9 to 12 months is an age when lots of things happen, lots of changes and milestones (crawling and walking). These changes might cause sleep regressions, and affect your schedule; there is no need to panic, remember we talked about being flexible and adapting your schedule, well, let's do it.
The most important thing will be to watch your little one, sleepy cues might be "irregular" he might wake up more often or sleep longer naps, it's ok, if it is a regression it will only last 2 weeks tops.
Here is an example of a schedule you can use, read the guide below carefully so that you can adapt it to your baby's needs.
Sleep needs
Nighttime sleep: 11 hours of uninterrupted sleep
Daytime sleep: 3.5 hours (2 - 3 naps)
Wake up
An acceptable and normal wake-up time for your baby should go from 6:00 am to 7:30 am. To help him distinguish between nighttime and daytime awakenings, be bold, enter the room, open la blinds, turn on the light and say "Good Morning".
Always follow your pediatrician's advice for feeding. Nurse or bottle-fed when he wakes up, and if you are already giving him solids, this is a perfect time to sit and enjoy breakfast together.
First nap
2 to 3 hours after waking up. If your baby is sleeping 11 to 12 hours during the night, he might be able to stay awake for 3 hours.
Nap duration: 1.5 hours for 9-month-olds and 1 hour for 12 months old babies.
Awake time
This is a great time to run errands and play outside, babies are usually in a good mood because they are well-rested.
You can also have lunch during this time, try to have some playtime between lunch and the next nap.
Afternoon nap
A good time to start this nap is between 1:00 and 2:00 (depends on the time your baby woke up and took his first nap, for example, if he woke up at 6:00 am, he will probably have this nap at 12:00 or 12:30 pm.
Nap duration: 1.5 to 2 hours for a 9-month-old and 1.5 for a 12-month-old.
Dinner
Babies get hungry earlier than us, it's ok for them to have an early dinner. If you are already giving solids, dinner can be between 5:00 and 6:00 pm. At this age, don't worry that much about having a "family dinner", it is better to have a well-rested and not fussy child.
Bedtime routine
Start from 30 minutes to 1 hour before the time you want him sleeping, depending on the time you need. Remember they need wind-down time, make sure to include this time in their routine. Remember to adjust the time depending on his naps, if he had a "bad nap day" you can put him to bed early.
A good bedtime routine for a baby in this age range might include:
Relaxing bath
A soothing massage while putting Pjs on
Bottle or nursing
Reading a book and some cuddling
Putting him in his crib
Say a prayer
Good night kisses and
Lights out!
A note about feeding: try to do the feeding (bottle or nursing)earlier in the bedtime routine. For example, do the feeding, then prayers, or a song so that he is awake when you put him in the crib.
Asleep
A good time for your baby to fall asleep goes from 7:00 to 7:30. If you want your baby asleep by a certain time, remember to give him time to fall asleep. Average, a baby can take up to 20 minutes to fall asleep. Make sure you take this into consideration when starting your bedtime routine.
Create your own schedule!
You can download and print the page below and create your own schedule. Remember the starting point is the time your baby regularly wakes up.
