9 Month Old Feeding Schedule – Samples From Moms

by: cas

My baby is the same age as yours, and she has an 8oz bottle of follow on milk and then baby cereal for breakfast. Then lunch is another 8oz bottle and a 7mth ‘jar’,OR whatever I’ve cooked, and tea is the same. She will then have another 8oz bottle before bedtime, between 7 and 8pm.

Throughout the day I offer her water to drink from a bottle. I feed her, as I don’t believe that ‘baby led’ feeding works until they are much older, coz they lose interest and remain hungry. x

by: holly

My son is 9 months; he has been sleeping through since he was 7 weeks old, but he went through a phase of waking up between 1 and 5 and not settling back to sleep.

It is important to have a structured bedtime routine so your baby knows it’s time to sleep. Try a bath followed by a story and bottle, keep the lights off and tv low, or do it in his or your room.

Frequent night waking can be many things, light getting into his room or being cold and uncomfortable are some the reasons for a child not sleeping through at this age.

When he wakes, don’t feed him a whole bottle, feed him 1 ounce less and keep lowering it every night. Then when he wakes pick him up, soothe him and lay him down. Put on a mobile or soothing lullaby for him and leave the room. If he is crying, you can go and sooth him, lay him down as soon as he’s quiet. Keep repeating it. Or if you are brave enough and you don’t mind letting him cry, go in and soothe him, leave and let him cry it out.

By the time a baby is 9 months old he should have between 2-3 hours of nap time a day, make this structured and in his cot.

This is my son’s routine:
Wake up around 7-8, baby rice with fruit puree and water from a sippy cup. Change him and get him dressed.
At around 9.30-10 I give him a 7oz bottle and put him down for a nap, even if he’s not that tired he might lay there for 30 mins and have a quick light nap.
Leo has lunch at 1pm, he has some made up food and yogurt or rice cake.
Then at 3 he has a 7oz bottle and a nap.
When he wakes I give him tea, more food and a biscuit or rice cake.
I start his bedtime routine at 7. Bath followed by putting him in a sleepsuit and having a 9oz bottle. Then I make sure he’s winded properly and lay him in his crib. I leave him to sleep with his mobile on.

Some tips on how to get him to sleep through:

• Use a blackout blind and thick curtains the sun and streetlights can wake babies up from a light sleep.
• Have a draught blocker on the bottom of his door that will block out any light too.
• Use a sleeping bag instead of normal covers as he can’t kick it off, get stuck between cot bars or pull it over him head.
• Try using a dummy.

Baby Help Line: Some excellent advice here! Here are a few links to articles that might help you further:

• Baby sleep tips to help you set routines for your baby
• A baby sleep schedule, month by month
• An example of a baby sleeping bag. (This link goes to Amazon, where you can read more reviews of this and similar sleep bags.)

by: Nicole

Hi My baby will be 9 months march 2nd. He has been sleeping through the night since he was 2 months old. His schedule is:
8 am. 6 oz. bottle
9 am. oatmeal w/ 2 oz. whole milk ( just started whole milk only in oatmeal right now. I want to keep him on formula until 11-12 months old)
Noon 6 oz. bottle
1-2 pm. 1/2 veggie & 1/2 fruit or yobaby yogurt, water in a sippy cup and a few puffs too
4 pm. 6 oz. bottle
5-6 pm Stage 2 meat & fruit or veggie, water in sippy and a few puffs too
>8 pm. 6 oz. bottle

I plan to add some textures to his food like stage 3 or some food my husband and I eat.

by: Anonymous

My daughter is just turning 9 months old.

Schedule is :

7am: 7 oz bottle

9am: stage 2 fruit with cereal

11am: 7 oz bottle

followed by either puffs, breads, chunks of fruits or veggies until she’s full)

3pm: 7 oz bottle

5pm: veggie (sometimes with ground up meat) and usually a few little nibbles of whatever we’re eating for dinner)

7pm: 7 or 8 oz bottle and bed.

Sleeps 7-7 (well, about 6:45 actually)

by: Anonymous

My feeding schedule for my 8 1/2 month old daughter is very similar to those listed here. Whew. It is nice to feel validated. BUT…I am finding lately that she gets full from nursing and doesn’t eat as many of the solids as I think she should – even if I space the nursing from the solid meal by 2 hours. I aim for 2 to 3 ounces of baby food and rice cereal, but often she eats only half. And sometimes less. Still, she is a good eater and her weight is fine, so I don’t want to get too worried. I guess I feel that breast milk is still most important as that’s where most her nutrition comes from still, so I don’t want to feed her solids first and risk her missing out on the breast milk. Do others find that alternating solids and formula/breast milk is the best bet (essentially she ends up eating every 2 hours…) or that clustering the solids and baby food together is better?

And YES…I have a daughter who still wakes up to feed 1 or 2 times per night! She is a great sleeper, goes down well, but like clockwork wakes about every 4 hours to eat. (She does sleep through occasionally in cluster of 3 or 4 nights but it’s been over 2 weeks now since she has…) I don’t mind feeding her as I don’t work now and she goes right to sleep after nursing for 15 minutes…but all I hear “out there” is I MUST reduce her night feeds so I feel very intense external pressure.

Indeed, last night we tried a cry it out approach and it was awful! Still, we succeeded after almost an hour of her crying and she woke up 3 hours later in a great mood. However, this is a kid who rarely cries. I can’t help but wonder if she is crying at night to be fed she must really be hungry. What is the crime in appeasing her hunger for now? (I think I know the answer :-) but have to ask again!)

by: Paula (Baby Help Line)

Hi Anonymous…
Your daughter is happy, increasing in weight, at home with you and breastfed. It sounds like she is having a great time!

The reason why she is not so interested in solid foods right now is of course difficult to answer, but you should know that babies’ appetite can vary A LOT from day to day. Much like for adults ;-) If she seems healthy and is obviously nursing, then don’t worry! You can read a bit about children’s eating habits here.

Regarding her not sleeping through the night, in my opinion, if it is OK with you, then it is OK. A lot of babies wake up for feeding or even just to cuddle up with mom or dad, and as long as you don’t break down from exhaustion, then let her have this comfort.

The age around 9-10 months is quite sensitive for many babies, since their mind is expanding and they are starting to really realize that they are a separate person from their mom – scary! So they suffer from separation and stranger anxiety, become clingy and fussy. Life is simply a bit frightening for a while. Letting them cry it out during the sensitive time, can actually make things worse and will certainly not help them become secure faster.

So follow your instincts and enjoy this time with your little daughter! You are doing great!

Warm wishes,
Paula