I’ve been getting so many questions on Owen’s schedule now that he’s one and I totally get it—there are so many changes at this point! He’s eating way more solids, walking, moved onto real milk, is teething like crazy and will start day care in a few months!
It was like overnight, our little baby turned into a toddler!
Before I wrote this, I went back and looked at his schedule posts at 7 months and 9 weeks. I’m still sitting here wondering how time has gone so fast. Each stage is so wonderful and special and I’m so glad I documented each one so I can go back and remember it.
We still do follow a schedule, but we’re much looser with nap times and instead just try to see how he’s feeling and let him tell us when he’s tired, so this is a rough outline! I also go into more detail on weaning, teething, naps and what he’s eating below!
These pictures are from our little birthday party at home with just the three of us! Crazy though, I accidentally deleted these from my memory card and had a mild major freak out, but thanks to Kelly, we recovered them with some software she recommended—totally worth the $96. Lesson here? Don’t wipe your memory card until you’re sure you’ve downloaded all your pictures!
Baby Schedule at 12 Months
7:15am — Wake up, diaper change and bottle (5-7oz. of whole milk)
8:15am — Breakfast & playtime
9:30-10am — Morning Nap (this usually lasts 1.5-2 hours)
11:30am — Diaper change if needed and small bottle or sippy cup (3 oz.)
12:30pm — Lunch & playtime
1:30-2pm — Nap (this one is hit or miss, some days it’s 30 minutes, others it’s 2 hours)
3:30pm — Bottle Sippy cup with milk, snack & playtime
5:30pm — Dinner & playtime
6:00pm — Bath (we give him one every other night) & playtim
7:00pm — Last bottle (3-4oz.) and bedtime
Bottle Feeding
Technically, we’re suppose to be weaning him from the bottle now that he’s one, but we haven’t really started that process yet. I’m not looking forward to it, ha! Eat eats around 16-20oz. of whole milk each day—our doctor told us no more than 24oz. otherwise it could cause anemia (I think that’s what she said at least). We’re slowly introducing more sippy cups with milk in them instead of bottles, but he’s not as interested in drinking milk from those as he is from he bottle. But, we’ll just keep doing it until it clicks!
Weaning from Formula
I was surprised at how easy it was for him to wean from formula to milk. Honestly, the whole milk probably tastes way better than formula! We started by mixing 1oz. of real milk into his formula and slowly upping the ratio until we were at all whole milk. We started weaning around 11 1/2 months because our doctor said we could and also because I didn’t want to have to order more formula. We previously ordered Hipp UK Stage 2 formula after 6 months from Organic Start.
The Brand of Milk We Use
I’ve been buying whole milk from a brand called Organic Valley that’s from grassfed cows and is free of antibiotics and synthetic hormones. The cream does sit at the top, so make sure you shake it before! My dad didn’t know that when we were in Texas and I’m pretty sure Owen just got a straight bottle of cream which he promptly spit up afterwards. He hasn’t spit up in months, so I knew something was up.
What Owen Eats
For a while, I was really worried that Owen wasn’t eating enough solids and I freaked out and thought I’d given him purees for too long and now he didn’t know what to do. But, he’s figured it out and is much more proficient at eating now!
Breakfast
For breakfast, we do mini waffles from Whole Foods—he loves the apple cinnamon flavor, which I’m really hoping isn’t seasonal! We put some Justin’s plain almond butter on them and he loves them! It often results in almond butter in the hair, but worth it. He also loves strawberries right now, so we’ll give him some chopped berries after he’s had his waffle. Sometimes I’ll give him some Siggi’s full fat yogurt, but he usually will only have a couple of bites.
For the most part, Owen eats the same thing every morning. We’ve tried eggs, but he hasn’t seemed interested, but I should try them again!
Lunch & Dinner
I looped these two together because our lunches and dinners are usually interchangeable. He likes open-faced peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, apples, strawberries, and crackers. He also likes mac n’ cheese, ground beef, Dr. Praeger’s veggie bites—sweet potato and spinach littles in particular.
He loves spaghetti and meat sauce which I make with grassfed beef, marinara and Jovial brown rice pasta. He also loves steamed broccoli with lemon juice on it. I usually steam it extra long so he can easily chew it with his gums.
I always start with the veggie bites—I heat them up in the microwave or pan and cut them into smaller bites and he devours these. He’ll usually eat 2-4 of them! Then I’ll give him pasta or mac n’ cheese. I usually try to give him a few bites of yogurt at the end too to make sure he’s full.
He’s a pretty good eater, but I feel like I need to get more creative—please share your kids’ favorites in the comments, I need ideas that are easy and healthy!
Naps & Sleep
We’re lucky that Owen’s still a good napper. He’ll have weeks when he doesn’t nap as well, but it’s usually when he’s stuffy or teething that he doesn’t sleep great. Also, if we don’t have him up long enough in the morning, he won’t nap well. Instead of just sticking to our schedule, we really try to make sure he’s acting tired and yawning before we put him down.
He naps in his crib with the black out shades down and the sound machine on. The only downside to doing this is that when we’re somewhere without these two things, he doesn’t nap as well. That usually only happens when we’re traveling and I’m trying to get him to nap on my chest on the plane. Getting him to actually fall asleep is much harder, but he usually konks out—he just doesn’t sleep nearly as long.
He’s still doing two naps and I’m holding onto that as long as I can! When he starts daycare he’ll only get one nap so we’ll see how that goes. In the next month, I’m trying to extend his morning wake time until 10 and then 11 so he gets used to being up that long.
Nighttime Sleep
This was one of my biggest priorities when Owen was little and I’m so so thankful for it today. He’s a champ sleeper at night. He goes down without a fuss at night and wakes up quiet and happy. Usually I have to check the Nest cam to see if he’s awake because he almost never cries. He just sits in there in the morning sucking on his pacifier waiting to be retrieved for his bottle. It’s pretty cute! I wrote a whole post on how we got him to sleep through the night if you want to read it!
Teething
Owen already has 8 teeth! They came in pretty early and then stopped for a while, but the past 3 weeks, he’s been off and on sick, runny nose and just doesn’t seem like himself. Over Thanksgiving, it was worse—he had a fever and was so sad and clingy. Then, this weekend, we noticed two tiny white dots on his gums which explains it all! He’s getting two more teeth now (maybe more we can’t see) and it’s been tough.
Thankfully he’s still been sleeping really well, but when he’s up, any little thing sets him off. He’ll fall down on his bottom and just start howling. He’s just extra sensitive right now and wants to be held way more. It’s so sweet though. I love how he lays his head on my shoulder when I pick him up, so even though I hate seeing him like this, I’ll take the extra snuggles.
When he’s really grumpy and crying a lot, we’ve been giving him some Tylenol to help ease the pain, but trying to not give it to him constantly. Teething rings have been helpful, but he’s still fussy, so we’re just trying to push through it!
Playtime
The older he gets, the more fun playtime is! We don’t have a ton of toys, but after his first birthday we have a lot more that are more age appropriate. Most of them are cars or trucks, he loves the wheels on them! One of his favorites is this dump truck. He loves pushing the buttons and putting the rocks in it. Thanks to my sisters for that one!
We love reading books, but he will barely sit still for an entire book these days. So, I’ll read it and sometimes he’ll walk around or sit on my lap or crawl around. I figure it’s good to be reading to him out loud even if he’s not paying 100% attention.
We loved going to the park when he first started walking, but now it’s really cold, so we’re trying to schedule more play dates with friends at home. We go on walks with Oliver, play peek-a-boo, and other silly games on the living room floor. Owen also loves watching Oliver run around the house—he laughs so hard!
Behavior
Owen’s behavior has changed lately, and I think a big part of it is teething, but he wants to be held way more than he used to. He goes from smiling to fussing to smiling again in seconds. He’s also gotten less comfortable around strangers. When I drop him off at the gym for my workout, he sometimes cries which makes me sad, but I always come back and he’s having a blast playing.
He’s also getting to the point where he understands what we’re saying, which too often is “no no no!” so instead of constantly telling him no, which just makes him mad, I try to redirect his energy to another activity that’s okay—like playing with his toys, or books or tupperware, instead of trying to pull forks out of the dishwasher and chew on dog toys!
Owen’s still young, so we haven’t had any serious behavior run ins yet, but I know they’re coming. I’ve had friends complain about biting, hitting and tantrums, so I’m sure I’ll need all the advice soon—bah!!!
That was a long one, but I hope it answered any of your questions! Let me know if there’s something I missed or something else you’re curious about—I’m happy to share!
BTW, how life has changed since having a baby, and how we introduced solids.
