9 mos. old and finally SOME schedule success...

Jack and Lily just turned 9 mos. on Friday and I think we finally have a schedule that works for everyone. I know there are many other 9 monthers out there so I thought I would share the schedule that is working with us along with one or two brags and a question/concern or two!

7:00 wake up (or I don't get them until then at least)
7:30 6oz. bottle
8:30 table/finger food b-fast
9:30 NAP ( for Lily anywhere from 40 min to 1.5 hours/ Jack always 1.5 hours)
11 8oz bottle
12 walk on the beach !!!! YEAH!!!! for one whole hour
1:15 ish table food snack/lunch
2:00 NAP (for Lily usually an hour and for Jack usually 1.5 or 2 hours)
3:30 - 4:00 8oz bottle (they recently are not drinking it all though)
5:30 table food dinner
6:30 bath everyother night
7:00 last bottle
7:30 in bed

they are sleeping through; however, I am wearing earplugs and WE have a sound machine so the only way we get up is if DH (heavier sleeper than I) hears them. They are soo loud with all of their moaning and groaning all night that this was the only way we could get them to "STTN" so I guess we are kind of cheating but it works and everyone is sleeping. I usually wake up around 4:30 (habit, I guess) and turn the monitors off, take out earplugs, and go upstairs (our master is downstairs ) and sleep in the guest room next to their rooms until they wake me up!

Any constructive advice on that schedule is welcome and appreciated! For example...are they getting too much formula for this age...about 29/30ounces a day.

BRAGS:
Anyway, they are only eating finger foods, walking behind their push toys, cruising, and Lily just started standing up without holding onto anything...it is the funniest looking thing after being so used to watching them hold on for dear life!

CONCERNS:
Lily has always been our little free spirit but lately she is just really rough on her brother. SHe has always been the one to beat up on him but she is getting much more aggresive. I think she is trying to play because she is smiling the entire time but she tackles him and puts her hands all in his face and mouth and makes a fist and hits him on the head. Luckily he is really nice about it and really just sits there until he can get away (she makes escape impossible as she grabs his onesie with one fist while hitting his head with the other ). he is almost 3 lbs. heavier than she so it is nice that he does not fight back. She also steals his toys ALL OF THE TIME no matter what it is. The thing about it is that I feel so sorry for him I almost have to interven but then I swear she gets mad at me. I feel like I am redirecting her all day long and I feel bad about it. She totally yelling anytime I try to change her diaper or clothes and twists around so much and sits up and stands that you almost cannot get her dressed. They both have always hated being changed and even Jack cries while being changed but she really puts up a fight and it ends up a power struggle. Actually, that is my concern...I am really afraid as everything ends up a power struggle with her...anything from sitting in her high chair and not jumping out to getting a shirt over her head. I just needed to vent about that as I feel badly fighting her on everything. Most things I just let her do but these are the things that I really NEED to be firm on. I am terrified for when she grows up !

One more thing....I read to them before their naps but lately they are trying to bend the books and really just basically sit on and otherwise torture the book while I am reading. They play so rough with the books that they end up breaking them while I am trying to read to them ... I am going to assume this is normal...right? Maybe they are trying to tell me that it is time for new books!

Thanks !
Amy

 

Amy,

Your schedule is very similar to ours (well, no walks on the beach here in New Mexico). I don't know if 29-30 ounces of formula is more than what most people feed their 9 month olds; my 10 month old girls are offered about 30 ounces a day and they usually end up drinking about 27-28 each day.

We have the same book problem that you do and all of our board books are slowly dying as a result of massive chewing on them. I just invested in some plastic and cloth books in hopes that would help. The girls don't seem to like the new books as much, but they can't kill them in one sitting.

Trish

 

It is a lovely thought to "read" books to kids that age. They won't sit there and listen to a story without trying to rip the book out of your hands or otherwise destroy it for a long, long time. I mean like another year or more. I got so annoyed with that phase with my oldest I just let him look at big board books on his own, and then tried to read to him while he was already in his crib.

Reyna

 

Hi Amy

Our schedule is a little similar, although my two are in bed by 6:30. They'd be toast by 7:30. I can't seem to have success with three naps and they are so tired by 5:00 pm that it is a challenge to get through dinner.

About reading, I read to them in their bouncy seats, they sit side by side in them. I hold the book up in front of them both, lightly jiggle the bouncy seats (which are touching so both seats lightly jiggle). Of course the jiggling lets up when I have to turn the page. They can't destroy the books this way and I have their attention. If I tried to read to them in the crib I think they'd crawl all over the place!

Sotto

 

Hi Amy,
I love reading about your Jack and Lily! That little girl is toooo funny... your stories always make me laugh out loud. I can just imagine her beating the heck out of her *much* bigger brother! Looks like she'll be the one sticking up for him in school. :lol:

Your schedule is almost identical to ours except that we don't do a 4pm bottle (or a walk on the beach). We went down to three a day a few months ago because they were taking less and less of the late afternoon bottle.

I am also so glad to hear that you're getting more sleep! I finally figured out that I wasn't sleeping well at all because of the LOUD monitor right by my head at night. I decided to turn the thing down a bit and now I'll only wake up if they're really needing me. It's so nice now that they're older and I don't feel like I need to catch every s.i.n.g.l.e sound they make!

As far as books... I have little stacks of board books for them around the house that we occasionally read when we go from room to room during the day. Lately, they have decided that those books are fun for pushing up on and zooming around the house (like a push-toy) on the carpet. So we now have books that are getting smashed into coffee tables, sat on, jumped on, and dragged all over the place. The only time they'll sit still for a story is when we're in the rocking chair in their room before nap or bed and they're tired. So I think your babies are perfectly normal and it sounds like they're doing GREAT!!!

Carrie

 

Your Lily sounds like my Jonas. Jonas has always been the more "physical" of the two and he likes to go over and "tackle" his brother alot. He also takes toys away from Lucas so I have to supervise. I give the toy back to whomever had it first and then redirect the other. That's about all you can do at this age. Lucas is pretty laid back so he doesn't usually fuss much about Jonas "playing" with him. I just figure it'll get better with time and when it gets too rough I redirect them.

You would also think that diaper changes in my house were some form of torture...that hasn't gotten any better and the bigger they get the harder they squirm. No real advice there. I usually offer a toy for them to hold while I change them and grab them firmly by the thigh with one hand and change the diaper with the other. Just wanted you to know that I don't think the diaper change reaction is unusual.

Your schedule sounds great though. About 9 months old, my boys started slacking on their afternoon bottle, much like yours are. Right before they turned 10 months, I dropped the bottle and offered a snack and sippy of water and they did fine with that...so yours may be heading that way.

 

Great update! Lily sounds just like Ana. She is so rough with Meara and steals toys just to steal them. I feel so sad for Meara sometimes because when Ana starts looking at her, Meara will run away and hide in the corner to play (makes me want to cry just thinking about it). I love my sweet Ana, but sometimes she is 'mean' and I don't think she means to be mean, I think its just a competitive thing (which is probably evolutionarily adaptive- as DH says "Fighting to get the biggest teet"). I don't know how to teach her to stop and I don't necessarily want to teach Meara to 'fight back.' That doesn't leave many options. Maybe Lily and Ana will outgrow this or maybe Jack and Meara will decide not to take it anymore. Or maybe we should get Lily and Ana together and see what happens... hmmmm...

 

I am glad that you are having success with a schedule. I still am waiting for that day when mine are on one. Your little girl sounds like the dominant one. My DD is the same way to her brother. It is actually quite funny sometimes.