An Example of a Feeding Schedule for an 8 Mos. Old

Hi, I am a mother of a 3.5 girl and my son is now 8 1/2 months. I had both of my children on this schedule and it seems to work for us. My son sleeps from 7PM to 7 AM. At 7:30 Am I feed him about 3 tablespoons of cereal with a stage 2 fruit. At 9:30 I give him a bottle and put him down for a nap. around 11:30-12 I give him meat/veg jar food maybe a cookie or cheerios. At 1:30 I give him a bottle (all 8 oz) and down for a nap (if I am not running around with my daughter somwhere)At 3:30 -4 I give 3 tablespoons of cereal with stage 2 fruit and at 7 a goodnight bottle.

Is she interested in the solid food?
Sometimes when children are not ready for solid foods they will have an issue with it like this.

when my son was about that age this was his basic schedule:
8:00 breakfast: oatmeal and a fruit (applesauce, pears, bananas, etc)
10:00 8 oz bottle followed by a nap (usually 1 and 1/2 hours)
12:00 lunch: oatmeal, veggie, or fruit (only 2 of the 3 normally) at some point i added meat instead of oatmeal but i don't remember what age
2:00 another 8 oz bottle followed by another 1 and 1/2 hour nap (he wasn't a great napper)
sometimes a snack after nap-cheerios, gerber graduates puffs (shaped like stars and great for this age)
5:00 dinner: veggie, fruit and meat if he would eat it all
8:00 another 8 oz bottle and bed time

I had to give bottles before sleeping because it was the only time he would be still long enough to take a bottle. he fought me at any other time of the day
There are lots of great first time foods that i gave him as i was preparing meals (ex-cheerios, zwieback toast, gerber puffs) He loved being able to feed himself.

Hope this helps.

Hi M.,
What has changed exactly? Is there anything else developmentally she is going through, like pulling up or learning to walk? That can interfere with naps. Seems like there are 2 ways you can go about this...or I guess 3, you can merge the first two.
1) you can readjust her routine yourself. You can follow what someone suggests here, and start putting her on that schedule. or, what schedule works for you and your family
2) you can write down for a full week what she's doing, and you can readjust your routine to that.
3) you can do a little of both

I guess I was sort of a #3 mom at that age. I always felt that my daughter was becoming a part of our lives, and with all the changes we had to adapt to when she was born, there were also going to be some she had to adapt to as well. So, I helped her get used to a schedule that worked for us. But, I also took her queues when things were changing for her needs or she was outgrowing something.

Around 8 months, my daughter was roughly following this daily routine:

7am - wake and bottle
8:00/8:30am - breakfast (cereal and a fruit)
9:00/9:30 - am nap for 1.5 hours
10:30/11am - bottle
12:30 - lunch (veggies)
1:30/2pm - pm nap for 1.5 hours
3:00/3:30pm - bottle
6:00/6:30pm - dinner (veg and fruit, maybe some cereal)
7:00pm - bath
7:30pm - Bottle and bed

Now some people may read that and think it's a lot of food, or barely any... My daughter tends to be more of a grazer. She doesn't eat a lot in quantity, but was ready for it. For example, her bottle was only about 3-4 ounces. Also, I'd offer her 2-4 ounces of water after her meals and as much water and she wanted throughout the day. Anyhow I recognized her being hungry, and fit in snacks and meals around when she active or sleeping...and her routine evolved.
Hope that helps!

just when you think you have a routine down, bam they go and change it on you! i know, my son is King of changing our "routine" - he's 9 months next week and our routine is as such:
wake up - nurse him
b-fast - 8 am 1/2 cup cereal mixed with 4 oz. milk and fruit
nap around 930
lunch consists of 3-4 tbsp veggies and 2 tbsp meat - i mix meat with 1/2 cup cereal and 4 oz. milk.
nap around 1 pm
afternoon consists of (not in order) snacks/breastfeed/juice
dinner i feed him the same as lunch.
i make my own food as well.
any other questions, shoot me an email!

hey M.,

The Family wakes at about 645 AM

then relax for about 15 minutes watching Sprout TV

I get breakfast ready for the family at this time
Eggs, toast, and sausage,
OR Pancakes, waffles
OR French toast
And on occassion cereal but this is usually more of a sack meal for them

I check diapers, if there is no POO I leave them on time after breakfast

After breakfast BATH time, and brush teeth, lotion with lavender cream, and get dressed.

THen we relax again wrapped in a blanket sesame street time

and while i clean up the kitchen, they watch the show and we all shout out letters and numbers.

After i clean up the mess, I give them a snack, of cereal, goldfish crackers, OR Fruit cups whcih you can just spread out on the table so she could pick at it.

I go around collecting laundry at this time,and making beds

then I put the dirty clothes in the laundry while they are strapped into the chairs

after that we, PLAY, and read, possibly color, whatever comes up for about an hour.

THen I sit them in a chair, and TV AGAIN for about 30 minutes

PBS CPTV Sprout TV NOGGIN, or a learning video
( My cable has free videos you can play like the potty video, brainy baby, animals, trucks so i don't need to pop in a DVD, but Baby einstein is great)

I sweep the floor up stairs, and get lunch ready
chicken nuggets, french fries, fish sticks, mac n cheese, pasta, soup, EASY MEALS

After that we clean up together while i sing the clean up song, change diapers, and I get them ready for a NAP,

WE read, and listen to music,while playing,

Then we TAke a NAP at about 1130-12

I just put them in the crib and pop a PACIFIER in their mouth,
and turn on the ocean sounds Aqua machine from fisher price

rub his head and cheek, and NOSE and don't talk -- I leave the room while he is still awake,

--

Mean time i move stuf from the washer to the dryer, and load up the washer again,

Fold the clothes, and put them away, Vaccum downstairs,
and MOP upstairs,

Clean 3 bathrooms, and then finally clean the kitchen AGAIN

HOPEFULLY I have about 1 hour to my self, and i watch my TIVO
Days of Our lives -Fast Fwd thru commercials because who has time to watch those.LOL

After that I put out a snack for my 12 year old who comes home at 245

At 3 the boys wake up and need a snack,

So All 3 snack together.

we clean up, and they play,usually outside for an hour

then around 430 HOMEWORK TIME

they come inside, And i turn on the TV AGAIN
sit them in chairs and sprout TV

While my 12 year old and i Argue over home work for the next 2 hours, While i ALSO prepare a Dinner

THen I make him read for another hour
sometimes to his brothers, if not then i read to all 3,
and on occasion alternate between the 3

My husband comes home at about 7 pm we eat dinner as a family,
and MY 12 year old helps clear the dishes,
while i load the dish washer,

Sometimes we watch a movie together,for an hour

BUt at 830 my 12 year old goes to bed,

And at 845 one of the little guys goes to bed, then at 9pm for the other one.

Then I finish cleaning up, and prepare my husbands work clothes fo rhte next day, and my 12 year olds uniform,

And finish folding the laundry while watching TV

Put them away, and Take a shower, before going to bed.

M.-

My son is 7 1/2 months old and eats as follows (don't be scared by the time of the first feeding, I work full time so I have put him on this schedule intentionally):
- 5am-- 6 oz bottle of formula
- 8:30ish - 6oz bottle of formula, 1/2 container of babyfood fruit mixed with cereal and some of the formula.
-12:30ish --6oz bottle of formula, 1/2 container of babyfood fruit and 1/2 container of babyfood veggie.
-4-- 6oz bottle of formula, 1/2 container of babyfood fruit mixed with cereal and some of the formula
-7 -7:30 - 6 oz bottle of formula

In regards to sleep, I let him nap as needed, but he usually takes a nice nap after his 8:30am bottle. He goes right to sleep at night after his 7:30bottle. Even if he wakes up, I do not feed him during the night. I hope this helps! Good luck!

Hi M.,

It's tough being a new Mom! Your baby will dictate her schedule and you just have to follow her lead. The only thing I can tell you is what I was taught a very long time ago when my now 18 yr old daughter was your daughters age and I used again when my son who is now 5 was that young. Put a little cereal in her nightime bottle, not so much as to clog it up but a little to get her through the night. Or feed her cereal in the morning and at night with part of her bottle and then give her the rest of the milk from her bottle.

Never, ever start your baby on more than one food at a time!!! You have to be very careful of allergies. You always start with veggies first because once they get a taste for the sweet fruit they are more likely to not eat the veggies!!! Always start with orange veggies first, carrots, sweet potatoes and such, don't ask me why, it was a long time ago, lol. Try one at a time for about a week making sure there are no reactions, then introduce another. Once you get her used to the veggies then you can start introducing the meats and fruits(save some of the bananas for yourself, YUMMY!) As for the naps, you just have to try and read her, see when she is rubbing her eyes, yawning, cranky, buy not hungry, wet, or sick. It will all work out in the end.

Good luck!
P.

Hey there:) My daughter is 8 months old too! This is the schedule I have her on: She wakes up at 5:30-6am and I breastfeed her in bed and she dozes off, so I put her back in her crib and she'll sleep until 8-8:30ish. Then, we get up, I breastfeed her again a little depending if she's interested, then I feed her babyfood fruit (ie. bananas, prunes, papaya, applesauce, pears, apricots, etc). Then, I let her play a while in her highchair with some toys while I clean up the kitchen/eat breakfast myself. Then we take a shower and she goes down for a morning nap at 10:30am. She gets up at 12-12:30ish and I breast feed her again. I'll put her in her high chair while I eat some lunch and will give her tiny itsy bitsy pieces of cooked carrots or banana or avacado (I even gave her some turkey from my sandwich yesterday). She plays for a while in her excersaucer or bouncy or on the floor with me and and toys and then goes down again for an afternoon nap at 2:30-3ish. She'll wake up at 4-4:30 and have a veggie (ie. sweet potatoes (her favorite!), butternut squash, carrots, peas, chicken and rice dinner, turkey and sweet potato, etc). Then she's game until daddy comes home and he's all hugs and kisses and playing with her. We'll put her in her bouncy seat in the doorway of our kitchen while we eat dinner. we play a little longer and then at 8pm I feed her baby rice cereal with water or breast milk (if I've pumped), we wash her up, put her PJs on and then I lay in bed with her and breast feed her at like 8:30pm and she goes to bed for the night:) This schedule works great if we are out too. I probably go out with her 3x a week to meet up with friends, play groups, etc...BTW: you in Jersey? I just turned 30 today! and have a baby girl your baby girl's age! We should meet up (if you're in Jersey that is) ;-D Hope this helps!

Hi M.-
When my daughter was 8 months old she had a great routine going that worked so well for us, that when my son came along, I put him on it as well. This is what we did -
Get up around 7-7:30am, Bottle- 8oz around 7:45am followed by breakfast at 8:30am- cereal and fruit mixed with whatever formula wasn't taken in the bottle. The first nap was around 10:30-10:45am and I always offered a small bottle of formula as part of the nap routine which included reading the same three books each time. They'd be up again by 12 or 12:30pm and lunch- a jar of stage 2 veggie - was served around 1pm with a little diluted juice in a cup. Around 3:15-3:30pm I'd offer another big bottle of formula - 8oz and then we'd get ready for the second nap which usually began between 3:45-4pm. This was their shorter nap and most times was 45 minutes. I found they went to bed better with a shorter afternoon nap. Dinner was served as late as possible- usually around 7pm and was cereal mixed with some formula and a stage one veggie and fruit. Then we would do the 4 B's - bath, bottle - 8oz, books and bed at 8:15-8:30pm. This was our ideal day. Some days they did not follow this at all. They would take an hour morning nap and I'd have to put them down at 3pm for the afternoon nap and hope it was longer. I tried to make the routine by keeping them up for at least 3-4 hours at this age. I tried for at least 24oz of formula a day between bottles and mixed in cereal. I tried for one jar of stage 2 veggies for lunch and one stage one fruit and veggie at dinner. My daughter had some teeth so she also ate some finger foods at 9 months - cheerios, puffs, veggie dices. My son did not until closer to 12 months. I hope this helps.

I have just started my 7 month old on solid foods regularly. He is on the same feeding schedule he was on with formula (about 4 hrly). When he wakes at 7, i offer him a full bottle of formula, but take it away when he first comes off, usually after about 5oz. At 8 i feed him rice cereal mixed with banana. 11am is lunch and i give him a serving of protein (we're vegetarians, so lentils or something like that) and a serving of fruit. Straight after lunch i put him down for a nap on my bed and he will sleep for a few hours. At 3pm he gets a serving of starchy food like potato or yams and a serving of vegetables. Then he gets a bottle to start his bedtime routine at 6:30. If he gets cranky in between meals (usually before the bottle), i give him finger food snacks. I have read that up until 9 months, a baby should get 2-3 starches, 2 fruit /veg servings and 1 protein. Hope this helps!

Hi M.,
My daughter is 8 months old as well. Her daily routine goes something like this:
7:30-8:30 - wakes up
8:30- breakfast (fruit, cereal, waffles, yogurt... any one of those, then a bottle)
9:00 - 10 - 10:30: plays
10:30 - nap
12:00 - lunch
2:30 - 3:00 - nap
4 - 4:30 - plays
6: - dinner
7: bedtime
She is usually asleep by 7:30 - 8.

She typically eats every four hours, and sleeps for an hour to an hour and a half. And she eats everything under the sun... except of course, honey and nuts. Hope this helps!

Hi,

I can only tell you what happened with my daughter, hopefully it will help :)

By 8 mos, she wasn't really liking her formula too much but really liked "food". I cut her bottles down to 3. The first one (8oz) as soon as she got up (this was always her best bottle)(say 6:30), then about an hour later I would give her cereal (2oz of formula mixed with baby cereal), she would go down for her first nap around 9. She would sleep for @ 1.5 hrs and then she was up. I'd give her a small snack followed by another bottle (6 oz) @11:30, followed by lunch @ 12:30-12:45. She would go down for another nap around 1:30. She would sleep 1-2.5 hrs. Her last bottle would be around 4:30 (6-8oz) with a small snack. Dinner would be around 6 and then bed by 8. She never took a bottle at bedtime (I know most kids do) so I didn't have that issue to conted with.

Hope this helps!
M.

your daughter's schedule is going to change as she grows...needing to be fed less and naps less. She is old enough now to fit into your schedule(more or less)...if you are a morning person then start her day with yours...I'll lay out a typical morning for my lil ones and of course this maynot fit you...and don't worry you really can't go wrong when it comes to feeding your baby....just remember not to give the bottle before or with food always save it for the end of the meal or after(milk fills up kids and they eat less)....I still follow this rule and my kids are 8,7,6,4, and 19months.
Our schedule:
7am wake up
730 breakfast
8-10 chores/play
10 snack(bottle if baby needs, 6oz)
1015 nap(if baby needs, otherwise I am 8-1130 errands/chores play)
12 lunch
1230 nap
1245-330 mommy time....(aka laundry/ mopping/phone chat time)
330 bottle(if needed...my kiddies have a small cookie)
330-430 playtime
430-530 T.V./pack-n-play time during dinner prep(those who can help with table setting do, etc)
530-family dinner
630 cleanup/bathtime(my hubby cleans kids...I do the kitchen)
700 bedtime lil ones/ me time...t.v./book/scrapbook
I hope this helps, you don't have to follow it and remember somedays something will change but kids are better behaved if they know what comes next...and the best thing I can stress is never miss the afternoon nap...all playdates, mommy groups, doctor apts and shopping fit in the a.m. or they don't happen...besides you don't get a lot accomplished with a screaming overtired baby....oh and since she is still young you may want to give her a bottle before she goes down for the night...remember schedule time for you, that way you don't get mommy burnout....whatever it is it can wait, "clock out" when kids are sleeping and be you, not mommy.good luck!

At 8 months she's naturally going through a lot of different changes right now. She may be going from 3 naps to 2. With solids introduced she's now taking bottles more for thirst than total nutritional needs. My son is almost 10 months and this is his typical day. Up at 6:30am nurse. breakfast at 7:30. Nurse at 9am and down for a nap. Up at around 11am and nurse again. Lunch at around noon. Nurse sometime in the afternoon. Usually at 1:30-2:00 when he goes down for his 2nd nap. 3:30-4:00 nurse when he wakes up. Eats dinner with us at about 6pm. Then nurses to sleep at about 7:45pm. Hope this was a little helpful.

Hi M.! I have an 8 month old son and he has been on the same schedule since he was about 6 1/2 months old. He gets up around 6AM, he gets a bottle at 6:30. At around 8:15 we have breakfast (which usually consists of cereal, yogurt or fruit). He naps at 9. At around 10:15, or whenever he wakes up, we have another bottle. At 12:15 we have lunch (which consists of fruit and veggie). At 1 he naps again. At around 2:30-3 he has another bottle. Dinner at 5 (fruit, meat and veggie). Bedtime is 7PM and he has a bottle right before that. My doctor told me that the ideal schedule is wake-up, bottle, breakfast, nap, bottle, lunch, nap, bottle, dinner, bottle, bed. It works really well for us and he seems to thrive on the predictability of it. I hope this helps! Good Luck!

I know that my son who is 7 months old has changed his routine too. I noticed he takes less bottles in a day, i think he takes 4or 5 and sometimes he will drink them all (6oz) and sometimes will only take 4oz. I give him 3 tlbs of cereal with some fruit mixed in, lunch I only give him a fruit and dinner I give him another 3tlbs of cereal and a stage 2 dinner. You can go to gerber.com and they have a schedule of what you should be giving your baby at what stage, its very helpful.