Nap Schedule for 6Month-1 Year Old

My son is 11 months old. We have been on the same nap schedual since birth. He goes down around 9:30 and for the second around 3:30. It does have to adjust sometimes, we just work with it. Good luck

Just a thought to try. Don't wake up your 6 month old. Let her sleep a bigger block of hours and then give her a nap, say at 11...and since really to little to eat table food much, maybe a short nap while you prepare or eat dinner? Then just take her to car before picking up older sib. Alter bed time too to push up waking time if necessary. Just stop stimulation a little later each night if she is sleeping too early. My 1st I had problems with because her dad worked graveyards, but this worked well with older son. My kids at 6 months I could carry to car seat(or had the carrier still), and would still sleep on the way to car and in it. It may just take some adjusting here and there, and by the time you get used to it, you may have to cut out later nap and extend the mid day one and put to bed earlier again as she may not require as much sleep.

Hi H.,

I have a 6 month old little boy and I'll just give you his nap schedule like others have done. I've also read most of Babywise and Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. We tried being on more of a strict "by the clock" schedule with my little guy, but that didn't work for him. So, I tried the semi-schedule of just watching his cues for when he is tired but not letting him stay up longer than about 2 hours (unless of course that didn't work with our schedule that day, then some times it would be as long as 3 or 4 hours. We try to keep that the exception rather than the rule, though). So far this has meant that we let our boy sleep for as long as he wants to. And that means that naps can be at different times each day (this definitely makes it difficult when trying to schedule things). His bedtime is early (6:30-7:30) and he had been sleeping until 8:30am (with 1-2 wakings for feedings) until about a week ago. Now he sleeps until 7am (with 1 waking) and we just go from there. I agree with Healthy Sleep Habits in that babies need a lot of sleep. But, I think with any schedule (or non-schedule) it's important to remember that every baby is different, so try a few different things and see what works for you and your family. I used to get frustrated because I tried to follow each "expert's" advice to a tee and none of it seemed to work for us, so we just took what worked and kind of threw out the rest. And if it kind of messes with our "adult" schedule for awhile then we just try to remember that this is only for a short period of time and soon, he won't need so much sleep. Hope that wasn't too much rambling and that some of it helped!
--H.

I had my mom give me advise on this and it works great her advise would be let your baby sleep when she wants to sleep, and when she wants to be awake let her be awake. This will make your baby more content, and happier which will make it easier on you too. Also your baby will learn to adjust to your schedule if your driving in the car and shes tired shes going to sleep no matter where your at. The best advise is just be a happy mother it will make your baby happy.

I also have 6 month old. This is her sleeping schedule, she wakes up around 7:00, naps at 9:00, usually sleeps for 1-2 hours and is ready for anouther nap around 1:00. She then sleeps another 1-2 hours and is ready for another nap around 4:30-5:00. She sleeps then for about an hour, and then goes to bed for the night at 7:30! She is a really good sleeper. When I started making a naptime routine for her, I ended up having to just let her cry it out in her bed for awhile. She still has a bit of a problem right when I put her in bed and she will cry for 15 minutes max and then will be totally out! My pediatrician said that letting them cry in bed is not a big deal at all, and it will not hurt them and they are fine. Good luck with naps!

Hi H.. When my son was that age, he also would get up in the morning around 7:00 and then take a nap from 9:00 to about 11:00 and then again around 1:00 until about 3:00 and then back down for the night around 6:30. I really tried to watch his sleep signals and determine his schedule that way. I'm not sure what you can do about picking your child up from school, though. Good luck!

I read the book On Becoming Babywise about eating and sleeping schedules and it recommends nursing them and then feed them their baby food or rice cereal all in the same sitting.

Here's my schedule that works great for me. It has 3 naps and 5 nursings with 3 solid feedings that line up with normal mealtimes:

7 or 7:30 Baby wakes and nurses, then eats rice cereal
9:30 Baby naps until 11
11:00 Baby wakes & nurses & immediately has babyfood for lunch
12:30 Baby naps (I did it this way so her nap overlaps a little with my toddler's nap so I get a little break. I put her down right before me and the toddler eat lunch because it's less stress to have her down while I prepare and eat lunch.)
3:00-ish Baby wakes and nurses (no babyfood this time. Maybe some baby cracker puffs as a snack--the kind that dissolve)
5:00 Baby naps (this is the nap I'm trying to get rid of)
6:00 Baby wakes and nurses, then eats babyfood or rice cereal
8:00 Baby goes to bed with cuddling and story and song
9:00 I wake baby up for one last nursing without food, and then put her right back down to bed unless she's so smiley I can't resist playing a little with her. I'll eventually merge this and the 6:00 nursing and just nurse her once at 7:00-ish before bedtime and then not have to wake her up again after that.

So I tried to line up the solid foods with normal mealtimes to make that transition easier when she gets older and so she can sit at the table now with the rest of us when we eat. I like a schedule because I plan outings around it and have a pretty good idea when my kids will be well-rested and fed, so they won't be grumpy.

H., I am a scheduling mother but firmly believe that you have to have flexibility at the same time and do what works for your family. I tried to maintain the schedule of up at 7 AM down for a nap around 9-11 AM. Have lunch and then back down for a nap around 1-3. Playtime, evening 20-30 minute cat nap around 4:30 or 5, dinner, family walk, and bedtime around 7 PM. I would say if you have to pick your daughters up from school which puts a kink in the afternoon schedule shorten or bump one of the naps. You could shorten the morning nap, or start your whole morning routine at 6 rather than 7, and attempt to put her down around 12 noon for 2 hours instead, or you could try to lengthen your moring, try to have her wait to go down for a nap after you pick your girls up. I would be more inclined for putting her down early from 12-2, and maybe shortening her morning nap to only an hour. Just some ideas for you. I have followed SOME of the tips for scheduling from the book Babywise. I really enjoy the book,and some of his tips and suggestions. Not everything he says in the book I agree with, but I just filter out what doesn't really seem to be applicable for our family at this point. It's a great book to help you get started though. I hope this helps, good luck!
E.

Dear H.,
Don't know if the last one went through so I will attempt one more time. I have a 14month old little girl. She gets up about 7:00am and I do put her back down for a nap about 8:30 or 9:00am, and then I do put her back down around 12:00pm or 1:00pm depending if were home or not. she has been on this schedule since she was about 3 or 4 months old. I believe if you get her on a schedule and follow it as consisant as you can she will adjust fine. It may take a few times but she will adjust. Plus she is 6months old so they need their sleep anyways.And I would say if your oldest daughter's school is close by then you shouldn't have a problem waking her up right before you have to leave. Plus this nap will help during dinner hours so she wont be fussy :>). Good luck and hope this helps. Sincerely B.

Maybe if you could keep your baby up a little while longer in the morning and do naptime at 10 or 11am (i know it's hard becuase some babies are so grumpy when overtired)--then you can get your taxi-ing done around 2pm, without waking the baby (I am just assuming your baby doesn't nap more than 2-3 hrs), and then do another nap around 4pm. The eve nap is just perfect for getting up for a few hours again around 6 or 7pm, to play before totally tiring out for the night. Sometimes I draw out the earlier morning "awake" hours with a long bath, a slow breakfast, playtime, etc. to make the naptimes i've set work for our family--it's so tough! Good luck! I'm yet to be an expert.

The best book I've read is "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Marc Weisbluth, MD. He says at this age the children should go back to sleep somewhere between 2 to 3 hours from when they last woke up. So if she wakes at 7, she naps between 9 and 10 and then if she wakes again at 11, she would nap between 1 and 2. It just depends on when the previous sleep session ended. This worked so well for me and my son sleeps like a champ. Good Luck!

With my kids, I would put them down two hours after they woke up in the morning.....then when they woke up from that nap I would put them down two hours after that. I totally understand how school reeks havic with naps! If you cannot get both in...try one long one! I loved this transition! Then they would sleep for three to four hours at a time, and it was great!

Good luck!

We "ferberized" our 9 month old daughter at 6 months. She is on the following schedule and has been for awhile now...she wakes about 7 a.m.. I feed her about 8...she plays until 10'ish...sleeps somewhere between 10 and 12...feed again...play until about 2...sleeps somewhere between 2 and 4...feed again...play...6:30 last feeding and zonk lights out before 7pm...wakes at 7!!! IT IS FANTASTIC!!!! The trick if she is fussy...let her cry it out in 15 minute intervals. It is usually all it takes. We learned this method from the book What To Expect the First Year. It has been liberating!!! GOOD LUCK!!!

Hi,I have a 3year olddaughter and my son will be one year on saturday and he had been on this nap schedual since about 5 or 6 months. He wakes up at 6:30, eats and plays then naps around 8 or 8:30, sleeps til about 9:30 or 10. Both kids eat lunch around 11:30 and I usually lay him back down for the afternoon nap at noon or 12:30 (depending on the morning nap length and how long it took to eat lunch). My daughter usually naps around this time also. He usually goes down pretty easily. If it works out for you that way your baby will be ok to get up when time to go get your other kids from school also it makes it nice cause then bed time moves up to 6:30 or 7. Hope all works out.

Our 8 month old is usually up around 7, takes another nap around 9:30/10:00. Sometimes she'll nap for 90 minutes, sometimes only 30. The other nap she takes is typically around 1:30, so that would cut into your 2:15 nap time. What would happen if you pushed back her morning nap slowly so that she could take a nap when you got back from picking up your other child?

Hi H.,
If you can follow her cues, it will work best for her and for you. Watch for signs that she is ready to nap and remember that she is not the same person as your other children. Her nap schedule may be completely different from what anyone else had. If you observe, you will probably see that she gets fussy, wipes her eyes, or acts willing to be alone at a consistent time daily. And that time may change a little as she grows and changes. So try to follow her lead for the time, then tweak it a little if you need to so it works for your schedule, too.

Hi H.,
I followed the recommended schedule from the book "Babywise" by Gary Ezzo. Basically, whatever time your baby wakes up in the morning, feed him, play with him then put him down for a nap. Let him sleep until you wake him up at the next feeding... for a six month old, that's about 3-4 hours between each feeding, if you are breast feeding. If you are bottle feeding and giving solids, I think you can stretch it to 4 hours. So, a morning nap is usually good - my baby went down for nap #1 about 2 hours after she first woke up. Then, she went down for a 2nd nap in the early afternoon. At six months of age they may require a small 3rd nap in the early evening before the regular bedtime. I know it's hard with school pick up times, but you'll figure it out okay! Good luck!

My grandson just turned a year last month, so I have some recent experience on this one! The up at 7, down at 9 is perfect! How long are you letting her sleep? If you want her to take an afternoon nap, don't let her sleep for more than an hour and a half. Then she can have lunch about 11:30-12, and take another hour to an hour and a half nap and then it's time to go get the older girl. Perfect schedule for everyone!
One final thought though... If the baby's too fussy after about a week on the new schedule, she probably needs longer naps... let her sleep longer in the AM, and maybe even let her take a short (45 min tops) at 3:30 or 4. Any later, and she'll be ready to party all night just about the time you're ready to go to bed.

Hi H.,

There's a really great book about sleep that helped me so much with my little ones. It's called "Good Night Sleep Tight" by Kim West.

As many of the other moms said, Kim West also recommends a wake up time of 7am, with a 1st nap starting about 2 hours after that. The second nap should start 2-3 hours after the 1st nap ends. And babies at this age often still take a brief third nap (like 4-5pm or something). Then bedtime at 7pm. But even more than the schedule, is watching your little one for the sleep window. Rubbing eyes, yawning, that dazed look. Each baby is different, so you know what it looks like with your baby.

I have the same dilemma you have about the 2:15 pick-up. My son is 9-mos-old and my daughter is 3 1/2, and that's my time to pick her up from preschool. My little guy takes fairly short naps, so most days, he's already napped twice by 2:15. But not always! It is frustrating, so I empathize with you. Good luck!

J.

My kids go to bed later & wake up later than most, but I was always told 2 hrs after they wake up in the morning & 2 hrs after they wake from their nap. I had the same delima w/napping - so I left early & let my son sleep in the car. I'd bring bills/crosswords or make appts in the car while I was waiting. If he was still asleep when I got home, then I'd clean the garage or the front yard or something - so he'd get his nap (but neither of my kids take/took long naps - they were usually about an hour - so I didn't have to deal with a couple hours being stuck in or around the car). You gotta do what works, but it's best to stay consistent!

I also have a six month old infant and haven't had a little one for seven years. So I can sympathize with not remembering what it is like.

The routine that I have found works best for us is that my little one and older one get up at 6:30a.m. I feed my little one and then get breakfast for the older one. I take my older one to school just before 8:00a.m. and when I get home at about 8:30a.m. my little one is ready for his first nap. He sleeps until 10:30, at which time I wake him up even if he is asleep. I do this so that I can feed him and play with him until about 12:30. Then I lay him down for another nap and he sleeps until about 2:30 when I have to wake him up again to pick up my older son.

I found that this schedule works best because then the baby gets two naps and will last until bedtime at 6:30-7:00p.m. I have tried letting him sleep until he wakes up on his own for the morning nap, but then he won't go to sleep early enough to get a good afternoon nap and he is GROUCHY from 4:00 on. At which time I can't put him to bed because then he will wake up at 3:00a.m. and think it is time to be up.

Having a little one after so many years is a challenge, but one that I love as I am sure you do. Finding a schedule that works definetly makes life easier. Good luck to you!