8-9 Month Feeding Schedule - Ideas

I think you're doing fine. My 9 month old daughter wakes to nurse around 12 and then again around 3 or 4, sometimes again at 6 or will just wake at 7 and have breakfast which will consist of cheerios, until I get her breakfast ready...either baby cereal or what I am having be it toast or what not, then she will nurse around 9-10ish and go down for a nap, then around noon will have lunch (doctor told me to add more protein and meats) so she has eggs or some kinda meat, I don't use jarred baby food, so I can't tell you how much, and every baby is different anyway. She then nurses around 2 or 3 and goes for a nap, around 5 we have dinner some protein and veggies, with a fruit for dessert, then nurses around 6 some days she naps, some days she stays up, and her bed time is between 8 and 9.

Her doctor also told me on Monday that she should only be having 2, 1 hour naps, and then she would sleep through the night, I don't agree, but figured I would pass along anyway. In my opinion a baby should/will sleep when tired.

Hope that helps!

How do you gauge how much to give him to eat now? When he is done with a jar, would he eat more if you gave it to him? Are you nursing at every solid feeding?

I never know how much to give my daughter either, so I usually just guess and add a little more every week. She lets me know when she's had enough. I think it's just trial and error. Perhaps you can try adding more food or nursing with every solids meal and see if that makes a difference?

Good luck!

Eight to nine months is when I switched from nursing before meals to nursing after meals, which actually meant that we went down to just nursing before naps/bedtime and during the night, since after she had her fill of solids she didn't really want to nurse any more. She continued to nurse about every three to five hours through the night though. Now she's 13 months old and is still almost always waking once or (usually) at least twice in the night to nurse. The last week or so she's back at every three to five hours through the night. I'm blaming it on a growth spurt, but who knows. The worst of it is that the five days before New Years she slept at least 11 hours each night, so I thought that now that she was one year old we were finally at a point when she could go through the night without nursing. Then came fireworks on New Years Eve and since then we're back to night nursing.

So for BF babies, it seems to be pretty standard. I had success stretching her from every two hours at night when she was about five or six months old by letting her CIO if she woke before three hours had passed.

It seemed to me that if I fed her a high protein/fat dinner (avocado, grilled cheese sandwich) she slept a little bit better. It's entirely possible that it was just coincidence though!

I always tell myself how beautiful she is in the red light we use at night and that I'm going to miss our late night nursing cuddles. That helps a lot when I'm really exhausted and wishing I was still in bed! :)

I have this same problem and I hope that people give some great advice. I do know that he (and my own daughter) should start going to more and more jar/solid food, but again comes the problem of wanting it one day and not the next. I remember with my first daughter she was sleeping through the night by the time she was 8 months and the way that I got her to this stage was putting her in her own room and slowly increasing the time that she cried before I got her. But with this one, I do not have a separate room to put her so therefore I hear her cry.

I breastfed both of my girls (they never even tasted formula!), and introduced solids (cereal) at about 5 months with both of them, but by that time they were already sleeping at least 6 hour stretches at night. All of the kids in our extended family (except one super premie)were sleeping 6 hour stretches at night by about 4 months and all were exclusively breastfed so I'm not sure about the idea that breast milk won't hold them. By 8-9 months my girls were eating on a 3.5-4 hour routine during the day (solids first followed imediately by nursing)and sleeping two 6 to 7 hour stretches at night with a short nurse in between. I think maybe nursing through the night is a habit. Just think, if you ate lunch at noon everyday for a week then one day you had to wait until 1pm, you'd still be hungry at noon. Same for babies. He really is hungry every 2-3 hours because that is when he is used to being fed. Also, by having a gap between his solids and daytime nursings, he is used to 'snack size eating'. To begin dropping night time feeds, just start cutting them back. Start with the 3am. When he wakes limit his nursing time to 5 mins each side for a 4-5 days, then 2-3mins, then just do one side. His body will adjust to getting his calories at other times so don't worry about that. I assume you are not changing his diaper at night (unless poopy), but if you are stop. Night feeds should be as dark, quiet, and short as possible. Just a little 'warm up' for the tummy to get them back to sleep. After a week of one sided nursing wait 5 mins before going to him. He may start to settle himself. If you need to go in, don't pick him up, make sure he's covered and warm, softly tell him he's ok and walk back out. Wait 5-10 mins to see if he settles. He should be sleeping a good chunk at night within a few weeks. :o)

As far as amount of daytime eating. My girls ate a 1/2 jar of fruit or veggie, mixed with cereal to make about a full jar worth in volume + some scrambled egg or yogurt, etc. at each day time feed by about 7-8 months. Roughly 1.5 to 2 jars in volume of solids before each nursing. Other foods you can try are mashed potatoes with cheese, any soft fruit or veggie smashed up (pears, sweetpotatoes, broccoli, banana,peas, etc.), explore finger foods like cheerios or small pieces of toast. Have fun! Just remember to wait at least 4 days between new foods, so you can identify any sensitivites.

Have fun! This is a great age. :o)

I highly recommend the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. It contains wonderful advice on sleep and offers some great examples of schedules for feeding as well. Developing healthy sleep habits and eating habits for intfants can be tough, but with some great advice they can be conquered.

All the best to you!

Are you seeking the elusive " full night's sleep"? Breastfed babies nurse more often at night than formula babies because of the way breast milk is processed as opposed to the more complex formula... Your baby Should Be nursing every 3-4 hours, even with daytime solids. A really long stretch or " full night" for BF babies averages about 6 hours. Some people try a little extra cereal and protein before bed to keep them full longer, but that didn't work for us ( daughter eats like a bird, very small, frequent meals). If you want more solids in, feed first, then nurse, if you want to get in more fat and protein, nurse first, offer solids as extras. Don't worry if some people tell you your baby should sleep through the night by now... We're at 20 months and still wake up to nurse A few times a night ( yes, I know that seems overlong, but we have an aversion to cow's milk to work through). Your baby ( and you, if you just trust what feels right and works best for you both) knows how much to eat. Some want to sample, others need 2 jars at a sitting... And it will change all the time depending on growth spurts and teething and temperment and if that one jar is especially tasty, or they really aren't into mashed winter squash just yet :)