I am back and forth with the bottle in the morning not sure if I should give her a bottle with breakfast and then change the schedule back to this

7:00 Breakfast: Oatmeal and half of fruit and 8 oz bottle
11:30 8 oz bottle
3:30 4 oz bottle
5:30 Dinner: Veggie Stage 2 and half of fruit
7:00 - 7:30 8 oz bottle

Any thoughts?