Feeding and Sleeping for Babies Aged 6-9 Months

Feeding

By 6 months, most babies will be having 4–5 milk feeds a day and should be starting on solid foods. Solids will provide your baby with the extra nutrition they need as well as practice in chewing. There are many different options as to what to give your baby when they are starting on solids. Often this is influenced by your cultural background. The important factor is that first foods are nutritious and high in iron. The following pages will cover this in more detail.

This is also a good time to introduce your baby to drinking from a cup in addition to their milk feeds. This will help them to practice their hand to mouth co-ordination. Use a two handled plastic cup with a spout, containing a small amount of cooled boiled water.

The important factor is that first foods are nutritious and high in iron.

Young father playing with his daughter inside with toys

Sleeping

By 6-7 months your baby’s routine is starting to change. They will be more active during the day. While many babies will now sleep through the night, some will still wake.

At around 6-7 months, most babies sleep about 10 hours at night – but they still need 3 day sleeps of between 1½-2 hours (13-15 hours’ sleep in 24 hours).
By the time they are 8-9 months, this may reduce to 2 sleeps in the day, and 10-11 hours at night.
Make sure you have your bedtime settling routine firmly established. This may be bathtime, followed by a quiet playtime, then a cuddle and song or storybook, then settle to sleep.
If your baby starts waking during the night for feeds, try giving them more solids at each meal during the day.

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