Routine for a 7 month old?

Question

What kind of daily routine does everyone have their 6 or 7 month old babies on, if one at all? My son has just recently started satying up later at night and sleeping in later in the day so I'm trying to figure out what kind of routine I should get him into. I tried bathing him at night right before bed, but it wakes him up instead up helping him sleep even though I have the bedtime bath stuff. I also would like to know how much food and when you feed your babies. Basically I'd just like to know your daily schedule for your babies, it is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

I appreciate you saying that, but i don't think you were too critical, you have a right to your opinion, and to express it. Also I thought I would TRY putting him to sleep in his crib, but if he cried for too long or cried to hard then I would abort it and forget about it, but I am pleased to say that he only cried for 5 minutes and has been sleeping IN HIS CRIB for almost 1 1/2 hours!! I am so happy I did this, I knew he wasn't going to be able to sleep in his swing for much longer as I have to go back to work and no daycare would look after him if he wont nap on his own!

That last statement was for .vato.

Answer 1

Hi! First off I hope you don't think I was too critical. I tried to stay away from that but obviously someone thought I was being judgmental. I'm sorry if you felt that way and like I said--I know you aren't a horrible mother for letting your baby sleep in a swing. I hope you can understand.

Routine isn't something that has to be strict. I know our routine was never strict--as in "you will take a nap at 12." It was very lenient according to the day. The longer you stick with a routine the easier life--in my opinion. My kids now just go with it and know what to expect so there's less fuss when it comes time for a nap or bed. It takes a while to get a handle on but in the end I'm very pleased with my decision to start a routine. Like I said, there's less fuss about little things. I have two boys so my schedule is a little different then what yours would be--one of which is my cousin who I‘m a legal guardian for. I believe I typed this out whenever he was 6 months. Remember it wasn't strict--there is no need for a family to be run strictly on routine.

5:30 Get up, make coffee, make husband’s and cousin’s lunch for that day, feed cats, scoop the litter box
6:00 Wish husband a good day at work, make bed, clean room, get dressed and ready for the day
6:30 Make cousin’s breakfast, make baby’s sippy, pack diaper bag
6:45 Get cousin up, he eats breakfast
7:00 Baby wakes up--get him dressed and ready, while cousin is getting ready for pre-K (clothed, brushed, and just basic things to get ready
7:15 Load up the stroller with backpack and diaper bag. Make sure everything is packed and we didn’t forget anything
7:30 Walk cousin to school.
8:00 Get to school, talk to a few other moms, talk to teacher if necessary.
8:20 Walk back home
8:40 Check email, maybe ask a question on Y!A
9:00 Feed baby cereal.
9:15 Throw a load of laundry in, play with son on the floor while he crawls, and climbs
10:00 Read a book to son, give him some toys and a sippy, put him in his pack n play to fall asleep
10:15 Put load of laundry in the dryer. Unload dishwasher, load it back up with dishes from the morning.
10:30 Go into the living room--spend 15 minutes putting toys away or making sure it’s clean.
10:45 Go to the bathroom spray the tiles and tub with no wipe cleaner, rinse out the sink, get the toilet clean (takes about five minutes) I look on Y!A.
11:00 Baby’s up from nap. Go back in the living room and play with toys, read books, play in exersaucer, and just do whatever we feel like doing..
11:30 Walk to pick cousin up from pre-K
12:00 Talk with teacher, other parents, meet cousin’s friends
12:10 Walk home
12:40 Pull sandwich out of the fridge, put on a plate with some chips. Get bib, spoon, and baby food for son.
12:45 Cousin’s eating telling me about his day, I’m feeding my son
1:00 Cousin read books to son and we all play together. Sometimes we go to the park or on a walk.
1:30 Baby goes down for nap again while I spend one on one time with my cousin. We look online at his cool learning sites. We read books, we color, we learn about animals, we look at pictures, we just “hang out.”
2:00 We start settling down for some “quiet time.” This could be a nap or just time for my cousin to lay down for about an hour. Sometimes it doesn’t work out that way but it’s an attempt.
2:10 Fold clothes in the dryer. I go on Y!A to see what people have written about my question answer some questions, go on Myspace, or take a nap.
3:15-3:30 The boys are up again. I go into their room and we clean up. We throw away diapers from the pail, we clean up any toys cousin has left out. Just basic tiding of the room.
3:45 Feed son while cousin has a very small snack. We talk or he just plays.
4:00 Cousin has an activity book to help him (he has FAS and has a hard time with school.) I sit down and get him started on his work, tell him if he needs anything to just ask. (we have a breakfast bar where he sits and does his activity book while I’m in the kitchen. Son plays in his highchair with toys or whatever he needs.
4:30 I start cooking dinner. If my cousin needs help, I help him.
5:00 Husband comes home, gives us all kisses. He gets cleaned up (works on air planes all day and has greasy hands)
5:30 Dinners on the table. Baby sits with us but doesn’t eat--he has a sippy he can drink from and a snack.
6:00 I do the dishes and load the dish washer while kids are playing with their dad.
7:00 I have shows that I watch almost every night at seven so we all sit down to watch. Cousin plays or watches with us and son hangs out on my lap.
7:30 During commercial I get oatmeal and feed son cereal and flakes before bed time so he’s full. Cousin eats some cheerios if he wants to feel special.
8:00 Show is over I go get son undressed and ready for bath. My husband normally gives our son a bath and brushes his teeth while I hang out look at Y!A or Myspace. Cousin is either helping husband OR is helping me pick what they are going to wear the next day.
8:15 I get baby dressed and ready for bed. Husband is supervising cousin’s bath. He does whatever else he wants in the bathroom while cousin is bathing himself.
8:25 HUGE debate on wither cousin is getting out of the bath tub. We end up winning. Put on pjs, brush teeth, and brush hair.
8:30 Read a book and settle down. Hubby gets in the shower.
8:40-8:45 Lights out for the boys.
8:45 I get in the shower and ready for bed
9:00 We settle down together and do whatever we feel like doing.
10:00-11:00 Lights out for us.

I know that's a long, long list of things to do. This is a typical day. It's not all work and no play--trust me, it's easy. It's not only forming a routine for your child but it's also about creating structure for your entire family. The times fluctuate by 15/20 minutes. If my kids and I are having fun we don't stop because I have to do laundry or there is something that I normally do at that time. What works for me, may not work for you but so far, so good. It's a very loose schedule. I hope this helps.

Answer 2

You don't say whether you're working or staying at home. If you need your son to be on an earlier schedule so you can get to work, try waking him up a little earlier each day, maybe 15-30 min. depending on how fast you need to get him on the new schedule. This way he will probably naturally get sleepy a little earlier each night. If the evening bath doesn't work, then when you get him up in the morning, do the bath then so he will wake up and want to play. If he's hungry when he wakes up, nurse him first or give him his bottle, and then do the bath. My two used to like a morning bath when they were that age. As far as food goes, I had one eater and one who wouldn't eat much at all. Is your son on cereal now? You can try that along with mashed banana, and the jar baby foods have a big variety too. Every baby is different as far as how much they eat and what type of foods. Ask your pediatrician, and also just trial and error works too. The other thing I did when we were in the process of switching from two naps a day to one, was to make sure to take them out for a walk in the stroller every day if possible, right after lunch. The fresh air will help them sleep better, and it's good exercise for you too. Even if it's really cold, bundle him up and go out for a little while. Both of mine were winter babies, but I found it was good for us to get out of the house.

Answer 3

I have a little man who will be 8 months old on Jan 5th. Here is how his day goes...

7 am -wake up; breakfast - 7oz bottle and cereal

9:30am - nap, usually for about 30 minutes

12pm - lunch, 6oz bottle and 1/2 jar of meat, 1/2 veggies, & 1/2 jar of fruit/dessert

12:30 - nap, right after lunch, usually about 2-3 hours

4:30pm - supper, 6oz bottle, and the same amount of baby food as lunch. I usually just feed him what is left from lunch.

7pm - bath time, followed directly by a 7oz bottle in his room with the lights off (night light only)

He is in bed as soon as the bottle is finsihed, which is always at least by 8pm. Depending on how long his nap was during the day; he may be in bed by 7:30-7:45pm. He will sleep all night until at least 6:30-7am and then we start all over...

Sometimes he will take a 30min nap in the afternoon, after supper if he didn't sleep long enough after lunch.

It is tough finding a schedule, but once you find one that works - STICK WITH IT!!! It is so worth it to have a happy, sleeping thru the night, baby....


Good luck and I am anxious to see what the other moms say.

Answer 4

My son will be 6 months old on Christmas eve. Here is the schedule I've used and it has turned out to be a life saver.
7:00 am wake up have breakfast 6oz of formula
9:00am naptime
10:00am have cereal and fruit
10:15am - 12:30pm play time
12:30pm juice 4oz of whatever fruit I decide to give him, he's not picky
12:45pm naptime
2:00pm lunch 6 oz of formula
then he usually plays himself silly until
6:00pm dinner formula, fruits and veggies (I just started him on stage 1 meats this week so far so good)
7:00pm bath time
8:00pm before bed snack 4 oz of formula
9:00pm bedtime

This took me a few days to get him on this schedule and it is soon to be changing. He's starting to play more in the morning and sleep more in the afternoon. Hope this helps.

Good luck!

Answer 5

you are trying to get your kid to function for the needs of an institution? are you aware that more than ten hours of separation a week from mom is extremely damaging to children under 5? we're talking about damaging the intellect, emotions, and physical health. there's no doubt about this, the research is clear, consistent, and has been replicated now for 50 years!

You are trying to figure out how to stop your son from developing naturally so that you can stuff your son into a little box that will damage him.

Answer 6

we just played it by ear., never had a schedule, just went off my babies cues. worked the best and kept everyone happy

Answer 7

I found useful information
at http://nosleep.in/sleepchildren.html