SAMPLE BABY FEEDING SCHEDULES: 7-9 Months

Share|

This was a very fun time. I felt like we really hit a groove and many things with our routine such as sleeping and eating really fell into place and stayed consistent for a while. Both boys also started crawling and pulling up to stand during this period which is so fun.

Here are notes from our schedule for 7-9 months.

MONTH 7
Cereal was consistent and we were adding more fruits and vegetables throughout the day. While following the 3-5 day wait rule, I added various fruits for breakfast, green veggies for lunch, and orange veggies for dinner. The boys were taking 2 full naps and a third catnap in the late afternoon. I got them up for the day at 7:00am and they had a bottle and ate breakfast. They had another bottle and ate lunch at 11:00. Then, they would have another bottle and eat their afternoon meal at 3:00pm. The last feeding of the day was just a bottle at 7:00pm right before being laid down for bedtime. This 4 hour schedule worked well for a while.

MONTH 8
This month, we were down to just 2 naps around 9:00am and 1:00pm. The eating schedule stayed about the same while adding more and more quantities as well as mixing flavors. Some favorites were mango, blueberries, pears, avocado, banana, sweet potato, zucchini, squash, and carrots.

MONTH 9
Our sleeping and eating schedules stayed generally the same with lunch and the afternoon meal each moving about 30 minutes later. We kept increasing food amounts, varieties, textures, and mixtures. At this point, the boys were generally eating about 26-32 oz formula, 6-8 oz fruit, 1/2 cup porridge, and 6-8 oz vegetables every day. This was split up as follows:

• 7:00am - bottle, porridge, fruit
• 11:00/11:30am - bottle, green vegetable, fruit
• 3:00/3:30pm - bottle, porridge, orange vegetable, fruit
• 7:00pm - bottle

RESOURCES
I've mentioned these before, but my two favorite resources have been Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron and wholesomebabyfood.com. Please share any other interesting or helpful resources. You may also benefit from some of these TIPS.

Be sure to also see these previous posts.
SAMPLE BABY FEEDING SCHEDULES: 4-6 Months
SAMPLE BABY FEEDING SCHEDULES: 0-3 Months
SAMPLE BABY FEEDING SCHEDULES: Introduction
 
ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS
As always, be sure to discuss any feeding options, ideas, struggles, or issues along the way with your pediatrician.

Consistency is key. Decide what you want your daily routine to be and stick with it. Babies, children, and adults enjoy routine and knowing what to expect next. You will, of course, need to change with your children as they grow, but getting this established early is something that you will be thankful for in the future.

Keep taking notes and writing what your baby eats, how much, and how often. It will great in knowing where to go next and noting any allergy triggers or sleep issues. Full tummies like their sleep. My boys also definitely eat better when they are well rested.

NOTE: A month references the time from turning that age until the next older month. So, if your baby was born on January 1st, then those first weeks are considered MONTH 1 until he reaches February 1st. From then until March 2nd is considered MONTH 2. Remember that there are 52 weeks in a year, so it's not an even 4 weeks per month.

Please share your thoughts and ideas.

::