Baby Schedule: 9 Months Old

One of the best words of advice I ever received as a new mom is to have a schedule!! I have had our baby on a schedule since he was a newborn and I’m convinced that having a schedule helped my milk supply and is the reason our baby started sleeping through the night at 6 weeks old.

I’m not a complete drill sergeant about the schedule and can certainly be flexible about it. But it sure makes for a happy baby when he is well fed, well rested and appropriately stimulated (brain and learning wise)…which in turn makes everyone happy!

As a new mom, I research a lot! Which is good and bad. But I’ve read lots of other mom’s schedules and sometimes it made me question our schedule. Mostly because everyone else has their babies asleep by like 6 or 7 o’clock. That just doesn’t seem to work in our house because we are such night owls. 

After tons of reading I finally decided that its ok for us to have a different schedule because everyone is different. You should always do what works for YOU! So I’d like to share our schedule – especially if there are other night owl families that are questioning their daily routines.

Daily Baby Schedule for our 9 Month Old

8:00 Wake up. Change diaper. Get dressed. Nurse.

         We have the luxury of sleeping “late” and thankfully our baby does the same. Since we don’t have to get up and go to work at a certain time, I let him sleep as late as he wants. He typically wakes up between 7:45 and 8:15. I go ahead and change his diaper since it’s a sopping wet overnight cloth diaper. And since I’m changing his diaper, I might as well get him dressed for the day. Then he nurses. This is typically his best nursing session of the day (about 15 minutes) since he sleeps through the night. He wakes up hungry and I have lots of milk.

8:30 – 9:00 Play.

         He is usually very energetic and eager to explore in the mornings. He often makes his way to me in the kitchen while I am cooking breakfast. I like to include him in meal prep as much as possible, even if its just offering a wooden spoon and pot to bang on. 

9:00 Breakfast.

         Even though he nursed an hour ago, our baby likes to eat!! His breakfast favorites are oatmeal or pancakes. I have posts on both of these if you’d like to read more about how I add extra calories and nutrients to both.

9:30 – 11:00 Play.

After breakfast, we typically go outside for a walk with the dog. In the south, the mornings are the best time to play outside because its cooler and less buggy. He loves to swing! This may be his favorite outside activity. He also loves to watch the kitty cat and chickens roam around. I utilize the pack’n’play to keep him safe and contained while I work in the garden or the yard. Although, he is such a mover and groover right now – this doesn’t last all that long. He gets agitated with the confinement and is ready to get OUT! We then go inside to play. I use this time to engage in more interactive activities such as rolling the ball back and forth, peek a boo, sing song games, etc. These reciprocal interaction games are crucial for social skill development, so I make sure to incorporate them into our schedule daily with some one on one time.

11:00 – 12:30 Nap.

         Our baby is currently taking 2 naps a day that typically last about 1.5 hours. He is pretty consistent with getting sleepy after about 3 hours of awake time. I make sure he has a fresh diaper and we read a book before I rock him to sleep. He LOVES books and enjoys turning the pages on his own. He usually falls asleep within minutes and I am able to put him in his crib for the duration of his nap.

12:45 Lunch. 

I try to get lunch ready while he naps since he usually wakes up ready to eat again. I have recently weaned him from nursing when he wakes up. This decision was made following his cues, as he was not nursing for that long and was more interested in playing at this time of day. Thankfully I have lots of breastmilk stored up in the freezer, so I just give him 6 ounces of thawed breastmilk in a straw cup with his meal. 

1:30 – 4:00 Play.

After lunch, we have more play time inside since it’s the hottest part of the day (and we live in Georgia so it gets HOT!). I typically let him have more independent play time with exploring, pulling toys off of his shelf and out of his toy bin – making a HUGE mess! I will also take him around with me to “help” with chores as I go to different rooms of the house. We also seem to have a load of laundry every day, so we make trips to the clothes line. (We voluntarily don’t own a dryer so all the clothes are line dried). He gets more “needy” as we get closer to nap time, so I give him more one on one time or even put him in the baby carrier depending on his mood and what we have going on in the house.

4:00 – 5:30 Nap.

         Then its time for his second nap of the day. I again make sure he has a fresh diaper and we read another book. He often fights sleep with the second nap, however is still usually asleep within minutes. I lay him in his crib for the duration of his nap.

5:30 Nurse.

         When he wakes up from his nap, I will nurse him. I have not weaned him from this nursing session yet because he currently nurses fairly well during this session. I see this being weaned soon though.

6:00 Dinner.

         I TRY to cook dinner during his second nap, but that doesn’t always happen. So sometimes we eat dinner a little later. Our baby eats table foods now, so he almost always has some variation of the same foods we are having for dinner.

6:30 – 8:30 Play.

After dinner, we typically go back outside for another walk with the dog or ride around in the golf cart/ATV. If we stay outside in the pack n play, I have to use a fitted crib sheet over the top to keep the mosquitos out. 

8:30 Bath.

         Our baby loves bath time and turns his crawling into high gear to get to the bathroom when he hears the water running.

9:00 Good Night.

After bath time, we sing lullaby’s and songs while I get him lotioned and dressed for the night. I also have a diffuser running in his room with a few drops of lavender and the lamp light on instead of the overhead light. He nurses one last time and falls right to sleep – staying asleep throughout the night.

Any other night owl families out there? Let me know if your baby schedule seems similar!

You might also like: My 9 Month Old’s Favorite Play Activities