Get a sample 1 year old feeding schedule and sleeping schedule for your baby. This 1-year-old schedule will help optimize your new toddler’s growing needs!
Seeing your little one cross the threshold from baby to toddlerhood is thrilling and rewarding!
You may find yourself missing the squishy little newborn phase, but it’s also so fun to celebrate this toddler transition. Look how far you’ve come!
All those hours you put in to feeding, nurturing, and teaching your baby have finally started to pay off. Your hard work is manifesting as some seriously cool milestones for your 1-year-old!
Maybe your little one is getting mobile, cruising around furniture, or even taking steps. Or perhaps they’ve been focusing on their verbal skills and have started sounding out some words to communicate their needs.
Whatever it is that your toddler’s busy brain is focused on, one thing is for certain: your days look very different from how they used to with a newborn.
As amazing as it is to watch your baby thrive and grow, these new toddler developments could also mean a change-up in the schedule you’ve grown accustomed to.
What Should a 1-Year-Old Schedule Be?
At this age, your 1-year-old’s daily schedule is going to be mainly determined by how many naps they’re still taking.
There’s a fairly common 12-month sleep regression, which can really have you starting to question whether your toddler’s schedule needs a major overhaul.
But until your little one completely drops their second nap of the day, the general 6-month baby schedule you’ve been following since they were around 6 or 7 months old should still fit the bill at the 12-month mark.
And here’s a hint for making it through any sleep regression right around the first birthday: it may not be time to drop that second nap just yet! Your new toddler will be better suited to transition to one nap between 13-18 months.
If your baby only naps 30 minutes or so, troubleshoot to see why this might be happening before changing the schedule.
Setting a Predictable 1-Year-Old Daily Schedule
I’m a big proponent of following a daily routine with your baby. As a certified sleep consultant, I’ve seen proof again and again that babies and toddlers thrive on routine and a predictable schedule.
Having a set schedule helps everyone know what to expect throughout the day. Knowing a general framework for how the day should be structured also allows for some flexibility and stretching the schedule when needed.
As your new toddler continues to grow, push boundaries, and test limits, a predictable schedule is especially important. If you need sample Babywise schedules for every age, I have them for you!
All of the big changes in your 1-year-old’s life—namely their new cognitive developments and skills—can leave them feeling a bit out of control or overstimulated. A predictable schedule is reassuring, and provides a soft place to land for their busy bodies and brains.
How Long Should a 1-Year-Old Be Awake Between Naps?
Again, the answer to this question will depend on whether you have successfully transitioned your toddler from two naps to one. If you have a fresh 12-month-old who still naps two times per day, their schedule will likely change over the next couple of months.
Your toddler’s wake windows will likely transition again between 13 and 18 months old.
If your 12-month old schedule still includes two naps, they will be awake 2.5-3.5 hours between naps.
Once you’ve transitioned to one nap over the following months, their wake window will be more like 4 to 5 hours.
What Time Should a 1-Year-Old Go to Bed?
For your 1-year-old’s sleep schedule, I typically recommend that you aim for a bedtime that’s about 12 to 13 hours after they wake up.
If you notice that it’s taking a long time for your toddler to fall asleep at bedtime, take a look at how much wake time they have between their last nap of the day and going down to bed at night.
It might be time to shorten the last nap of the day or push back bedtime if you’re on a two-nap schedule and your 1-year-old is awake for less than 3 hours before you put them down to bed for the night. If the bedtime battles continue, it could be time to transition from two naps to one.
Remember: if you’ve already transitioned to just one nap a day, you’ll want to make sure that bedtime is scheduled for 4 to 5 hours after your 1-year-old wakes up from their daily nap.
How Many Naps Should A 1 Year Old Take?
Most babies will transition to one nap between 13 and 18 months old. If your 1 year old is on the younger side, he’ll likely still need two naps until he shows signs of being ready to drop that second nap. Slightly older one year olds may be only taking one nap at this point.
Sample 1-Year-Old Sleep Schedule on Two Naps
During the first six months, I like to follow an EASY baby schedule to structure the day. If you’ve established independent sleep habits with your baby, following EASY isn’t nearly as essential once your baby is around 1 year old.
Check out the following sample schedule and feel free to re-work it based on when your toddler normally wakes up in the morning. This is for a toddler who hasn’t transitioned to one nap yet:
7:00 am: Wake up and nurse/bottle
8:00 am: Solids/Breakfast
10:00-11:30 am: Nap
11:30 am: Nurse/Bottle
12:30 pm: Solids/Lunch
2:30–4:00 pm: Nap
5:30 pm: Solids/Dinner
7:00 pm: Start baby’s bedtime routine and nurse or bottle
7:30 pm: Bedtime
Sample 1-Year-Old Sleep Schedule on One Nap
Here’s a sample 1-year-old schedule for a baby who has made the transition from two naps to one. This daily schedule gives you more time to go out and do a fun activity in the morning and then come home for a nap and break in the middle of the day.
7:00 am: Wake up and nurse/bottle
8:00 am: Solids/Breakfast
11:30 am: Solids/Lunch
12:00–3:00 pm: Nap
3:00 pm: Snack
5:30 pm: Solids/Dinner
6:30 pm: Start bedtime routine
7:00 pm: Bedtime
Eliminate Short Naps with a Predictable Sleep Routine
Take away the stress of figuring out your baby’s sleep needs. With the Baby Sleep Schedule Binder, you’ll get sleeping and feeding schedules that you can implement for every age, even if you currently have no routine in place. Check out the Baby Sleep Schedule Binder here.
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