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At 6 months old you are starting to feel confident in your parenting abilities. If you are going to ever get your baby on a schedule you likely have by now. However, around this time, similar to every month in the first year, things are changing or about to change. Developmental changes and schedule disruptions are constant during the entire first year.
A couple of things you are currently experiencing or will be experiencing soon include:
Rolling Over
Teething
Dropping the 3rd Nap
Introducing Solids
Each of these milestones comes with joys and obstacles, as well as disrupting what was previously your normal routine.
Every baby will hit these milestones in their own unique time. You may be experiencing all, none, or some at any point.
For this example day in the life with my 6 month old we are passed the point of rolling over. They do not do it in the crib due to wearing a sleep sack but can do so during the day as they please.
We are currently experiencing them pushing through their first tooth. Overall I think they are handling it well, but I am aware it can cause pain and discomfort. We have used Motrin on the occasion that they seem to be in pain. Check out this awesome teething toy, our baby loved it!
We are not currently planning to drop the third nap. I think this is hugely dependent on your daily routines and schedule. Dropping the third nap would be very difficult for us right now.
When I am writing this day-in-the-life we have not yet introduced solids. We are going to do so in the next couple of days. I think this milestone will have the least impact on our daily schedule. When you first start with solid foods you shouldn’t change your nursing schedule. Babies still need all the same nutrients from milk. They also don’t actually consume all that much food. A lot gets spit out.
Ok now that we know where we currently are in life let’s take a look at a real day with a real 6-month-old.
Evening
We are going to start in the evening. I think this helps give perspective to the next day and morning.
7:20 PM Nurse
We typically would nurse closer to bedtime, but it had been a little while and the baby was getting fussy. I find myself nursing more frequently in the evening. I think it became a routine to help with witching hours and is also a strategy to get her nice and full before bedtime.
Night
7:50 PM Bedtime
Bedtime is anywhere from 7:45 PM to 8:10 PM
We are currently working on going to bed without needing to be rocked to sleep and perfectly placed in the crib. Our goal is to put a tired baby down in the crib with eyes open and awake. They then can put themselves to sleep.
We spent some time putting our baby down and checking on them at various intervals. It went quite well. About 90% of the time we can now put her to bed awake and she will go to sleep. For the other 10%, we end up having to go back in and comfort for a bit.
Typically she is tired and goes right to sleep. Sometimes though, she will play with her hands or pacifier for a bit.
It is amazing! I love being in this place. Trying to put our baby down perfectly each night is stressful. We are loving this phase of life.
10:15 PM Nurse
This was pretty early in the night for her to cry. She sounded so upset. I didn’t bother to try the pacifier or re-rock. I had not yet fully gone to bed so I figured I might as well just feed her. Plus teething could be causing pain or discomfort.
3:00 AM Nurse
Because we nursed at 10 pm we ended up with two nursing sessions. The goal is to get down to one nursing session during the night.
Morning
7:45 AM Wake Up and Nurse
I don’t always nurse first thing in the morning, but based on my toddler’s schedule it was necessary today.
I would prefer to do a bit of awake time and then do a feeding. This way the feeding is closer to the first nap of the day.
If the gap from the morning feeding is quite large from when she goes down for a nap sometimes I will squeeze in a feeding before the first nap. This is the struggle with trying to follow the sleep-eat-play schedule. Once wake times are getting longer it doesn’t fully work.
9:15 AM Nap #1
11:00 AM Wake Up
11:00 AM Nurse
When she woke up she was hungry. My plan is to feed now, have playtime, and then feed again before the next nap.
Playtime
For now, we are having playtime. Our daughter loves her floor mat with the jungle gym. I have never seen a baby get so much pleasure out of one of these things. She grabs all the hanging elements, will flip and flop all over, and even make the thing fall on top of her. She is discovering every element of it.
Bath Time
We are off work today so we are going to do a daytime bath. Evenings can be hectic with both children home and dinner to get on the table. An afternoon bath was the way to go today. I will strategically put it before a nap.
Just for a quick explanation our toddler goes to daycare each day. Our baby can go to work with me part-time in the afternoons. We had today off work.
Afternoon
1:00 PM Nurse
I do not nurse to sleep. We nurse in the living room, burp, and then go into the bedroom for the naptime routine. I made the mistake of nursing to sleep with my first child and swore I wouldn’t do it again.
1:15 PM Nap #2
2:00 PM Pacifier
2:40 PM Pacifier
To extend nap time I will go in and give her a pacifier. I sneak in like a ninja and only reach my arm over the crib because it is still set up high. I know this won’t work much longer, but for now, it helps.
Both times I did the pacifier she went right back to sleep. Teething is making her extra tired I think.
4:00 PM Wake Up and Nurse
Evening
5:45 PM Nurse
This feeding is pretty close to the last one, but we were heading out for a Christmas event at the zoo. I wanted to get her fed beforehand.
Nap #3 ,normally this nap would be at home, but it was on the run tonight. She took a bit of a stroller nap while we were at the zoo.
8:30 PM Nurse and Bedtime
This is a bit later than normal, but that’s ok. We had a fun night out at the zoo. We try our best to jump right back into our routine the next day.
Night
1:00 AM Nurse
Just for clarity nighttime feedings last only about 7 minutes now. I go in nurse and put her right back in bed. I barely burp her and do not rock at all. The goal is to stay as sleepy as possible. This is one of the huge benefits of breastfeeding. You don’t waste any time fumbling with getting a bottle ready while your baby wakes up. If you want to read more about the advantages of breastfeeding check out The Top 17 Advantages of Direct Breastfeeding Over Bottle Feeding.
Morning
7:40 AM Wake Up and Nurse
Playtime
10:00 AM Nap #1
11:00 Am Wake Up
11:00 AM Nurse
Playtime
Afternoon
1:30 PM Nurse
1:40 PM Nap #1
4:00 PM Wake Up
Conclusion
There you have it! Nearly 48 hours with our 6 month old.
Our life and routine are far from perfect, but we are always doing our best.
I hope this example of a real day-in-the-life gives you comfort or encouragement if you are struggling. No day is perfect. Just keep doing your best and it will all work out.
Check Out My Articles
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The Importance of a Daily Routine for Your Seven-Month-Old’s Development