What can you expect from your three month old baby? All baby routines are different but we’ve put together some expert tips and some community ideas on what to expect from your three month old routine.
Ask The Expert – Tara Mitchell talks the 3 month old routine
We asked Tara Mitchell, baby sleep consultant, what mums can expect from a three month old baby. If you have any concerns about your baby’s sleep patterns, feeding or general health, speak to your doctor right away.
Towards the end of month three you should have a pretty good idea as to how your little one’s sleep is going. This could be good… or not so good. If the latter is the case, this is the time that I tell parents to really make sleep a priority if they haven’t already. It is important during this time to do your best to avoid overtiredness.
I also recommend if you haven’t already, begin creating patterns for your little one – offering good feeds, play and then sleep. Catnaps can be particularly troublesome at three months, and whilst it can just be a matter of a few more weeks to see the end of them there are some things to do to help prevent them. The three month old routine is a bit of a tricky one but these tips can help:
- Avoid overtiredness – 3 months olds generally cope with awake times of 1.5 hours or less.
- Offer sleep in a dark space day and night.
- Give your little one a moment when they wake from a short nap to see if they will go back to sleep.
- Implement a pre-nap routine that may include a nappy change, song, swaddle or sleep sack and then off to bed.
- Focus on the first and second nap of the day, and offer them at home where possible.
Ask the Community – What to expect from your 3 month old baby
We know how tired our mums of three month olds really are! We appreciate them pitching in and helping out other parents in the community. We can picture our poor mums, up at 3am for the overnight feed, baby in one arm phone in the other – answering our questions on baby sleep routines!
- My 12 week old wakes at 7 sleeps again at about 9-10 usually for about an hour. Naps on and off while we are usually out and about and has 1 or 2 sleeps of about 2-3 hours in the afternoon before going down for the night at 10 and waking for a feed at about 4 and returning to sleep until morning. Breast feeds 2-4 hourly through the day and plays mainly with me and toys and has tummy time in between. Lauren
- 3 month old on formula feeds 3 – 4 hourly average of 110mls a feed. Up 7 bottle, change floor time 9-11 sleep bottle. Change outside time 12:30 3:30 sleep bottle change car ride 4:30 nap 5:30 bath massage pjs dad time then bottle bed at 7pm dream feed at 10:30 sleeps till 7 am. Judy
- My three month old son goes to bed approximately 9pm wakes at about 2am for a breast feed then sleeps till 5.30/6 bf play nap play (while I’m dealing with the other 3 kids) bf, drop kids off at school/preschool (sometimes he just has to wait for feed till we get home) cat naps a lot during day but a good sleep about 11 or 12 anywhere between 2-4 hours but my routine changes as I have other kids to tend to as well always doing something!!! His feeds are about 2-3-4 hrs apart!! For play we do tummy time, toys, books, singing, walks and outside time (washing on line etc). Rebecca
- 3month old baby girl sleeps 8pm-7am feeds formula 7am, 11am, 3pm, 7pm then bath at 7:30pm finishes bottle then bed for the night. Awake time from start to finish is approx 1 ½. Cassandra
- My little girl is formula fed and put herself into her own routine from about 8 weeks old. We have been truly blessed with a very good sleeper with her daddy’s appetite!
- My 3 month old baby generally wakes between 6/7am, sleeps in til 7.30am if we’re lucky! -Bottle/play or a little tv time while mum has a quick shower and some breakfast then down for a sleep once she starts getting tired. Or if we are out for the day we generally head out early and she naps on and off in the car/pram. As far as a three month old sleep schedule goes….11-11.30am bottle/play/sleep -3-3.30pm bottle/nap/or play on play mat or spend some time with dad once hes home from work -5.30-6.15pm bath time after some nappy free time -6.30pm bottle/read a book together -7-7.30pm bedtime -9.30-10.30pm dreamfeed and generally sleeps through until 6-7am. If she does wake a little earlier, she can usually resettle on her own or sometimes will bring her into bed with me so we can both get some extra zzz’s and she generally sleeps a lot better cuddled into mummy. But otherwise we do not cosleep overnight, just the occasional nap. Enjoying this while it lasts! Lol Renae
Three month olds often don’t subscribe to the idea of sleep routines!
- My 3 month old baby is breastfed with a formula bottle at late afternoon/early evening feed. Wakes between 5&6, play, feed play sleep is each session. Sleeps anywhere from 20 min to hour & half during day. Usually one or two longer sleeps and one or two shorter ones. Fit in bath every other afternoon around 4:30/5, formula bottle is between 5 and 7pm usually and takes around 70/80ml on average. Sleeps well after bottle in longer blocks mostly till morning between 6 & 8 feeds a day. Not much a baby sleep routine, hey? Courtney
- My little guy (bottle fed on 180ml p/feed at the moment) is so tired by 5pm, so off to sleep he goes… Till 2:30 am, then a feed and back to sleep and wakes between 7-8am. He then has a play, then naps/ plays/ feeds every few hours during the day till 5pm. His routine is pretty set. For play we clap hands, grab feet, poke out tongues, loves to stand and he already loves the wiggles??? Particularly Henry the octopus! He is very happy. Lisa
- My little girl is three months old tomorrow and her sleep schedule isn’t carved in stone yet. She wakes anywhere between 7-9 am. She usually has five bottles of 150 ml. When she is awake I lay her on my legs facing me and talk to her, I play music for her, I put her on her play mat, take her for walks round the backyard. Lots of different things she usually has two or four sleeps during the day depending how long each nap is, then we have a bath around 6 or 7, then last bottle around 8 and is usually asleep by 830-9pm. Generally sleeps through the night most nights now though will sometimes wake for a bottle occasionally. Natalie
- My little munchkin is on formula and feeds between 3 and 4 hourly. She sleeps through the night. 8 until 6:30 with a dream feed at 11. She has 30 to 45 min naps during the day. We gave tummy time (which she hates), nappy off time at that time she plays with daddy on her play mat. We sing songs while I do the dishes, washing or other housework. Sarah
- My 11 week old (basically 3 months) feeds anywhere between 2 and 4 hourly, sometimes cluster feeds at night and sleeps between 5 and 10 hours at night followed by 4-5 hours. He co-sleeps and is worn mostly during day sleeps or is in his bassinet. He is normally awake at 5:30/6:30 is awake for an hour or two, back to sleep till 10 and awake for 2 hours. I read him books; he has tummy time, plays with his sister and toys. Then sleeps from 12-3 ish, and is awake from then till bedtime with the occasional power nap. We sing songs and he watches me make dinner and fold clothes. Madison
- My little one is 5 months, but on the same sleep routine as he was at 3 months. Up at 7am, bottle, play, nap 9-11 another bottle, play, nap 1-3, bottle, nap 4.30-5.30, bath, bottle, bed 6.30.. All bottles are 240 mls +formula. Oh and play time can be anything from tummy time, play mat, books songs etc. Karla
- My 11 week old has a pretty solid feeding and sleep schedule. She formula feeds at 6, 9, 12, 3, 6, 9 and sleeps for around 1 and a half hour after bottle and most days 2-3 hour sleep at lunch time. Play time in between these times and sleeps from 9pm-6am. 150ml in each bottle. Simone
- My 3mth DD is FF. On 125ml feeds every three hours. Usually 3, 6, 9, 12, 3, 6, 9. Will sleep overnight usually from 9/10pm till 2/3am. Eat/Play/Sleep is the routine we follow, always doing a nappy change before feed to wake her up properly. Playtime usually consists of tummy time, playing in her rocker/bouncer, pulling faces at each other as she is starting to copy facial expressions, time on her play mat playing with toys, looking in mirror, listening to music, singing, watching tv. She just loves company! Usually very settled, especially good seeing as she was 7 weeks premature and they can take longer to adjust to big wide world. Kellie
- My little man’s 3 month old routine is pretty steady. He goes down at 7pm and sleeps until 2 or 3am then feeds again at 5 then up at 6:30. He’ll play on the play mat for 20 mins then has 10 mins of tv… Allows about 30 mins for me to scoff 2 coffees and breakfast. Nap at 7:30 for maybe 20 mins then feeds again. This eat/play/sleep routine continues for the rest of the day feeding 125mls formula every 1.5-2 hours (reflux baby). Play time alternates between lights and sounds play mat, tummy time, laying in the backyard, reading and an episode of Rob the Robot or Octonauts never hurt anybody if we go out in the car he sleeps much longer but if we’re just at home, I’m lucky to get 30 minutes per nap lucky he sleeps at night! Amy
- My three month old baby sleeps approx 13 hours/day. Bed 7pm to approx 1-2am for bf then sleep til 3-4am and feed then sleep til 630-8am then feed/play/feed sleep all day. Will sleep around 45 mins x 2 plus a 1-2 hour sleep x 1. Play tummy time, play mat, pram, wander round house and look at diff things, kick about naked for a bit. Julia
- My 13 week old sleeps through 7pm-7am. Wakes, feeds (3 hourly = 5 feeds a day), after feed is play under activity mat/going for long walks/chewing her books and toys & a little bit of tummy time (she hates it!) and pants off time on her play mat. She only has a few 45min power naps during the day but I’m ok with that as she sleeps all night! Kym
Read more from our expert on what to expect each month
- One Month Old Baby Sleep Routine
- Two Month Old Baby Sleep Routine
- Four Month Old Baby Sleep Routine
- Five Month Old Baby Sleep Routine
- Six Month Old Baby Sleep Routine
- Seven Month Old Baby Sleep Routine
- Eight Month Old Baby Sleep Routine
- Nine Month Old Baby Sleep Routine
- Ten Month Old Baby Sleep Routine
- Eleven Month Old Baby Sleep Routine
- One Year Old Baby Sleep Routine
