Getting into a routine with your baby is a personal thing. You'll learn to read your baby's cues to develop a pattern of eating, sleeping, and playing that meets your little one's needs and works for your family.
That said, it can be a big help to see what other moms and dads are doing. We asked parents of 11- and 12-month-olds to share their baby's daily schedule, then picked the seven below as a helpful representation. (If you have a baby this age, share your routine in the comments section at the bottom of this page!)
As you're creating a schedule for your baby, keep in mind that at 11 and 12 months most babies need:
• Solid foods three times a day. By now your baby should be eating a variety of different foodsself-feeding and drinking from a sippy cup.
• Before 12 months: 24 to 32 ounces of breast milk or formula in a 24-hour period. (Get specific tips on how to tell whether your baby is getting enough breast milk or formula.) At 12 months, your baby can transition to whole cow's milk and should drink about 16 to 24 ounces a day (more than this can reduce your child's appetite for other healthy foods and can lead to iron deficiency anemia).
• About 13.75 hours of sleep in a 24-hour period — this includes nighttime sleep and naps. Two naps during the day (morning and afternoon) is typical, though some babies will move toward just one long nap each day. Read more about sleep needs at this age.
• Time for playing, working on new skills, and interacting with you.
and taking an active role at mealtimes by
Schedule 1: A formula-feeding stay-at-home mom of an 11-month-old
Editor's note: This schedule is a combination (parent-led and baby-led) routine
7:30 to 8 a.m.: Noah wakes up, has an 8-ounce bottle.
9:30 to 10 a.m.: Breakfast — oatmeal mixed with yogurt or pureed fruit, plus finger foods like small pieces of bagel and cheese or dry cereal.
10:30 a.m.: Nap, usually for two hours.
12:30 p.m.: Lunch — things like small pieces of ravioli, mac and cheese, chicken, veggies, toasted cheese sandwich, or sunflower butter and apple spread sandwich. He also has 4 ounces of formula. Between naps and meals, we read books, Noah plays on the floor or in his jumper while Mommy cooks, we go out, or Noah plays at home with Grampa. Lately his afternoon nap is harder — it can start anywhere from 3 to 5 p.m. or he may skip it entirely. He usually sleeps between one and two hours.
3 to 4 p.m.: He has a 5-ounce bottle of formula if he's awake.
6 p.m.: He has a 5- or 6-ounce bottle (if he didn't have one earlier) and a snack of small crackers or pieces of fruit.
7 p.m.: Dinner — Noah either shares what we have or has the same things as at lunch, then a bath every other day.
8:30 p.m.: He has a 6-ounce bottle.
8 to 9 p.m.: Bedtime. I bring him upstairs and change his diaper, get his jammies on, brush his teeth, and read him Goodnight Moon. Then I put him in his crib and he falls asleep on his own. He usually sleeps through until morning.
Schedule 2: A working mom of a 12-month-old and an older child
Editor's note: This schedule is a combination (parent-led and baby-led) routine
Alivia's schedule:
7 a.m.: Up for the day.
7:15 a.m.: Breakfast. She has an 8-ounce bottle of whole milk, then cereal Os and small pieces of fruit or pancakes or...
8:30 a.m.: Alivia and her sister go to Grammy's for the day, and I work.
8:30 to 10:30 a.m.: Alivia plays with toys, plays with her sister, and has a snack of finger foods.
10:30 a.m.: She takes a short nap (45 minutes to an hour).
11:30 a.m.: She wakes up. I come over during my lunch break.
Noon: Lunch. She has 6 to 8 ounces of whole milk and regular food like yogurt, mac and cheese, or other things.
12:30 to 3 p.m.: She plays or runs errands with Grammy.
3 p.m.: She has 6 ounces of whole milk and takes a nap for one to two hours.
5 p.m.: I pick up the girls from Grammy's.
5:30 to 6 p.m.: Dinner. Lately she has whatever we have, cut into small pieces — lasagna, spaghetti, veggies, chicken, and so on.
7 to 8 p.m.: We play, read books, and have bath time.
8:30 p.m.: She has 6 to 8 ounces of whole milk. I still rock her and sing "You Are My Sunshine" over and over till she falls asleep. I know some people think this is a bad habit, but I'm a working mom and want to be with her as much as possible!
Schedule 3: A formula-feeding stay-at-home mom of an 11-month-old
Editor's note: This schedule is a combination (parent-led and baby-led) routine
8:15 to 8:30 a.m.: Jackson wakes up.
9 a.m.: Breakfast — he has an 8-ounce sippy cup of formula along with oatmeal, yogurt, and small pieces of fruit and waffles or toast.
9:20 to 11 a.m.: Playtime! I read to him, we watch a kids' program on TV, sing songs, and play with his keyboard, balls, train set, and other toys.
Noon: Lunch. Small pieces of grilled cheese sandwich, fruit, veggies, grilled chicken, homemade pizza, ham, soup, or any leftovers from dinner. He also drinks another 8-ounce sippy cup of formula.
12:30 to 1:30 p.m.: More playtime.
1:30 to 3:30 p.m.: Nap time.
4 p.m.: Playtime!
5:30 p.m.: Dinner. Anything from lunch or small pieces of fish, chicken, steak, shepherd's pie, mushrooms, potatoes, various fruits and veggies, or pasta. He has water with dinner.
6 p.m.: Bath time.
6:30 p.m.: Naked baby time!
7 p.m.: Get pj's on and have another 8-ounce sippy cup. After this, we brush his teeth.
7:15 p.m.: We continue to play until he shows signs that he's sleepy or it gets to be 9 p.m. (I put him in his crib by 9 p.m. no matter what.)
At night we don't play with noisy toys. We mostly read and wind down from the day. He falls asleep about five minutes after being put in the crib and sleeps all night.
Schedule 4: A breastfeeding stay-at-home mom of a 12-month-old
Editor's note: This schedule is a combination (parent-led and baby-led) routine
Between 7 and 8 a.m.: Reid wakes up and I nurse him, then he plays while I eat breakfast.
Around 8:30 to 9 a.m.: He eats breakfast — usually half a waffle cut into small pieces, yogurt, a little baby food or baby cereal and some bits of fruit. He drinks from a sippy cup of whole milk or water, but only a couple of ounces. If the weather is nice, we go for a walk after he eats.
10:30 a.m.: He naps for one hour and 10 minutes (longer if I'm lucky, but sometimes it's shorter).
Noon: Lunch — usually a jar of baby food chicken or turkey with a veggie (sometimes I smash extra peas or bits of broccoli into it), plus some dry cereal and bits of cheese, fruit, or corn. He won't eat any veggies with his hands, but he eats them mixed in baby food. He drinks milk and water throughout the day but probably only 8 ounces total. We're working on that. I'm hoping that once he's fully weaned he'll drink more.
1 to 2:30 p.m.: We play, which usually means he's cruising around the coffee table and couch and banging his toys together. His favorite toys aren't actually toys — they're magazines, newspaper circulars, the empty wrapping paper tube, and plastic water bottles. Sometimes we run errands instead.
2:30 to 3 p.m.: Snack (finger foods and milk in a sippy cup) then nap time (again for an hour and 10 minutes).
4 p.m.: More playtime or errand running. Around 5 p.m., my husband takes over and I get a little break.
5:30 p.m.: Dinnertime — basically the same as lunch.
7:30 p.m.: Bath, book, nursing, brush teeth, and he's usually asleep by 8 p.m.
Schedule 5: A formula-feeding and breastfeeding working mom of an 11-month-old
Editor's note: This schedule is a combination (parent-led and baby-led) routine
Here Maya's usual day. I work out of the home full-time.
Between 5:30 and 7 a.m.: Wake up, nurse, and cuddle in bed.
7:30 to 8:15 a.m.: Maya and I drive to the babysitter. I drop her off and go to work.
8:30 a.m.: Maya has breakfast — finger foods and some pureed baby food.
9:30 a.m.: 5-ounce bottle of formula.
10:30 to 11 a.m.: Short nap.
11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: Playtime.
12:30 to 1 p.m.: Lunch — finger foods and some baby food, plus a 5-ounce bottle of formula.
1 to 1:30 p.m.: Playtime.
1:30 p.m.: Snack — cereal Os or other finger foods.
1:45 to 2:30 p.m.: Playtime.
2:30 p.m.: Maya has a 5-ounce bottle of formula.
2:45 to 4 p.m.: Nap.
4 to 4:30 p.m.: Playtime.
4:30 p.m.: 5-ounce bottle of formula.
5:30 to 6:15 p.m.: Drive home with Mom.
6:15 to 7:15 p.m.: Playtime at home.
7:15 p.m: Dinner — usually small pieces of whatever we're eating.
Around 8 to 8:30 p.m.: Bath time and jammies.
8:30 to 8:45 p.m.: Nurse and cuddle.
8:45 to 9 p.m.: Bedtime.
Schedule 6: A breastfeeding stay-at-home mom of an 11-month-old
Editor's note: This schedule is a combination (parent-led and baby-led) routine
Ella's daily schedule:
7 to 7:30 a.m.: Wake up and nurse for 10 to 15 minutes.
7:30 to 8 a.m.: We play in bed with her stuffed animals and read books.
8 a.m.: She hangs out in the highchair while Mom makes breakfast.
8:15 a.m.: Breakfast for Ella — small pieces of homemade pancakes, French toast, fruit, eggs, cheesy bread, or homemade five-grain cereal. She has a sippy cup of water.
8:45 to 9:30 a.m.: Playtime — we read books or play with blocks, pop-up toys, or music toys.
9:30 to 11 a.m.: Morning nap (give or take 30 minutes).
11 a.m.: I change her diaper, get her dressed, and sit her in her highchair while I make lunch.
Between 11:15 and 11:30 a.m.: Lunch — small pieces of fruit or veggies, whole wheat bread, avocado, beans, chicken, or mac and cheese. She has a sippy cup of water.
Noon to 1:30 p.m.: We usually go out for a walk or to the pool, a mommy-and-baby class, a stroller exercise class, or to do errands.
1:30 p.m.: Nurse and nap.
2:30 to 3 p.m.: Ella wakes up.
3 to 4:30 p.m.: We go out (errands, walk, pool, meet friends, do bubbles) or have playtime inside with books and songs.
4:30 p.m.: Dinner — similar to lunch. She's starting to eat the same things we do. She has a sippy cup of water. After her dinner, I usually give her a bath.
5:30 p.m.: She sits in her highchair and plays while Mom and Dad eat.
6 to 6:30 p.m.: Playtime with Dad — mostly walking around with Dad's help!
6:30 p.m.: Dad and Ella walk around and say good night to her toys and the birds outside. Then he brings her upstairs and they say good night to her stuffed animals. He hands her to me for a diaper change and (hopefully) her last nursing.
7 p.m.: Bedtime. She usually sleeps through the night, but a few times a week she wakes up once. When this happens my husband tries to soothe her back to sleep, but usually I have to nurse her.
Schedule 7: A working mom of a 12-month-old
Editor's note: This schedule is a combination (parent-led and baby-led) routine
Three days a week, we have to be on the road by 4:55 a.m. I work a 12-hour shift — from 5:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. — so those days he spends with my cousin who babysits. The other four days, we have a pretty good routine down.
6 a.m.: Up for the day, has 8 to 10 ounces of whole milk.
6 to 7:30 a.m.: Playtime.
7:30 to 8 a.m.: Breakfast — small pieces of waffle, pancakes, dry cereal, fruit, yogurt.
8 to 9 a.m.: Playtime, singing, reading, exploring.
9 to 9:30 a.m.: Falls asleep and naps for an hour to an hour and a half.
10:30 a.m.: He has an 8-ounce bottle of milk.
11 a.m.: Playtime, swimming, or we go for a walk.
Noon: Lunch time — small pieces of a grilled cheese sandwich, pasta, soup, veggies. Milk in a sippy cup.
12:30 to 3 p.m.: More playtime. Sometimes he plays solo in his play yard while I clean or take a shower nearby. He loves going outside, so we go out a lot.
3 to 5 p.m.: Nap time.
5 to 6 p.m.: Playtime.
6 p.m.: Dinner — small pieces of whatever we have and milk in a sippy cup.
7 p.m.: Bath time. Afterward I give him a massage and brush his teeth.
7:30 p.m.: 8 ounces of milk.
8 p.m.: Bedtime. I rock him and sing to him and he falls asleep in about three minutes. He usually sleeps through the night but sometimes wakes up and cries for a few minutes before falling back to sleep.
source: babycenter
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