Sample Babywise Schedules used by Babywise babies. Find sample schedules used by real Babywise babies.
I often get requests for sample schedules for certain ages. In this post, I list different schedules from different ages. I might not remember it exactly, but this is what I remember to the best of my ability. Unfortunately, I didn’t follow my own advice and write things down 🙂 Added 4/2009: I will be adding McKenna’s schedule as she grows. See the blog label “newborn summary ” for week by week schedules. You can also see the blog label baby summary for a week by week schedule from age 3 months and up.
Birth:
Kaitlyn was a born sleeper and I had to wake her for every feeding at first. Also, we gradually included waketimes. She was so sleepy I could only force one waketime out of her at first (beyond feeding). We added one waketime per week. So some naps started immediately following a feeding, so I will just list feeding on this list:
7:30–nurse
10:30–nurse
1:00–nurse
4:00–nurse
6:30–nurse
9:00–nurse
I went to bed after the 9:00 nursing. She then woke twice in the night to nurse.
McKenna also seems to be a born sleeper. She does have a short waketime after feedings, but not long. Her total waketime (including feeding) varies from 30-45 minutes. She then sleeps until her next feeding. Here is her actual schedule as a newborn:
7:45–nurse. My goal is for a 7:30 waketime, but 7:45 works quite well for us. At some point in the future I will shoot for 7:30, but for now we are typically at 7:45-8:00.
10:30–nurse
1:00–nurse
4:00–nurse
7:00–nurse
9:30–nurse. This actually can vary from 9:30-10:00 PM.
I then go to bed. She typically wakes on her own somewhere around 2 AM. I then wake her around 5:30 AM so she will be hungry enough to eat at our first feeding in the morning. Once she is old enough to go to 7 feedings a day, I will let her drop one of these night feedings.
4 Weeks:
Around four weeks, the schedule I had created for Kaitlyn started to change. She had different plans :). At four weeks, we were still working on waketimes, but had all but one or two down.
7:30–nurse
8:30–nap
10:00–nurse
11:00–nap
1:00–nurse
2:00–nap
4:00–nurse
5:00–nap
6:30–nurse
7:30–nap
8:30–nurse then bed
She continued with the two night nursings. This schedule continued for a while. Some days, the 10 AM nursing would be 10:30. Also, some days the 4 PM nursing would be 3:30. Around 8 weeks, she dropped one night nursing. Around 9 weeks, I tried to force a dreamfeed at 10:30, but she would not wake up.
For McKenna, her schedule stayed pretty much the same. I had noticed by then that McKenna didn’t eat well if it was sooner than 3 hours:
7:45–nurse
10:30–nurse
1:30–nurse
4:30–nurse
7:00–nurse
10:00–nurse
I still woke her twice in the night.
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6 Weeks
Kaitlyn’s schedule stayed pretty much the same. Here is McKenna’s six week schedule:
7:15-7:45–nurse. I changed our 30 minute window to this.
10:30–nurse
1:30–nurse
4:30–nurse
7:00–nurse
10:00–nurse
She woke twice in the night for the first half of 6 weeks old, then went down to once a night.
3 Months:
At this age, the schedule for Kaitlyn moved more toward my original plan.
7:30–nurse
8:30–nap
10:30–nurse
11:30–nap
1:00–nurse
2:00–nap
4:00–nurse
5:00–nap
6:30–nurse
7:30–bed
10:00–nurse then bed (dreamfeed)
At this age, her night feeding was in those early morning hours, usually around 6 AM. I believe she dropped that feeding around 4 months.
FOR MCKENNA
Things did vary week to week, but here is a typical day:
8:00–nurse
8:50–nap
11:00–nurse
12:00–nap
2:00–nurse
3:00–nap
4:30–nurse
5:40–nap
7:00–nurse then straight to bed
10:00–dreamfeed
There would then be a feeding on one side around 5:30 AM. During this month, she extended her night feedings so that she started to make it to 7-7:15 in the morning. On those days, we started the day then and then she had a long nap in the morning. Those days looked like:
7:00–nurse
7:50–nap
10:30–nurse
11:30–nap
2:00–nurse
3:00–nap
4:30–nurse
5:40–nap
7:00–nurse then straight to bed
10:00–dreamfeed
4 Months:
Kaitlyn’s schedule didn’t change much, but she did drop a nap. We also started solids at 4 months, so solid feeding times are listed as they were once we had all three.
7:30–nurse + solids
8:30–nap
10:30–nurse
11:30–nap
1:30–nurse + solids
2:30–nap
4:30–nurse
6:30–nurse + solids then bed
9:45–nurse the bed (dreamfeed). I was starting to move it back in preparation for dropping it.
FOR MCKENNAThe first couple of week of 4 months old were a bit unpredictable due to early morning feeds. Once she hit 19 weeks, though, things smoothed out.
7:00–nurse
7:50–nap
10:30–nurse and cereal
11:30–nap
1:30–nurse
3:00–nap
4:30–nurse and sweet potatoes toward the end of the month
6:00–nap
6:30–she would wake, or I would wake her. Some days, she didn’t take this nap
7:00–nurse then straight to bed
10:30ish–dreamfeed
6 Months:
I finally relinquished the dreamfeed. Kaitlyn basically started to refuse to wake up and eat, so I consented and dropped it. Her waketime had also started to extend a bit, and she started to need to go longer in the morning between feedings.
7:30–nurse + solids
8:45–nap
11:00–nurse
12:15–nap
2:00–nurse + solids
3:15–nap
5:00–nurse
7:00–nurse + solids then bed
FOR MCKENNA
McKenna started 6 months with a dreamfeed, but quickly dropped it.
8:00–nurse + solids
9:10–nap
12:00–nurse+ solids
1:15–nap
4:15–nurse + solids
6:00–nap
8:00–nurse then bed
10:00–dreamfeed
7 Months:
About a week before Kaitlyn turned 7 months, I finally moved her to the 4 hour schedule.
7:30–nurse + solids
8:50–nap
11:30–nurse + solids
1:00–nap
3:30–nurse
5:00–nap
7:00–nurse + solids then bed (I woke her up earlier than 4 hours because I wanted her in bed for the night to get 12 hours of sleep)
FOR MCKENNA
8:00–nurse + solids
9:30–nap
12:00–nurse + solids
1:30–nap
4:15–nurse + solids
6:00–nap
7:45–nurse + solids then bed
9 Months:
At 9 months, I started trying to drop the third nap. It was a weaning process. We started by shortening it over time. It got down to the point of being only 1 hour long, then 45 minutes. Then she would have some days she wouldn’t need the nap. Those days, I would feed her at 6:30 if needed so we could get her in bed earlier.
11 Months:
Here is Kaitlyn’s schedule at 11 months.
7:30–nurse + solids
9:15–nap
11:30–nurse + solids
1:15–nap
3:45–nurse
7:00–nurse + solids then bed
Brayden’s Differences
Kaitlyn is a sleeper. Don’t be discouraged by the amount she sleeps. Also, she has been slow in extending waketime. Brayden’s differences were:
- He had 2 hour waketime and 2 hour naptime.
- He dropped that 4th nap around the same age. He dropped his third nap around the same age also, but for him it was a drop rather than a wean.
- Brayden started his day at 7:00 AM rather than 7:30.
- Brayden slept fewer hours at night. While he had the third nap, he slept about 10 hours at night. Once he dropped it, he slept 10.5 hours at night (8:30 bedtime).
Other Items
These sample schedules only include eating and sleeping, not other activities (like independent play).
Reader Questions about Schedules:
- LEM said…
I’m having trouble understanding some of the BW scheduling. I have a 3-week old who is eating ever 3 hours starting at 6am. (so, 6,9,12,3,6pm, 9pm, 12am.) and then I let him wake up when he wants to, which tends to be between 4 and 5 am. Ideally, that would be 6am of course so that I could start my day. I wake him to feed during the day, sometimes he wakes on his own. But my question is, do I have to wake him for the 12am feeding or can I just see how long he can sleep? I’m thinking if I let him sleep he may wake up around 1 or 2am and then maybe he will sleep after that till 6am (our normal wake up time).
June 10, 2008 7:33 PM
Plowmanators said…
I would not wake him at 12 AM, but until three weeks you shouldn’t let him go more than 5 hours. So I would feed at 9, then wake him at 2 if he doesn’t on his own, then hopefully he will make it to 6. It sounds like he is doing great!
June 11, 2008 10:59 AM
LEM said…
Thank you so much for the quick response. I am so glad I found this site since I was having a difficult time feeling like I was doing this right.As a follow-up question to that, Would I keep him on this schedule until he drops this 1 or 2 am feeding and then move him to 3.5 hours during the day? Or can/should I move him sooner?(Oh, and by the way he is being formula fed)
June 11, 2008 1:01 PM
Plowmanators said…
Since he is formula fed, you could let him go longer in the night, but I would just get up up early enough that he will be hungry for your start time of the day. Yes, I would stick with the same schedule until he drops that middle of the night feeding. I would also keep him on the same day schedule until he drops that 9 PM feeding. You could moveo waketime back (if you want to), but still keep the same number of feedings per day. See this post:When to Move to a 4 hour Schedule: http://babywisemom.blogspot.com/2007/12/when-to-move-to-4-hour-schedule.html this post will also be helpful for you: http://babywisemom.blogspot.com/2008/02/babywise-milestones.html
June 11, 2008 1:46 PM - Kim said…
I have a six week old and I have been trying to use the feed/wake/sleep program since he was born. I have just started CIO this week for his day naps. He has a problem sleeping in the crib and staying awake at the bottle. We are doing a combo 2.5-3 hour schedule. For his first two weeks he was consistently on a 3 hour schedule. How do I get him back on the 3 hour schedule? In his first two weeks he didn’t fall asleep at the bottle, this has been a new habit. He also can’t seem to stay up for more than 1 hour at times. Our schedule is 6,830,1100,130,400,700,1000. I would like to shoot for a three hour schedule starting at 700. I’ll be going back to work within a week and my husband will be dropping him off at my parents at 700. He will be leaving our house at 615 to 630. Should I wake our LO and immediately change his diaper and put him in the car seat and have my parents feed him at 700to start his day? Should I wake earlier and feed him before he leaves? I think this would be difficult because he will probably fall immediately asleep in the car seat and have no wake time. Should I feed him a partial bottle and then let my parents feed him again when he gets there (I don’t think this will work b/c he has quite an appetite and screams if you take the bottle away before he’s done)? Any suggestions? Or does anyone else have to take their children to daycare?
June 27, 2008 6:26 AM
Plowmanators said…
Kim,1 hour wake time is normal for a 6 month old. 6 weeks is also a growth spurt time, so watch for that. I would recommend a 2.5-3 hour schedule. See this post:Getting a Consistent Schedule: http://babywisemom.blogspot.com/2008/01/getting-consistent-schedule.html When it comes to your new schedule, I think I would either:1-get him up and put him in his carseat to go. If he really will fall asleep in the carseat, then he could just fall asleep and wake up officially once he gets to your parents house.2-get him up and feed him and start his day. He will then need to go to bed soon after getting to your mom’s. It will likely be a little tricky for a while, but he will eventually be able to stay up longer. Good luck!
June 27, 2008 11:12 PM - jsb said…
Hi, I have been trying to do BW since I brought my 10 week-old home from the hospital. He was doing great on a consistent 3 hour schedule, but we are having some trouble now. At six weeks, he wanted to eat every two hours (growth spurt, I assume) and now he is at around 2.5 sometimes 3 hours. The problem is that we do feeding, about 75 minutes of playtime (this is when he begins showing signs of tiredness) and then I put him down for a nap. He will only nap anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour. This means that he wakes way too soon for his next feeding so by the time he eats again, and has some waketime, he has been up for way too long and the cycle continues. I have tried shortening his waketime but it didn’t seem to help. Oh, and he has been consistently sleeping through the night for two weeks now (sometimes he sleeps 10 and 11 hours), it’s just the naps that I am having so much trouble with. Any advice you may have would be greatly appreciated. Your blog is great!
August 24, 2008 7:45 PM
Plowmanators said…
See these posts for my recommendations: 45 Minute Intruder: http://babywisemom.blogspot.com/2008/01/45-minute-intruder.html
Naps: Troubleshooting: http://babywisemom.blogspot.com/2007/12/naps-troubleshooting.html
Waking After Only 20 Minutes : http://babywisemom.blogspot.com/2008/06/waking-after-only-20-minutes.html - The Sullivan’s said…
I was recently introduced to BW by my sister. She had great success with her 3 children using it. This is my first baby and she is much more difficult than my sister’s children. She is 4 1/2 weeks old. Let me start by saying that I took her to the pediatrician today and she thinks my baby has a mild case of colic (due to the fact that she’s fussy on/off from 5 till 9 almost every night and her naps diminish to 30 mins each…if she takes one at all between feedings).So, I have a few questions not only about CIO but BW in general.#1 – I have her on a 3-hr “routine” (times aren’t the same every day). Should I be striving to create a “schedule” so that our day is more stuctured and predictable?#2 – She sleeps good during the night, only waking once. She sleeps in her bassinet at bedtime. Basically all of her naps take place in her swing because that’s the only place she will soothe herself to sleep (I guess its not self soothing though because the swing is an aide). Her morning and early afternoon naps are great. However, once early evening hits…naps are terrible. She wakes after 30 mins. Both of my sisters suggested that I start putting her in her crib for naps and bedtime so that she gets used to it. I tried putting her in there a couple of times but it didn’t work because I was inconsistant with what I was doing. After reading your blog I’m ready to be persistant and do it. Technically, she doesn’t cry for hours on end like most colicy babies…she’s just really fussy and fights sleep. There are times when she won’t sleep at all between feedings. I think she gets herself worked up and overly tired. My question is…Will CIO work even if she has colic/fussiness? Is it okay if she cries the entire naptime until her next feeding or should I try to soothe at some point? Is it okay to use a mobile in the crib or it that a distraction?#3 – My husbands parents will be here from out of state to visit from 8/12 – 8/21. They aren’t staying at our house, they’re staying at a hotel. Should I wait to start CIO until after they’ve left so that I (and the baby) don’t have any distractions and can put 100% into it?Your help/suggestions are greatly appreciated!!
August 7, 2008 1:10 PM
Plowmanators said…
1- When you are first starting BW, I think it is okay to just do a routine. One thing I would strive for is the same wake up time each morning. Consistent Schedule: Start Your Day Right: http://babywisemom.blogspot.com/2007/11/consistent-schedule-start-your-day.html What Time Should I Start My Day: http://babywisemom.blogspot.com/2007/12/what-time-should-i-start-my-day.html Once you feel comfortable in your routine, get started on more of a schedule:Getting a Consistent Schedule: http://babywisemom.blogspot.com/2008/01/getting-consistent-schedule.html
2. In the evening (the time of day she is crying nonstop) you can use the swing. But I would move her to a bed for other naps. See this post:Waking Early From Naps/Won’t Fall Asleep For Naps: http://babywisemom.blogspot.com/2008/01/waking-early-from-napswont-fall-asleep.html
3. I think I would wait until they are gone to do CIO, especially if they won’t be supportive of it. I think you will be insecure and unsure of what you are doing, and if you have an audience watching, it will make things harder on you and then therefore baby.Good luck!
August 11, 2008 10:37 AM - Realtor.Rhoades said…
Hi. I’m new to blogging, please forgive me if this is posted in the wrong place. I stumbled across this blog one night when my 8 month old would not sleep. I have been following babywise since 4 weeks old. However I got hung up on the pacifier as a sleep prop. Realized that and took it away at 6 months then I did the cio and within a week my baby was sleeping well at naps and nightime. However at 8 months old I bought BWII and read that meals should align with the adult meal times ( I took that mystakenly to mean 7am 12 and 5pm). So that got me way off track. In order to accomplish that I thought I had to change my babys schedule. When things were working she was awake from 7am to about 7:30pm, eating at 7 11/11:30 and 3:30/4pm then one more bottle at 7pm. When I got the second book and thought I needed to change I tried to switch to feeding her at 7 12 and 4:30 – as close as I could get to the adult schedule. This is when the problems began. She started having the 45 minute intruder during her 2 daytime naps and also random nightwakings. I thought it was teething because she already had 2 bottom teeth and 2 more top teeth just under the gums. Sure enough her first top tooth poked through and the next one still looks like its not far behind. I got her up at 45 minutes and pressed on during the day naps. At night when the wakeing first happened it was out of character I thought it was the tooth and probably was to a degree so I got her up rocked her until drowsy put her back to sleep. But then it kept happening and is still happening at 9 months. She wakes at night and is so upset sometimes ive given her a bottle to get her back to sleep. Its taking me 2.5 hours to get her back to sleep. I don’t think its teething now. Also her naps are a disaster. She will sometimes cry the whole nap time 1.5-2 hours or cry and play but not sleep at all or sometimes she cries for 45 min to 1 hr and sleeps for only 45 min. She is cranky. Then about 2 times a week randomly she wakes at about 1:30am and its a 2.5hour process of me getting her to sleep by combo of cio, rocking, sometimes feeding. I feel like the situation is way out of control and I don’t know what to do. I know she is extremely alert now and its very hard for her to turn off her brain and sleep. I’ve spent days reading your blog trying to come up with the best solution. Here is my question… What do I do about the night wakings? I don’t mind letting her cio for her naps. I think with persistance this will get corrected. But at night I don’t know what is the right approach. She can get to a point where she seems way to worked up to go to sleep and since its the middle of the night I don’t have an excuse to get her up and feed her so I don’t know what to do. I’ve gone back to what was working before I tried to stretch her feed times so she is back to a 4-4.5 hour schedule eating at 7 11-11:30 3:30-4 and 7. Ive been back on this schedule for 4 days. What would you do about the night wakings? She doesn’t use the swing anymore and never liked it much. She hated swaddling, and she isn’t one for much affection, she doesn’t do well when I go in there to check on her after say 20 min of crying so I just let her go for the whole nap session. She is much like Brayden from what I’ve read. Please direct me to the right part of your blog or address it anew. Ive gotten a lot out of this blog so far and I am so grateful to have someone to ask for help this is the only place I can get answers. Thank you.
September 11, 2008 12:00 PM
Plowmanators said…
Here is a post on night wakings. Nighttime Sleep Issues: http://babywisemom.blogspot.com/2008/01/nightime-sleep-issues.html I think you need to think through the possible solutions and decide what you want to do. If it were me, based on what I know, I think I would give it a week or two of back to the good schedule, then if she is still waking, resort to CIO at night. See also this post since the night wakings started happening in this age group:5-8 Month Sleep Disruptions : http://babywisemom.blogspot.com/2008/05/6-month-sleep-disruptions.html
September 16, 2008 3:18 PM
See also:
If you need help solving nap problems, get my eBook, The Babywise Mom Nap Guide. This book helps you establish successful naps from birth through the preschool years. You can buy it here and get an instant download.
