7 month old babies are getting cuter and cuter by the day. They’re curious about their world and on the verge of lots of change. Most 7 month olds are rolling, and sitting up. Many are learning to hover on all 4s or starting to crawl.
Is there a sleep regression at 7 months?
There isn’t a known and strong sleep regression at this age. However any “sleep regression” is related to PRO-gress. Your baby is growing either neurologically or physically. At this age you likely have a couple of teeth. If you don’t, that could be the next thing interrupting sleep. Teething interrupts sleep as the discomfort distracts a little person from relaxing back down into sleep. Imagine you sprained an ankle and were trying to sleep. You might be distracted by that discomfort.
What time should my 7 month old go to bed?
At 7 months of age, your baby needs 11 hours of overnight sleep and 2-3 hours of daytime naps for a total of ~ 14 hours of 24 hour sleep.
Most kids this age wake up around 6-6:30 am once you’re down to 1 night feed which is very achievable at this age. If you think they need 11-12 hours of overnight sleep, most kids this age are asleep between 6:30 and 7:30 pm.
Eating Routine
Many kids this age are eating solids 2x a day. This is usually breakfast and lunch. We always want to fill kids up on milk or formula first and then offer solids 1-1.5 hours after the milk. The purpose of the solids is to compliment the formula/milk diet. When trying new foods you want to offer them in the morning so they have the entire day to digest and process a reaction if it happens. Much better than processing a reaction in the night.
3 Things You Need to Know about Your 7 Month Old Baby’s Sleep
- Overnight Sleep
Your baby needs 11-12 hours of overnight sleep with 0-1 night feed for a baby gaining weight well.
- Your baby needs 2-3 hours of daily nap hours
This could be in 3 naps or in 3 naps. Most kids don’t transition down to 2 naps until 8 months when they can comfortably stay awake between naps for 3 hours.
You can read more about the 3-2 nap transition here.
- If your baby is waking up more than 1 time a night and eating to fall back asleep, they likely have a food to sleep association. Meaning they think they need the bottle or breast to fall back asleep. The drive to sleep is biological but the way we sleep is a learned habit.
- There’s a lot of change coming in the next few months - motor leaps such as crawling, pulling up to standing and teething!
7 Month Old Baby Sleep Schedule
You can take a look at some sample 7 Month Old Baby Sleep Schedules here.
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