Nap and Feeding Schedule for 6 mos old

Our identical boys are 6 months old (5 adjusted). They are formula fed and have just started cereal and food. I work and my mom keeps them for me during the day. We are struggling with getting them on a schedule. I would care much except that sometimes they get terribly overtired in the afternoon and by the time I get home from work they are crying and fussy and want to go to bed! I hate that the 2-3 hours I get with them are spent that way. Bottles are usually at 7am, 11am, 4pm and 7pm. When should we be giving the cereal and food? Morning nap is usually from 9-11 but what about afternoons? Should I put them in the crib at a set time every day and let them either play, sleep or cry? Help please!!

 

Are they down to 2 naps a day? My girls were still doing 3 naps a day at 6 months although the 3rd nap was a catnap that at it's longest was only an hour. Maybe they need one more short snooze in the late afternoon?

If you'd prefer to stick with 2 naps, you could try the 2-3-4 schedule. So they would go for their 1st nap 2 hours after they wake in the morning, their 2nd nap 3 hours after they wake from their 1st nap, and to bed 4 hours after they wake from their 2nd nap. I usually nursed/gave a bottle right after they woke each time & solids aprox 30 - 60 minutes after a bottle. HTH!

 

My boys were still on 3 naps a day at that point as well - that lasted until around 8 months. I don't remember exactly, but I think their naps were around 9am, 1pm, and catnap around 4pm, which I made sure didn't last more than an hour so they could go to bed around 8pm. Maybe they still need three naps a day?

 

I know how stressed out I get when trying to figure out schedules, so I'm hoping I can help!

My younger girls are just over 6 months (they are super "healthy" and in the upper percentiles for everything so I don't adjust them anymore) and they also need that 3rd nap (call it a "catnap") in the evenings or they are a disaster by 7pm (which is dinnertime for me & hubby... great!!!). Our schedule is as follows:

6am wake up, bottle
8:30 - 9am first nap (sometimes they go down later, I prefer this nap to last 1 hour to 90 mins MAX)
10:30am bottle
Noon - small snack (usually 1/2 to 1 fruit container)
12:30pm second nap(or sooner if they are tired, this nap can last 2 to 2.5 hours, I prefer it not to go longer than that)
3:30pm bottle
Anytime between 4:30 - 5:30 - I let them close their eyes if tired... if it doesn't happen, then I pray they cat nap after dinner for a little while, usually in their high chairs that recline
6:00 dinner (2 tbls rice cereal plus 1/2 veggie and 1/2 fruit)
8:00pm bottle + bedtime

They are sleeping thru the night for the most part. Now my OLDER girls didn't really sleep thru the night until they dropped that last catnap, at 10 months or so, God help me. They were terrible sleepers but now almost 2 and sleep great.

Hope this helps!

 

Carrie, can I just ask.. how did you get the girls to do the longer second nap? My girls are on roughly the same asyour schedule except they are in bed by 6pm (and generally go back to sleep for an hour after their 5/6am bottle), but I'm really struggling with them sleeping longer than an hour - sometimes after waking from their second nap, if they still seem sleepy I'm able to settle back to sleep (this doesn't work, if they both wake at the same time) - I would love for them to sleep that little bit extra especially for their second nap, I think they really need it and it would mean that I also would have a bit of break in the afternoon. If they slept longer for that nap I could possible eliminate the third nap which Liara always seem to need and does have while Sierra needs but refuses!

I'd love to know how it worked for you (or did they just do it themselves?)

 

I fully and completely understand your frustrations. I would ask your mom do all she could to get that afternoon nap in. We went through the same thing with our twins. Sometimes at daycare they get no nap and I pick them up and from 4-7 they are beyond fussy. We had to adjust by giving a late nap. From like 4:30 - 5:30. Seems a little late but it did the trick.

our boys sleep from 10-12, than 2-4. Perhaps a bad habit, but we give them a bottle and they nap right after.

 

My girls are 9 months old, but adjusted 6.5 months. We didn't have much of a schedule for a long time because of a similar situation, having my parents watch them during the day while I'm at work. They got tired a lot in the evening. They are starting to really fall into a schedule. One of the things I have done to get them to sleep longer than little cat naps is to put them in their cribs and put on some form of white noise such as the humidifier. They now take a short nap in the morning around 9, about 45 minutes where ever. A long nap in their cribs 2 hours, mid day. Another short nap where ever around 30 hour, 45 minutes. My mom puts the drier on for the white noise at least while the girls are going to sleep. It helps that they are in a crib for the long nap, and the white noise really helps them stay to sleep. Invest in a humidifier, you'll need it in the future any ways when they get colds (if you don't already have one).

 

My twins usually woke at around 630-7 am at that age. We were on a very similar feeding schedule with good morning nap 9-11ish, afternoon nap 1-3ish and cat nap around 5-530 for like 20 minutes... bed time 730-800. Usually, one of the two naps will be closer to 2-2.5 hours and one more like 1-1.5 hours. I also use white noise and they sleep in their cribs at home. At my sitter's house, they sleep in pak 'n plays without white noise so I guess they are flexible. We dropped the late cat nap somewhere around 8 months.

 

I had practically the same schedule, and actually the same issue when it came to my boys at that age.

I would see if your mom could get them that afternoon nap. Our boys still nap 930-1130 and 2:30-4:30. That way when you get home they may not be as fussy. You can also throw them in the tub. That can take the edge off crankiness and give them a second wind.

I think at 6 months we offered cereal/oatmeal morning and lunch, and stage 2 food at dinner. But every mom is different of course.

I know its a pain coming home to cranky babies, especially if you had a long work day as well.


---oh and we learned that putting them in their cribs in silence helped them sleep good. Again everyone is different but ours boys also have different rooms and cribs.