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See what a six month old schedule looks like following the Babywise method. Includes example schedules, feeding times for baby, and how to easily add solids to the Babywise 6 month schedule!
If your baby is getting close to the six month mark and you’re following the Babywise method, then it’s time to get ready for the six-month schedule.
If you’ve been following Babywise for a while now, your baby is probably on a good sleep routine and chances are she sleeps through the night!
The six-month Babywise sleep schedule was one of my favorite times because your baby takes two solid naps during the day, has a long stretch of overnight sleep (about 11 to 12 hours at night), and still gives you a chunk of waketime in the afternoon to go out for an errand or a fun adventure with them!
Plus, it’s just an easy schedule! I felt like the 6-month schedule was way easier to explain to babysitters or grandparents than previous schedules and very simple to implement.
By six months old, most babies don’t struggle with the 45-minute intruder (no more pesky 45 minutes of napping) so naps tend to be a bit more predictable as well!
The lingo of the Babywise 6 month schedules is a little confusing, only because it’s different than what you’ve been doing (if you’ve been following Babywise up to this point). But I’m here to break it all down for you and help you out! I was so confused by the Babywise book because I feel like it just didn’t go into enough detail to get my baby sleeping. I did a ton of research to fill in the gaps and am sharing it all here!
Babywise Six month schedule Options
Around 6 months, most babies will drop their third nap time and move to having two naps, consisting of about 3 hours daytime sleep and 12 hours night time sleep.
Originally we were naming schedules by your baby’s feeding schedule. For example, saying they were on a 3-hour schedule meant they went 3 hours in between feeds, but around 6 months of age, Babywise starts naming schedules by their wake times.
Wake time for 6 month old is around 2.5 to 3 hours and the 6-month old schedule lines up with that perfectly.
There are three main waketime schedules that you can use for your 6-month old Babywise baby at this point:
- 2.5 / 3 / 3.5
- 3 / 3 / 3
- 2 / 3 / 4
Each number is the amount of waketime baby will have before taking a nap or going to sleep for the night. Different babies will thrive on different waketime combinations. Some babies are ready for that morning nap super early, while some will need their wake time more evenly distributed throughout the day.
You can start with the 2.5 / 3 / 3.5 schedule and tweak from there. It’s a great place to start for the 6-month schedule because it keeps feeds and waketimes distributed fairly evenly. Once you get your schedule honed in you won’t have to mess with it much until your baby drops to one nap around 12 months old!
That was one of my favorite things about the six-month Babywise schedule. I was so sick of finding a new rhythm and waketimes every few weeks! It was really nice to be on a schedule and stay on it for a long time.
Adding Solid Foods to Your Day
Many babies start solid foods around 6 months old as well. This is such a fun milestone! We did baby-led weaning and saw so many benefits! I read about introducing solids in one of the Babywise books, but it all seemed too overwhelming to me, having to measure out foods and track it all.
After being so fixated on my baby’s sleep, I didn’t want to put that much effort into solid foods as well. Baby-led weaning was really flexible and worked for us!
We started with giving solids (BLW style) just at dinner and ate it at our regular family meal times. As Evelyn became more interested in solids, I gradually added breakfast and eventually lunch. I added lunch last because I wanted to save that mid chunk of time during the day for us to get out of the house!
I included when you could do solids in the sample baby schedules below. Do what works for you and don’t stress the times of solid food too much. Breastmilk or formula will still be baby’s main source of nutrition at this point. Feed in these example schedules refers to a breastfeed or bottle feed.
If you aren’t interested in doing baby-led weaning, you can check out different schedules for doing traditional weaning here.
Okay, onto the six month sample Babywise schedules.
2.5 / 3 / 3.5 Schedule
This is the schedule we used for Evelyn when we first started the 6-month schedule. I actually started it with her around 5.5 months because she kept having early wakings and I didn’t love the late afternoon catnap.
7:00 am: Wake and Feed
7:00 to 9:30 am: Waketime / Breakfast solids
9:30 to 11:00 am: Nap
11:00 am: Feed
11:00 am to 2:00 pm: Waketime / Lunch solids
2:00 to 3:30 pm: Nap
3:30 pm: Feed
3:30 to 6:30 pm: Waketime / Dinner solids
6:30 pm: Last feed / bedtime routine
7:00 pm: Bedtime
3 / 3 / 3 Schedule
The 3 / 3 / 3 schedule is similar to the one above with the waketimes equally distributed. It’s super simple to explain to other caregivers (or your husband!) Here’s an example schedule. if you want your daily wake time or bedtime to be different, just adjust those times and the rest of the schedule accordingly.
7:00 am: Wake and Feed
7:00 to 10:00 am: Waketime / Breakfast solids
10:00 to 11:30 am: Nap
11:30 am: Feed
11:30 am to 2:30 pm: Waketime / Lunch solids
2:30 to 4:00 pm: Nap
4:00 pm: Feed
4:00 to 6:30 pm: Waketime / Dinner solids
6:30 pm: Last feed / bedtime routine
7:00 pm: Bedtime
2 / 3 / 4 SCHEDULE
Some babies need a bit of a longer stretch right before bed so they can make it through the night. The 2 / 3 / 4 schedule works great for those babies and parents who want their longest waketime in the evening. This schedule is also nice for parents who work, so you can have more time with your baby in the evening. Here’s an example nap schedule with a 7 am waketime and 7 pm bedtime.
7:00 am: Wake and Feed
7:00 to 9:00 am: Waketime / Breakfast solids
9:00 to 10:30 am: Nap
10:30 am: Wake / Feed
10:30 am to 1:30 pm: Waketime / Lunch solids
1:30 to 3:00 pm: Nap
3:00 pm: Feed
3:00 to 6:30 pm: Waketime / Dinner solids
6:30 pm: Last feed / bedtime routine
7:00 pm: Bedtime
Remember that all of these are examples and can be tweaked to work for your baby. Our daughter usually took a longer morning nap, consisting of 2 hours and then she would only nap for an hour in the afternoon. Follow your baby’s cues and do what you think is best!
Making the transition from two naps and a catnap seemed like a huge jump to me and I worried about the longer waketimes. If your baby is fussy or struggling during that evening stretch where they used to take a catnap, you can take them outside or give them a small snack to help distract them and carry them over the hump. Babies tend to get a second wind and then they can make it through the longer stretch and to bedtime.
Good luck merging to two naps and getting on the Babywise 6 month schedule! Hopefully you and your babe love it! I know my Babywise babies did!
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