7 month old babies need an average of 14 hours of sleep a day with 11-12 hours of sleep at night and 2-3 hours during the day. Most babies this age can stay awake for 2-3 hours in a stretch. However, some babies are on a 2-nap schedule while others are still taking three naps. Separation anxiety also affects babies this age. This article outlines the average 7-month-old baby’s sleep schedule, including milk feedings for breastfeeding and formula-feeding babies, solids, naps, and nighttime sleep. As a sleep consultant for over 10 years, I will also share typical sleep habits and tips to get your baby to sleep through the night. Or, you can simply skip to the schedule.
7 Month Old Baby’s Sleep Habits and Expectations
At this age, many 7-month-olds can sleep through the night, without any feedings. This is especially true of formula-fed babies, however, if your baby is breastfed, you may still have one feeding at night.
Regardless of how many naps your baby takes, your 7-month-old should be napping a total of 2-3 hours per day plus sleeping 11-12 hours at night. The average total sleep in a 24-hour period is around 14 hours. However, always keep in mind that some babies will need more or less sleep than the average.
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How Many Naps for a 7 Month Old?
7-month-old babies take two to three naps during the day. Typically, most 5 month olds will transition from four to three naps but then babies will transition to two naps anytime between 6 and 9 months old. If there is a third nap, it is almost always a short 30-45 minute catnap.
Babies this age have wake windows between 2 and 3 hours at a time, on average. A few are dropping the third nap and on a 2-nap schedule sometimes staying awake 3 to 4 hours before bedtime.
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- How to Manage Your Baby’s Nap Transitions
- Sleep Regressions: Ages and Everything You Need to Know to Handle Them
- 7 Reasons Your Baby or Toddler Stopped Sleeping Through the Night
7-Month-Olds: Average Milk and Solid Food amounts Per Day
Your baby will sleep better if they are getting all the nutrition they need, obviously. However, it’s easy to accidentally overdo it with solid food if your baby likes it! Keep in mind that breast milk and/or formula should be the primary nutrition for the first year and solids come secondary. Solid food should not decrease milk intake very much if at all. Below are the average amounts we recommend:
- At least 5 nursing sessions per day or 26-32 ounces formula or combination
- Although some say 4-6 oz of water is okay, I usually discourage it at this age
- 1-2 servings baby cereal (1 serving = 1-2 Tablespoons dry)
- 1-2 servings fruit (1 serving = 1-2 Tablespoons)
- 1-2 servings vegetable (1 serving = 1-2 Tablespoons)
- 1 serving Dairy (1 serving = 1/3-1/2 cup yogurt or 1/4 cup cottage cheese)
- You can also offer cooked egg yolk (but possibly no egg whites until 1-year-old due to allergens — check with your doctor)
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Putting it all together, all babies are unique, but here are sample schedules you can use to make your own for your unique baby.
Sample 7 Month Old Baby Sleep Schedules
The first sample schedule is what I call a “staggered” approach. My first son did better nursing fully and then had solids a bit in between nursing sessions. He was a little hungry but not famished. He just didn’t do well with stopping nursing mid-way to eat solid food at all.
Sample Schedule 1: Staggered Approach
7 Month Old Sleep Schedule With Feedings | |
---|---|
Time | Activity |
7:00 AM | Wake and Milk |
8:15 AM | Breakfast |
9:00 AM | Morning Nap (at least one hour long) |
10:00 AM | Milk (upon waking) |
12:30 PM | Milk |
1:00 PM | Early Afternoon Nap (at least one hour long) |
3:00 PM | Milk |
4:00 PM | Catnap (30-45 minutes; can be “on the go”) |
4:30/5:00 PM | Dinner (if you offer a second solid meal; sometimes not offered until 8 months old) |
6:30 PM | Begin your bedtime routine |
7:00 PM | Milk and Bedtime (goal to be asleep by this time) |
+ Plus possibly 1-2 nighttime feedings
If your baby doesn’t mind a more “consolidated” approach to eating, like my second son, here is another type of schedule:
Sample Schedule 2: Consolidated Approach
7 Month Old Sleep Schedule With Milk and Solid Feedings Together | |
---|---|
Time | Activity |
7:00 AM | Wake |
7:15 AM | Breakfast + Milk (offer half milk feeding, then solids, then remaining milk) |
9:00 AM | Morning Nap (at least one hour long) |
10:00 AM | Milk (upon waking) |
12:30 PM | Milk |
1:00 PM | Early Afternoon Nap (at least one hour long) |
3:00 PM | Milk |
4:00 PM | Catnap (can be “on the go”) |
4:30/5:00 PM | Dinner + Milk (if you offer a second solid meal; sometimes not offered until 8 months old) |
6:30 PM | Begin your bedtime routine |
7:00 PM | Milk and Bedtime (goal to be asleep by this time) |
+ Plus possibly 1-2 nighttime feedings
If you prefer an Eat-Play-Sleep Schedule, here’s another sample:
Sample Schedule 3: Eat-Play-Sleep
7 Month Old Eat-Play-Sleep Schedule With Feedings | |
---|---|
Time | Activity |
7:00 AM | Wake |
7:30 AM | Milk |
8:15 AM | Breakfast |
9:00 AM | Morning Nap (at least one hour long) |
10:30 AM | Milk |
12:30 PM | Early Afternoon Nap (at least one hour long) |
1:30 PM | Milk (upon waking) |
4:00 PM | Catnap (30-45 minutes; can be “on the go”) |
4:30 PM | Milk |
5:00 PM | Dinner (if you offer a second solid meal; sometimes not offered until 8 months old) |
6:30/7:00 PM | Begin your bedtime routine |
7:00/7:30 PM | Milk and Bedtime (goal to be asleep by this time) |
+ Plus possibly 1-2 nighttime feedings
Note: Many people prefer to follow an eat-play-sleep routine, which is a good routine to follow, however, sometimes hard to implement at this age when the amount of time between naps is not long enough and your baby wakes too early from his nap because of a feeding. I take all of that into consideration when making my schedules. The most important part is to be careful not to create sleep associations with feedings too close to sleep times, which we saw become important at 4 months old.
If your baby has already transitioned to two naps, please consider using one of our 8 month old schedules or 9 month old schedule. It’s not always so simple as dropping the last nap. You might need to move the other two naps!
Looking for more sample 7-month schedules?
We have over 40 sample schedules for all ages in our e-Book, Mastering Naps and Schedules. Banish naptime battles and regain control of your day (and your sanity) starting today!
- Custom Schedule Maker (for members only)
- Mastering Naps and Schedules (Members Area digital e-Book)
- Chat Live with a Sleep Consultant (for members only)
- 3 Signs It May Be Time for Night Weaning Your Baby
- Night Weaning Quiz: Is Your Baby Ready To Night Wean?
- 6 Month Baby Sleep Coaching Case Study (Members Area case study)
- How To Put Your Baby On A Schedule (Members Area audio tele-seminar recording with founder)
- How to Nap Train (chapter in Mastering Naps & Schedules)
- Nap Transitions (Members Area audio tele-seminar recording with Q&A)
- Day-by-Day Nap Training Plan (Members Area article)
Want FREE sleep help that you can put to use right away? Download a copy of our free guide, 7 Common Napping Mistakes! The guide is available to download instantly, which means you can start using the techniques in it as early as today. So download now, and learn why your baby is not napping – and what you can do about it.
Click here to learn more about how to get your free guide.
A better daytime schedule could be just a few clicks away. So don’t wait – download now, and start your journey to better napping today!
Rachel says
My 7.5mo schedule is vaguely:
7/7:30sh wake and breastfeed
8ish breakfast
9:30 nap (1-2hrs)
11:30 wake, breastfeed
12:30ish Lunch
1:30/2 nap (2-3hrs)
sometimes she wakes around 4pm then has another 30min catnap around 5pm before breastfeed then dinner at 6pm
Other times she sleeps until just before dinnertime.
Then 7pm bath
7:30 breastfeed and bed
10:30ish dreamfeed (ish)
She usually wakes 2am ish for another feed and sometimes wakes another 1 or 2 times in a bad night. (But usually just the 2am one)
🙂
Janelle Reid says
@Rachel, thanks for sharing your schedule! I’m glad to see you’ve found something that is working for you little girl. Sounds like she’s doing well! 🙂
Shenandoah says
Hello, I have a 7 month old, my question isn’t necessarily about sleep but more about feeding. I know she needs at least 24oz of formula a day, and most days she gets that. Sometimes her “dinner” bottle is at 6:45-7:30 and she goes to bed for night. Other times she is hungrier earlier and will insist on a bottle as early at 5:45 (other day time bottles she is still getting at the same times as usual), then she will still go to sleep closer to 6:30. My question is if she has her “dinner” bottle at normal time or a little early how long can I let her sleep without being concerned about her not eating soon enough? I know my pediatrician said she could go 10-12 and not to wake her but what if she goes 12-14 hours on her own because she got an earlier dinner? I’m torn, when she was younger I would dream feed around midnight and she would sleep until 6am and that always made me feel better in case she did sleep late
Janelle Reid says
Hi @Shenandoah, thanks for writing! I’m glad to hear your girl is doing so well with her sleep! I can understand the concern about her calorie intake. As she gets older and you introduce more solids things may change around again or you could give her a quick snack of solids or purees before bed to top her off if you’re concerned. I’m not a medial professional so I’d make sure to run it by them if you are still nervous, but if she is growing and thriving, I wouldn’t be concerned. If you want more information on feeding, be sure to check out our sister site, Start Baby On Solids here: https://www.babysleepsite.com/
Hope this helps!
Jordan S. says
My 6 month old has been sleeping through the night for months, but he has a late bedtime. Should I move it up? He sleeps from 8:30-9:00 to 6:00-6:30 and takes 3 naps + a cat nap every day. If we had an earlier bedtime I’d be able to drop one of those naps. I am not sure how to move his bedtime up though and don’t want to disturb his sleeping through the night. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!!!
Janelle Reid says
Hi @Jordan S. – thank you for your comment! Messing with a schedule can be really scary in fear of the good thing you have going, messing up! 😉 This article is referring to daylights savings time, but it will help in your situation as it provides some tips for how to move a schedule to an earlier time just a bit: https://www.babysleepsite.com/sleep-training/daylight-saving-end-tips/
We also have an ebook all about shifting schedules that is available exclusively in our Members Area, which may be a great resource for you. With a subscription to the Members Area you would be given access to all of our ebooks, tele seminars, exclusive articles that go more in-depth, and there is a weekly chat you can log into to chat with one of our sleep consultants and ask them your questions! For membership information and to sign up online, please visit here: https://www.babysleepsite.com/diy/?utm_source=menu&utm_medium=membership#membership
I hope this helps!
Kathryn says
My 6.5 month old seems to be following more of a 7 month old schedule. She usually has 2 x 1.5 hour sleeps per day the last one finishing at around 3-3.30pm. She then stays awake until around 6.30-7pm when she gets put to bed. I am really happy with her day time routine and she seems to be happy with it, she self settles for both naps and I rarely have any dramas getting her to sleep. Night time is when we tend to have a problem – she is so inconsistent. The last week she has fallen asleep while having her bedtime breastfeed (despite my best efforts) however one night she will then wake at 8.30pm and then 5.30am, then next night she wont wake until 3am and then 6.30am, another night might be 8.30pm, 11.30pm, 2.30am and then 6.30am. The inconsistency is making it hard for me to know if she’s genuinely hungry or whether she is just having trouble linking sleep cycles (not to mention I am struggling to get good sleep myself, making work difficult). I tried putting her to bed earlier to ensure that she went to bed awake after her breastfeed however that was the night with the most wake ups! I am at a loss as to what to do and I don’t know if her day time schedule is to blame, but she seems so happy during the day! Any insight would be most appreciated! (PS. currently has 3 solid meals plus 5 breastfeeds during the day)
Danielle says
Hi Kathryn,
Thank you for visiting The Baby Sleep Site! I’m sorry to hear you’re having trouble with night sleep. Is your daughter taking a third nap? If not, she may just be overtired by bedtime, since the majority of babies this age are are on a three nap schedule until closer to 9 months. You might like to see our baby nap chart here for more info: https://www.babysleepsite.com/naps/baby-naps-chart-how-many-how-long/
If she is taking 3 naps, then unfortunately, there are a lot of reasons she could be waking often at night, and we’d recommend a consultation with a sleep consultant, since she can take a full sleep history and look at your daughter’s schedule, eating, and develop a plan to address the night waking and any other questions you have. If you’re interested, you can read more about those here: https://www.babysleepsite.com/baby-toddler-sleep-consulting-services/
Hope this helps, and good luck!
shelley says
How do you adjust the schedule for a baby who regularly sleeps 11 hours, almost regardless of bedtime (between 6 – 8pm)?
shelley says
I guess I should clarify…my 7 mos old has been waking between 5:15 and 5:45. I would like him to wake at 6:30am. So with an 11 hour evening sleep, he would need to go to bed at 7:30pm. He still takes 3 naps (generally 2 hours total), but I am struggling with awake time and nap timing. He won’t nap if I try to put him down after 4pm. And today, he finished his third nap at 3:30! He is then wicked over tired by even an earlier 7pm bedtime. So he’ll wake up early tomorrow and his nap times won’t get him to bedtime again. A vicious circle!
Debbye @ The Baby Sleep Site says
Hi @Shelley – Thank you for writing, and I am sorry to hear that you are struggling with your 7 month old’s schedule! Yes, this can be a vicious cycle and sometimes a tough one to crack! Have you checked out our free schedule maker? it should help you plan naps and bedtime, and is based on a wake time that you choose:
https://www.babysleepsite.com/baby-toddler-schedule-maker/
I hope things smooth out! Please consider our Members Area, or our Mastering Naps Ebook if you find that you need more help! Contact us with any questions and good luck!
Dee says
My 7 month old cut out his 3rd nap and his first nap is usually around 2 hours. The 2nd nap is 1-2 hours but he’s waking up twice at night when he used to wake up once. Is the 2nd nap too long?
Debbye @ The Baby Sleep Site says
Hi @Dee – Thank you for checking out our baby schedules, and thanks for writing! Sleep needs can vary, but 11-12 hours at night, and 2-3 hours in naps is average at 7 months. Feel free to adjust/play around with the nap length, and hopefully things smooth out with the adjustment! If you would like some one on one input from a consultant, where you can share your overall schedule, our Members Area may be a great fit for you! We have weekly live chats, where you can get your questions answered by an expert sleep consultant, and TONS of more great resources. You can check out our Members Area here:
https://www.babysleepsite.com/diy/?utm_source=menu&utm_medium=membership#membership
Thanks again for visiting our sleepy little village!
Kristy says
My 7 month old does not like to nap. She never has. Since I know that over tired babies fight sleep, I watch her like a hawk for signs of being tired. When the signs start, I do a short nap routine (usually rocking for a few minutes, a bottle, and a short book, then I lay her down, and she used to fall asleep after just a little work. Now, she does not go to sleep. She takes only one nap a day most days, but not for lack of me trying. It seems I spend most of the day trying to get her to nap. Most of the time, she lays awake and plays with her feet in her crib, sometimes for over and hour or two and never naps. Rarely does she cry. She goes to bed for the night around 6 or 630 usually pretty easily, wakes up around midnight to eat, but then is up for the day around 430. At that time, I feed her, and lay her right back down, and she does the same thing, plays in her crib until 630 am or so when I finally go get her up. Is it possible she just doesn’t require a lot of sleep? Or am I missing something? I really want her to take at least 2 naps and sleep til at least 6am.
Kristy says
It is also necessary to tell you that I attend college 4 days a week at different times everyday. My sister in law and Mom take turns watching her. She never naps for them. My mom tries to follow what I do but honestly I think she misses the signs. My sister in law never even tries to lay her down. My baby is always a fussy hot mess when I pick her up from both places and falls asleep in the car which is a sleep association that I really don’t want. I think she may be getting more used to not napping and that routine is the only that’s sticking. My husband and I have tried talking to them but nothing as changed. How do you recommend handling these situations with care givers?
Neosha says
@Kristy – Hi again! I hope you saw my other message, too. Caregivers, especially working with more than one, can present some very unique challenges. We would definitely recommend you working one-on-one with one of our expert consultants to walk you through this and get all of you working together on the same schedule. Please contact us directly here:https://www.babysleepsite.com/contact We look forward to hearing from you!
Neosha says
@Kristy – Thank you for stopping by our sleepy little village and for sharing with us. It sounds like you’ve been working really hard at improving her naps – we love to see such commitment to your baby’s sleep health! I completely understand how frustrating figuring out naps at this age can be but am glad to hear your little girl seems otherwise happy and gets pretty decent chunks of sleep at night. We do generally expect at least 2 naps at this age and a 6am wake up is not an unrealistic expectation at all. From what you’ve described, being overtired is a possibility for such disrupted sleep but we would definitely need more specific information from you to help you get better sleep. Our consultants work families through mystifying sleep issues every day and would welcome the chance to help your daughter’s daytime sleep improve as well. Please consider connecting with one of them sometime soon -https://www.babysleepsite.com/services Hang in there, Kristy!
Chelsea says
I have been avoiding sleep training my 7.5 month old for a handful of reasons:
It seems that there are great stretches and I have seen my 7.5 month old put herself back to sleep on the monitor. Sometimes she sleeps from 7:00 -7:00.
I have heard you have to re-do the training if there is deviation due to sickness, teething, vacation, etc.
Daycare will not let her cry it out during naps and this voids consistency
I am hesitant to go through such a difficult process if we have to re-do it all het time.
I am just not sure what to do.
Janelle Reid says
Hi @Chelsea, thanks for your comment. I totally get it! It can be a lot of work to teach your baby to fall asleep on their own, but it is definitely a personal decision for your family. 🙂 If things are fine for you now and she’s settling on her own, that’s wonderful! Here is a cheat sheet to a few sleep training methods (more than just cry it out) so you could offer consistency with the daycare if you decide to try: https://www.babysleepsite.com/sleep-training/5-baby-sleep-training-methods-explained/
If you want additional help, we are here! Our sleep consultants have often worked with families who’s babies are in daycare and can help create a plan that will work both at home and with your daycare providers and can give advise if things get off track a bit. Should you want more information on that, feel free to contact us directly here: https://www.babysleepsite.com/contact
Thanks again for your comment!
Shelly says
My 7.5 month old was waking 1 time at night for a long time but is now up 2-3 times a night. She naps twice a day but usually will not do a third nap. Because she has dropped this third nap bedtime is earlier and now she seems to wake 30 mins after I put her to bed then every hour. ( which she never did before!) I give her time to fall back asleep on her own but I still end up feeding her 2-3 times a night. So my questions are do I push for that third nap by making the other two naps earlier? What is the earliest she should be going to bed at night? How long can she stay awake for? Is dropping the third nap causing all this trouble at night?
Debbye @ The Baby Sleep Site says
HI @ Shelly – Thanks for visiting us! Sorry to hear that your LO is struggling with sleep! She may be overtired without that 3rd nap, and that may be causing the new increased night waking. We cannot be certain without having an expert sleep consultant take an in depth look at your full sleep history, but adding in a short cat-nap again may help! Typically. as on the schedules, 7pm is an average bedtime, but many families prefer/utilize earlier or later schedules because those work best for them. Bedtime before 6-6:30pm would not be typical, but again, this depends on how many hours she needs at night, and what time works best for your family.
Hopefuly adjusting the naps will really help! Please contact us if you need assistance! : )
Gessica Jean says
This 7 month sample schedule has the baby awake for almost 5 hours from the last nap (assuming he’s asleep by 1 pm and only sleeps until 2pm) if he doesn’t have the catnap at 4pm. So is that ok? I ask because this is my current situation. My baby is 7.5 months and has been fighting a 3rd nap for a while now which means he is awake at least 5 hours from his last nap until bedtime.
Neosha says
@Gessica – Thank you for stopping by our sleepy little village and for commenting. 5 hours is a bit of a long wake time for 7 month olds if it’s a consistent happening. If your little guy is fighting that 3rd nap you can consider tweaking the timing of the nap and of his other naps and bedtime. On days where he misses his 3rd nap, you can also push bedtime up a bit so the wake time isn’t quite as long, if your home schedule allows it. Some babies transition to two naps around this age, though it’s less common. If you work to tweak his feeding and sleep schedule and he continues to fight his nap and/or if his night sleep is impacted, you can consider transitioning away from it. Here’s an article that may better help you with this nap transition – https://www.babysleepsite.com/baby-naps-2/how-to-manage-baby-toddler-nap-transitions/ If you find you need more one-on-one support during this time, I’d encourage you to meet our sleep consultant team here:https://www.babysleepsite.com/about and consider working with one with one of our consultation packages.
Hang in there, Gessica, and please keep reading!