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Adjust your baby's schedule to suit his age

It may feel like just when you've gotten into a predictable groove with your little one, it's time to change it again. As your baby gets older, he'll need fewer daytime naps and more playtime and stimulation. He'll also need to eat solid foods — first just once a day, but eventually several times a day. As these developmental shifts happen, your child's schedule will shift as well. Reading up on these milestones and checking out our sample schedules for babies of all ages can help you know what to expect.

Expect changes during growth spurts and milestones

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Your child accomplishes so much in the first year. He'll nearly triple his weight and achieve some major feats like sitting up, crawling, even walking. During periods of growth or when he's working to achieve a new milestone, don't be surprised if your baby diverges from his usual routine. He may be hungrier than usual, need more sleep, or return to waking up several times a night. Hang in there — your baby may be back on schedule shortly, or this may be a sign that you need to adjust your routine.

When starting out, put your baby's schedule first

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If you're encouraging your baby to follow a schedule or observing his patterns to figure out a routine that works, make this process a top priority for at least the first couple of weeks. Avoid deviating from the routine with vacations, meals on the go, outings that push naptime back, and so on. Once you establish a pattern for your baby's sleeping, awake, and feeding times, changing things for an afternoon isn't likely to undo his habits. But it's best to keep your baby's schedule as consistent as possible while he's getting used to it.

Learn to read your baby's cues

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Websites, books, your baby's doctor, and other parents can all help as you figure out an appropriate schedule for your baby. But your child will be an important guide, and he'll tell you what he needs — if you learn to read his cues.

"When parents take the time to be with their baby, the information they receive gets sifted through their own experience. 'Instincts' come from learning about your baby's temperament and what works for him," says pediatrician Daniel Levy, president of the Maryland chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and clinical assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Maryland.

Mom Liana Scott says paying close attention to 9-month-old Keaton has helped her anticipate his needs, which makes life easier and more fun for both of them.

"Now I'm able to feed him before he's really hungry and put him to bed before he's overtired and fussy," says Scott.

Learning what your baby needs when takes time and patience. But you'll see patterns emerge over time. And if you log your baby's naps, feedings, playtime, and so on in a notebook or on the computer, you can use this record to come up with a timetable for doing things.

Teach your baby the difference between night and day

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Many babies mix up their days and nights at first, sleeping long stretches during the day only to perk up once the sun goes down. Helping your baby learn to tell day from night is a key first step to getting into a workable routine.

Amy Shelley, mom to 8-month-old Alex, offers these tips: "During the day, keep the house bright. Do the exact opposite at night: Keep the house dim and quiet. Don't talk to your baby much during night feedings. Let him learn that night is for sleeping and daytime is for socialization and playtime."

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Home > Baby > Baby Schedules > Baby Sleep & Feeding Schedules
Seven keys to creating a successful baby sleep, feeding, and play schedule
by Maureen Connolly
Reviewed by the BabyCenter Medical Advisory Board
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Highlights

Get your baby used to a bedtime routine early on
Teach your baby the difference between night and day
Learn to read your baby's cues
When starting out, put your baby's schedule first
Expect changes during growth spurts and milestones
Adjust your baby's schedule to suit his age
Don't expect perfection

Getting into a regular schedule for sleep, feeding, and activities can make life easier for you and your baby. But how to start? Below, find seven great guidelines for establishing a routine that works.

Get your baby used to a bedtime routine early on

Once you have a consistent bedtime worked out, a daytime routine will fall into place, says Tanya Remer Altmann, a pediatrician and editor-in-chief of The Wonder Years: Helping Your Baby and Young Child Successfully Negotiate the Major Developmental Milestones.

And the easiest way to establish a regular bedtime is to start a predictable bedtime routine that you and your baby can depend on night after night.

"The bedtime routine is the most important thing to consider when establishing a schedule," says Altmann. "You can't force it in the first few months, but you can start practicing at around 2 months."

Video
Baby sleep: Seven tips

Seven great tips from parents and experts for getting your baby to sleep.

Altmann says to keep it simple: a warm bath, jammies, a feeding, then lights-out. It's fine if feeding lulls your baby to sleep in the early months, Altmann says, but by 3 or 4 months you may want to try putting him down awake so he'll learn to fall asleep on his own.

What you can do about bedtime battles

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Set aside some time to talk to your child about his day. Your kindergartner may be fighting sleep simply because he needs time to check in with you after a long day at school. Especially if you work long hours yourself, allot some time before bed to chat with him about goings-on at kindergarten and to get the scoop on the latest dramas in his social life. You may find that he's more amenable to sleep if he's had a chance to unburden himself.

Stick to a bedtime routine. Make a pictorial chart for your kindergartner to follow — including his bath, toothbrushing, bedtime story, and goodnight kiss. Also include his usual (and reasonable) requests — like that second sip of water or a peek at the moon. Give him some notice before it's time to start the routine each night ("Austin, five minutes before bath time!"). Try not to let him dawdle or drag things out with activities that aren't part of the routine — no third glass of water or round of "Dinosaur Rock," for instance.

Motivate him. When your kindergartner goes to bed on time, the rewards for you are obvious. Make it clear what's in it for him too. The morning after he sticks with the routine, praise him and give him a sticker to put on a special chart. Offer him a reward — like a new book or a bike ride — when he stays in bed four or five nights in a row. (Start small — for a kindergartner, a few days is a long time to hang in there!) Try to tune in to your child's particular motivators: "When you're big enough to stay in bed all night, you can spend the night at Grandma's." You might even set up a bartering system — tokens earned for getting to bed on time and staying there, and tokens lost for getting to bed late or sneaking out. A certain number of tokens "buys" him game time on the computer, a trip to the park with you, or a sleepover with his buddies. (Just what you need: Three wakeful kindergartners!)

Offer choices. Refusing to go to bed is a powerful way for your child to assert himself. So it might help to find an acceptable means for allowing him to be assertive. Let him decide if he wants to hear Shel Silverstein poems or a chapter of Stuart Little before lights-out, for instance, or ask if he'd like a sip of water before or after he climbs into bed. Be careful to offer only choices you can live with; if you ask "Want to go to bed now?" you probably won't like the answer you get.

Be calm but firm. Even if your 5-year-old cries or pleads for an exception to the going-to-bed rule, stand your ground. If you're frustrated, don't engage in a power struggle. Speak calmly and quietly but insist that when time's up, time's up. If you give in to his request for "five more minutes, please," you'll only hear it again tomorrow night.

Take a stepladder to success. You can't expect your child to learn, in one fell swoop, how to go to bed and sleep all night according to your perfect scenario. Take it one step at a time: If your kindergartner's used to falling asleep in your bed, maybe his first step is to fall asleep in his own. His second step could be learning to limit his nocturnal "escapes" to one per night, or calling for you only once without actually getting up. Build your way to the ultimate goal (sleeping through the night without a peep) in successive, successful steps.

Problem solve. Figure out why your 5-year-old finds it tough to keep his head on the pillow at night. Ask about his specific objections to bedtime — is it because he's not tired? Scared? It's too quiet? Offer him a flashlight if he's afraid of the dark. Eliminate nighttime TV if the shows make him jumpy. Let him play a soothing CD at low volume if the quiet is too much for him. And be sure to listen to his ideas about what might be helpful. After all, a plan that he helps devise has a better chance of succeeding. Make sure your kindergartner's getting lots of fresh air and exercise during the day. Or consider moving bedtime back an hour (just make sure to allow for 9 1/2 to 11 1/2 hours of sleep a night, which is what kids this age need). Some physical activity and a slight schedule change may be all it takes to ensure that your child is good and tired when bedtime rolls around.