Baby Wise How Often to Feed
Get different Babywise sleep schedules for newborns through 12 months old! Then check out our printable Babywise schedules for age appropriate wake times and nap lengths for all ages!
I have shared before how I have a love/hate relationship with Babywise. I love the concepts of the Babywise book—eat, play sleep, independent sleep habits, and age-appropriate wake times to help get your baby on a routine and sleeping through the night.
The problem I had with the book is that as a new mom, I felt like it didn't provide enough information on baby's wake times and giving actual Babywise schedules.
My very old edition of the book had sample schedules, but for the most part, they were just templates that you could fill in with your own times.
The first time I read it, I remember wondering where the rest of the information was! I had a difficult time figuring out the right baby wake windows and was left really frustrated trying to implement Babywise.
I researched the hell out of wake windows, read The Baby Whisperer Book, which has similar concepts, and experimented with my daughter's schedules and finally got the groove of it!
What is the Babywise Method?
On Becoming Babywise is a popular book and a a way to have a daily routine to help organize your baby's days to get him into a predictable eating and sleeping routine.
The Babywise Method has a big focus on following an eat, wake, sleep pattern, ensuring that baby takes full feeds, and following proper wake windows so your baby isn't under tired or overtired when put down for a nap or bedtime.
It also discusses the benefits of doing a dream feed with your baby and when to drop that.
Feel Confident Tackling your Baby's Sleep Schedule
Want to feel confident understanding wake windows and your baby's sleep needs at every age and stage?
Get printable schedules for babies ages Newborn through 4 years old with my Baby Schedule Cheat Sheets. You'll get a roadmap for your baby's wake windows and nap transitions through their first 4 years. Check it out here!
What is the Babywise Schedule?
Our Babywise schedules are examples you can use and adapt to your baby and lifestyle. All of these baby schedules use eat play sleep routine and have age-appropriate wake windows, so babies get optimal naps and night time sleep.
Wake windows can vary from one baby to the next, but in general most will fall within a similar wake window range based on their age.
When Should I Start the Babywise Schedule?
Many new parents wonder when to start implementing a schedule for their babies.
It's up to you on when you start to focus on a regular schedule. The first 0 to 8 weeks of baby's life will likely be all over the place.
You can start by focusing on establishing a breastfeeding relationship and milk supply (if breastfeeding) and separating baby's feedings from sleep, if even by a diaper change. (It can be really tricky at first!).
Make sure you take time to recover from labor, bond with your baby, and soak up those newborn baby snuggles before worrying too much about a schedule.
We implemented a more consistent schedule around 8 weeks, while trying to follow an eat wake sleep cycle from the start.
Do what works best for your family! Having a baby is stressful and sometimes implementing a schedule from a young age can put added pressure on us. The right time to start is when you feel ready!
Okay, onto the Babywise sample schedules. These schedules can work for all babies, regardless of if you're familiar with the Babywise method or not!
They are great baby sleep schedules if you're interested in teaching your baby healthy sleep habits from the beginning!
Babywise Newborn Schedule
In those first early days and really several weeks of life, your new baby will be very sleepy and you will have to try and keep him awake during feeding time. In the beginning, your baby's day (and nights) will consist of eating, sleeping, and diaper changing, especially those first six weeks!
Baby's wake time will be very short at first—just about enough time for your baby to take in a full feeding and get a burp and a diaper change.
Typically newborns can stay awake for about 45 to 60 minutes before needing to go to sleep again.
At this point, focus on full feeds while feeding on demand. As your baby takes full feeds, they will likely fall into a natural pattern of eating every 2.5 to 3 hours.
Don't stress about the schedule at this point! Most babies' sleep patterns aren't established yet. Try to soak up those newborn cuddles and get used to this new life for you and for baby!
Here's a sample newborn schedule using 45 minute waketimes and 2.5 hours in between feeds. Note that baby will also wake multiple times in the middle of the night for night feedings as well.
7:00 am: Wake Up + nurse or bottle
7:45 to 9:30 am: Nap time
9:30 am: Nurse or bottle
10:15 am to 12:00 pm: Nap
12:00 pm: Nurse or bottle
12:45 to 2:30 pm: Nap
2:30 pm: Nurse or bottle
3:15 to 5:00 pm: Nap
5:00 pm: Nurse or bottle
5:45 to 6:45 pm: Nap
7:00 pm: Slight awake time, bedtime routine, and nurse or bottle
7:30 pm: Bedtime
Night feeds as needed.
2-Month Old Babywise Schedule
Between 7 and 8 weeks many babies are able to extend their waketime just slightly up to 60 minute wake windows.
If you've been working on giving your baby full feeds, they can likely go between 2.5 to 3 hours in between feeds at this age. Note that growth spurts can happen as well!
Here's an example 2-month old Babywise schedule.
7:00 am – Wake and nurse or bottle
8:00 am to 10:00 am – Nap
10:00 am – Nurse or bottle
11:00 am to 1:00 pm – Nap
1:00 pm – Nurse or bottle
2:00 to 4:00 pm – Nap
4:00 pm – Nurse or bottle
5:00 pm to 6:00 pm – Nap
6:30 pm – Nurse or bottle / bedtime routine
7:00 Bedtime
Night feeds as needed.
3 Month Old Babywise Schedule
At three months old your baby is starting to wake up a bit more and be more interactive! Babies can often handle up to 90 minutes of wake time at 3 months old.
You'll likely have a more established milk supply by now and have slipped into a semi-predictable routine whether you're breast or bottle feeding.
Some babies will still need one to three feeds in the middle of the night, while others may start sleeping longer stretches!
Here's our example 3 month Babywise schedule using 3 hours between most feeds. Some babies will need to stay on 2.5 hours at this time as well. Know that short naps are normal at this age and it's common for your baby to take 30 minute naps throughout the day. Not all babies will take an hour nap or longer.
7:00 am: Wake Up + nurse or bottle
8:30 to 10:00 am: Nap
10:00 am: Nurse or bottle
11:30 am to 1:00 pm: Nap
1:00 pm: Nurse or bottle
2:30 to 4:30 pm: Nap
4:00 pm: Nurse or bottle
5:00 to 5:30 pm: Catnap
6:30 pm: Start bedtime routine + nurse or bottle
7:00 pm: Bedtime
Night feeds as needed.
4 Month Old Baby Schedule
Welcome to four months old! This is one of my favorite ages because babies typically have tons of personality and limited mobility!
Some parents struggle with the four-month sleep regression, which can make this age really difficult. If you've been working on independent sleep habits, then your baby may not struggle with it. (We never did!).
I also loved the four month schedule! Naps started to lengthen a bit and my baby was able to go a little longer in between feeds.
There will be some variation at this age in baby's schedules, especially when it comes to feeding times and wake times. Follow your baby's cues for both!
Here's a sample 4-month old schedule with a baby able to do 2-hour wake times and go 4 hours in between feeds. Some babies will need to eat sooner, so make sure you're paying attention to your baby's cues.
7:00 am: Wake and nurse or bottle
9:00 to 11:00 am: Nap
11:00 am: Nurse or bottle
1:00 pm to 3:00 pm: Nap
3:00 pm: Nurse or bottle
4:30 to 5:15 pm: Catnap
6:30 pm: Nurse or bottle/bedtime routine
7:00 pm: Bedtime
Night feeds as needed.
5 Month Old Babywise Schedule
Around five months of age is when some parents decide to sleep train their babies! it can be a good age to do so, since babies are past the four-month sleep regression and feeding patterns have likely been established.
Here's a five month baby sleep and feeding schedule you can implement:
7:00 am: Wake up + nurse or bottle
9:00 to 10:30 am: Nap
10:30 am: Nurse or bottle
1:00 to 2:30 pm: Nap
2:30 pm: Nurse or bottle
4:30 to 5:00 pm: Nap
5:00 pm: Nurse or bottle
7:00 pm: Start bedtime routine + nurse or bottle
7:30 pm: Bedtime
6 to 13 Month Old Baby Schedule
At six months, most babies have gotten past the 45 minute intruder and are starting to take longer naps! Six months is a really fun age as your baby probably has so much personality!
We also introduced solid foods at 6 months with self feeding and saw so many benefits from doing baby-led weaning! I thought solids were such a fun new milestone!
Babywise changes how they name their schedules at this point and name them by their wake times instead of their feeding times, so it can get a bit tricky.
My favorite 6-month schedule is 3 / 3 / 3, meaning your baby has three hours of awake time in between naps. Again, this is a great 6-month old baby schedule, even if you've never heard of Babywise!
I included solids as part of your day in this six-month old schedule as well!
Many babies can go without a night feed by 6 months old, racking up between 10 to 12 hours of sleep! If your baby is still struggling, you can learn how to sleep train and wean night feedings.
The best part about this schedule is that once your baby drops the third nap, you will stay with the same nap schedule for a while! This is a great schedule whether your baby is 6 months, 7 months, 8 months, all the way up until he is ready to transition to one nap!
Following a feed-wake-sleep cycle isn't as essential at this point—especially if your baby goes down to sleep independently!
Here's the sample schedule:
7:00 am: Wake up + nurse or bottle
9:00 am: Solids/Breakfast
10:00 to 11:30 am: Nap
11:30 am: Nurse or bottle
12:30 pm: Solids/Lunch
2:30 to 4:00 pm: Nap
4:00 pm: Nurse or bottle
4:30 to 5:30 pm: Afternoon outdoor time
5:30 pm: Solids/Dinner
6:30 pm: Start bedtime routine + nurse or bottle
7:00 pm: Bedtime
There you have it! Those Babywise schedules (and really Baby schedules even if you didn't do Babywise) will get you through baby's first year of life!
After that, you're moving into toddler world and the 1 year old schedule and then 2-year old sleep schedule!
I'd love to know if you've implemented a Baby wise schedule and how it went! Babies thrive off of routine and consistency, so while there will be times to veer from a strict schedule, having a flexible routine in place is really the best thing to help the whole family thrive!
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I'm Amy and I'm so glad you've stopped by! As a Certified Pediatric Sleep Consultant, my goal is to walk you through the process of getting your baby to sleep, so your whole family gets the rest they need!
My blog is full of things to help you celebrate motherhood including baby nursery ideas, sleep schedules and sleep tips, fun printables, baby registry must-haves, and so much more.
Source: https://thepostpartumparty.com/babywise-schedule/
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