The 9-12 month baby age is exciting! Between 6-9 months you started seeing more of their personality and it keeps getting better. Also, many babies that had trouble sleeping through the night start at 9 months. The days can be slow but the years are fast, and it’s probably really crazy to think, but you almost have a one year old! Your baby is probably crawling all over the place and they may start walking or are getting ready to walk. Transitioning to a toddler also means eating more finger foods instead of pureed baby food. And of course the first birthday party! Keep reading for a 9-12 month baby schedule that creates happy and healthy babies!
The essence of creating a working routine is establishing something that works for you, your baby and your family. Schedules are essential for mom and baby, but it has to be something that you can sustain on a regular basis. So, as you look at examples of 9-12 month baby schedules, use the essentials to create your perfect version.
In this post, you’ll find key elements of a 9-12 month baby schedule, as well as toys and activities that are perfect for this age. Following, there is a sample schedule that will give you a “typical” structure that you can follow or modify to fit your life and personality (Free to download at the end!).
Key Elements of a 9-12 Month Baby Schedule
- One of the biggest changes with sleep is getting rid of the late afternoon nap and going from 3 to 2 naps at 9 months. 13-15 hours of sleep with 12 hours at night. 2 Naps- going down around 9-10am and then 1-2pm.
- 24-32 ounces of breastmilk or formula (4-5 feedings).
- Eating finger foods more regularly. 3 meals and 2 snacks (supplement to milk, not primary source of nutrients). Learning how to feed themselves more.
- Movement milestones- coasting (walking along furniture), climbing on top of things, walking or getting ready to start walking.
- Uses pincer grasp, pokes with index finger and imitates scribbling, begins to use objects correctly
- Language- Understands a lot of what you say, recognizes familiar people, lots of babbling and imitation of words, instances of first word or two, expanding a lot after 12 months.
- Teach them to wave bye, give high fives, give kisses, shake head “no” and “yes”, narrate your day to them and read everyday to help develop language.
- Separation anxiety can start at this age- being upset when you leave the room, shy or anxious around strangers, and becoming fearful in some situation. This is normal and will eventually pass, but establishing good bye routines may help.
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Toys for 9-12 Month Old Babies
- Push and pull toys
- Musical Instruments
- Pounding bench wooden toy
- Stackable block towers
- Cause and effect toys- like ball roll slides
- Bath toys
- Activity cube
- Discovery books
- Tall wooden activity cube– encourages standing
- Learning walker (AAP does not recommend walkers, but we loved it and both our boys walked on their own on time. Make sure you baby proof more, because they can get around pretty fast on the thing. 🙂 )
Activities for 9-12 Month Babies
- Talk to your baby- describe everything around them and what you are doing. Helps develop language!
- Read everyday if possible, or as often as you can
- Play with blocks and soft toys to develop hand-eye coordination
- Play peekaboo and patty cake
- Crawling and pre walking classes
- Music and early art classes
- Play dates for socialization
We use Pearachute to try out lots of fun new classes all the time! Everything from music, art, gymnastics (or what that looks like with babies), and open play in indoor playspaces.
*If you are in Chicago, Kansas City, Dallas/Fort Worth, Washington DC or San Francisco, you can try your first 4 credit month of Pearachute for free! 🙂 Just click on the link or go to: https://www.pearachutekids.com/referred?coupon_code=REF-31UMAY
Sample Baby Schedule
7- 7:30am | Wake Up- Nurse/Bottle
7:30-8am | Play: work on waving, high fives, naming things in sight, toys that have objectives like stacking rings or blocks, or pounding wooden bench tray.
8-8:45am | Breakfast
8:45am | Start nap soothing routine- Example: Dark room, snuggling, sucking on pacifier or fingers or nursing, rocking in chair or glider, soft singing then white noise machine.
9am | Morning Nap
10:30am | Wake Up- Nurse/Bottle
10:30- 11am | Snack
11- 12:15pm | Play time: focus on language, standing/walking, reading, going to new surroundings, having play dates or attending music classes or other baby classes.
12:15pm-12:45pm | Lunch
12:45pm | Start nap soothing routine- same one every time.
1pm | Afternoon Nap
3pm | Wake up and Snack
3:30-6pm | Play: same as above. Go outside at least once a day for fresh air.
6:00pm | Dinner and nurse/bottle (or include the bottle/nursing for end of bedtime routine)
6:30pm | Start bedtime routine. Include same soothing routine for naps but add extra to signify night sleep: like a bath, calming music, lotion massage, pajamas and read stories.
7:00pm | Put down drowsy, but not completely asleep to help baby develop self-soothing practices.
Subscribe below to download your copy! See you next time for the 12-18 month schedule.
Download Your Free 9-12 Month Baby Schedule
Use this schedule to help plan your perfect routine!
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I have a nine month old that only naps for 1 hour at at time.. what kind of sleep schedule then? We are struggling
I’m sorry you are struggling! Are they getting 13-15 hours of sleep? If not, start writing down when they sleep and for how long. Also, what is their behavior like when they wake up or right before going down for a nap. You will start to see patterns. If they seem like they are overtired, try and put them down for their nap earlier. At the end, you want them to get the hours- and how you get there may look differently. Which is okay. 🙂
My daughter is fighting us with sleeping through the night. She insists upon waking up 2 times a night (1:00-1:30, 4:30-5:00) for a bottle. We’ve been having some trouble breaking this habit. Any pointer/thoughts? Disclaimer: We’ve tried a bit of crying it out, but it doesn’t seem to work with her. She’s stubborn like her mama.
Hi Becky! Every baby is different so I’ll share what I think worked for us. Hopefully it works for you guys! I understand stubborn, I’ve got it and my 2 year old definitely has it. I’m constantly tasked with showing him I can stand my ground longer. Ha!
Maybe increase her feedings throughout the day- an extra ounce or so for bottles and a few extra bites of solids. Then do a dream feed around 10-11pm depending on when you go to bed. That way you know for sure she has all the nutrients she needs to sleep through the night. So you can get rid of any idea that she’s hungry and needs the food. The second thing is that it’s now a developed habit or rhythm so she’s used to doing it and you have to redevelop the habit. Try not to take her out of the crib but rub her back, tuck her in, sing to her quietly. You can still be caring while also communicating that the nighttime bottles aren’t happening anymore. I did this with my second son. Eventually, when he knew the extra snack was off the table- he stopped waking up.