Home / Schedules / 6 Month Old Feeding and Sleep Schedules: Samples for Breastfeeding and Formula-Feeding Babies Show
 How Much Sleep Does a 6-Month-Old Baby Need?A 6 month old needs an average of 14 hours of sleep in a 24-hour period. Here is the average amount of sleep broken down by day and night: How much does a 6-month-old sleep at night?Most babies this age will sleep 11-12 hours at night and go to bed between 6:00 and 8:00 p.m. At this age, if you are not lucky enough to have a baby who sleeps through the night, you are not alone. Some babies will wake 1-2 times a night. If your baby is waking more than 1-2 times a night (e.g. every 2 hours), you likely have a sleep association problem.
Does a 6 month old have to eat at night?Most 6 month old babies eat 0-2 feedings at night, depending on whether your baby is breastfed or formula-fed as well as any health issues such as reflux. Breastfed babies can do a single 5-8-hour stretch and then will eat every 3 hours thereafter, on average. Formula-fed babies can often be night-weaned by this age. If not, some will still have a dream feed but will not eat again until morning. However, you should know there is also a 6 month growth spurt that lasts a few days to a week, though. Some people think it’s a 6 month sleep regression, however, that is not the case. How Many Naps for a 6 Month Old?Most 6 month old babies take 2-3 naps each day that total 2 to 3 hours. Babies this age stay awake and have wake windows between 2 and 3 hours at a time, on average. How much should a 6-month-old nap and how often?Your 6 month old should also be taking 2-3 naps per day for a total of 2-3 hours of sleep in total during the day. Most babies this age can stay awake for 2 to 2 1/2 hours at a time, sometimes 3 hours. If your baby has transitioned to two naps this early, they might have a single 4-hour awake period before bedtime. As a sleep consultant of over 12 years, this is on the rarer side.
Wake Windows for 6 Month OldsThe typical 6-month-old wake window is 2 to 3 hours with the first wake window being one of the shortest. Oftentimes, that first wake window is just 2 hours for a 6-month old baby. If your baby has a 3-hour wake window, it’s most likely going to be before the third nap or before bedtime. How Much Milk or Formula Does a 6 Month Old Need?Breast milk or formula should be the primary nutrition for the first year and solids come secondary. Below are the amounts we recommend. For more information on starting your baby on solid food, we have a series of blog posts dedicated to the subject. We include recommendations about how and when to start solids, as well as helpful information on food allergies, recommended products, baby-friendly recipes, and more.
Average amounts per day: • At least 5-6 breastfeeding sessions per day or 24-32 ounces formula or a combination (decrease solids if your baby is not taking in at least this much) Note: If you did not start solids until 6 months (I did not start until 6 months), you will work your way up to the number of servings above. Don’t worry about feeding this much right away! Most babies this age should only eat solids 1-2 times a day. Obviously, all babies vary, but here are a couple of sample schedules you can use to make your own for your unique baby. Strict schedules by the clock are iffy at this age because many babies simply can not stay up longer than 2 hours to get to the next scheduled nap-time. So at this age, it’s possible that naps are still on the short side but come frequently (up to 3-4 naps a day). Here is what I call a “staggered” approach when babies take a full milk feeding and then having solids a bit in between. Babies are a little hungry but not famished which helps them be interested and tolerate trying new foods. Some babies just don’t do well with stopping a milk feeding mid-way to eat solids. Staggered Feeding and Sleep Schedule – Ideal for breastfed babies6:30 AM – Wake +Plus possibly 1-2 nighttime feedings, including a dream feed If your baby doesn’t mind a more “consolidated” approach to eating, here is another type of schedule: Consolidated Feeding and Sleep Schedule7:00 AM
– Wake and Breast Milk or Formula +Plus possibly 1-2 nighttime feedings, including a dream feed Note: Many people prefer to follow an eat-play-sleep routine, which is a good routine to follow, however, sometimes hard to implement at this age when the amount of time between naps is not long enough and your baby wakes too early from his nap because of a feeding that comes due. I take all of that into consideration when making my schedules. The most important part is to be careful not to create sleep associations with feedings too close to sleep times, which we saw become important at 4 months old.
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Total hours of sleep for 6 month old
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