Author Topic: Should we drop a bottle ?? Need help with timing!  (Read 959 times)

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Offline Silas Mum

  • Allison Vancouver, BC CANADA
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Should we drop a bottle ?? Need help with timing!
« on: October 13, 2006, 18:07:41 pm »
OK -- so I've been reading lots on the EASY forum and I can't quite get when, roughly, it'll be time to drop a bottle in the course of a day.  Should I be increasing the amount of solids in hopes that he'll drop a bottle??  Below is a typical day ... can anyone give me some advice?  I think I just don't understand what our next "goal" should be in his routine.  KWIM??

700am - 6-8oz of goats milk
800am - 4 oz. of solids (cereal & fruit)
900 - 915am - nap
1000 - 1015am - awake, but the next 1/2 hr. spent trying to get him back to sleep
1100am - 6-8oz of goats milk
1200pm - 4 oz of solids (veggie)
100pmish - nap
200pmish - awake and then we spend another 1/2 hr trying to get him back to sleep
300pmish - 6-8oz of goats milk
515pmish - catnap of almost always 30 minutes
600pm - solids (cereal & veggie or just veggie)
700pm - bath
715pm - wind-down
730pm - 6-8oz of goats milk
1000pm - 2 oz. dream feed (we are weaning him off of the DF, so tomorrow we go to 1oz)


Offline calebs mommy

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Re: Should we drop a bottle ?? Need help with timing!
« Reply #1 on: October 13, 2006, 18:34:41 pm »
My son is 7.5 months old and we are still on 4 bottles a day. I think usually around 8-9 months they drop to 3 bottles, but some stay on 4 longer. I think you just need to follow your babies cues about when to drop to 3 bottles.  I think babies start to show they are ready when they start taking less from the 11 and/or 3 bottles.  For example, if your lo only took 4 oz from each of those bottles, you could combine the 2 feedings into one 8 oz bottle in the early afternoon.  If you little one is still drinking all four bottles and eating solids, then I would just wait until he shows you he is ready.  Pushing it too early might cause night wakings because he wouldn't be getting enough formula during the day.  Remember that formula is the mainstay of your baby's diet, so you don't want to push solids too much in order to reduce bottles.  Does that make sense. It looks like your lo is doing great with his solids and bottles.  I hope this helps you understand better.  It is all so confusing and they are always changing aren't they?! 
Stephanie- mom to Caleb and baby boy #2 due July 4, 2008

Offline * Paula *

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Re: Should we drop a bottle ?? Need help with timing!
« Reply #2 on: October 13, 2006, 20:27:09 pm »
By 6 months we were on 3 bottles a day.  He was taking less and less from his bottles so we decided to drop his 11:00am bottle and move lunch to 11:30 and then moved his afternoon bottle to 2:00-2:30 - This worked really well for us.

Give me a shout if you would like to know how our routine looked.

Can I ask you why your lo is on Goats Milk?  Does he have a milk intolerance?

HTH

Paula x
Thomas Michael - 12 July 2005
Abigail Louise - 23 October 2007

Offline Silas Mum

  • Allison Vancouver, BC CANADA
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Re: Should we drop a bottle ?? Need help with timing!
« Reply #3 on: October 13, 2006, 20:39:07 pm »
Yes, if you could let me know, that'd be great!  I'm thinking we could try to start to reduce the bottle amount at 1100am, but I don't think going cold-turkey dropping that bottle would be wise, right??  Would I increase his solids at lunchtime then?   

LO is on goats milk b/c of milk & soy intolerance.  I didn't have enough breast milk and his pallet wasn't developed, so I stopped.  He kept throwing up on Alimentium and Nutramigen and finally after the Dr's. told us that we'd just have to let him "grow out of this all", I decided to try goats milk at 5 months b/c that's what worked for me 30 years ago.  The VERY FIRST bottle of goats milk we noticed a difference!  No more throwing up, no more crying, no more green stool, etc...  The Dr. was so un-impressed that I did this, but I could really care less what she thinks, as we had 5 months of non-stop crying and sleep of no more than 2 hours a time at night.  We went to a Naturapathic Dr. to get all the right vitamins to add to the goats milk and then to the dietian at the hospital to make sure the vitamins she gave was right.  He is thriving and is one happy baby.  I should've listened to my "mothers intution" when he was 3 months old and I thought we should put him on goats milk.  30 years ago my Mum put me on un-pasturized goats milk with no vitamins added out of desperation and to this day I don't have one allergy to my name and no side effects from it.  Whew .. that was a long schpiel!

Thanks!  Allison  =)


Offline * Paula *

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Re: Should we drop a bottle ?? Need help with timing!
« Reply #4 on: October 13, 2006, 20:48:26 pm »
Hi Alison,

I too was on goats milk as a baby as I was getting constant ear infections etc - Wish I had found out about this before I switched DS to Cows Milk at 1 - he has been getting infection after infection, so we have put him back on formula for now.

Anyway, our routine at six months looked something like this .....

7:00am - 8oz Bottle followed straight after by cereal
8:30ish - Sleep 1.5 hours
11:00 - we used to do a 4 oz bottle here before dropping it.
11:30 - 5-6 cubes of lunch followed by pureed fruit for pudding
12:00 - Nap 1 - 1.5 hours
2-:00 or 2:30 - 7 oz bottle
3:00 - Nap 1 hour
4:30 - Dinner - sam as lunch
5:45 - bath time
6:30 - 8 oz bottle
7:00 - Bed for the night

HTH

Paula x
Thomas Michael - 12 July 2005
Abigail Louise - 23 October 2007

Offline Silas Mum

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Re: Should we drop a bottle ?? Need help with timing!
« Reply #5 on: October 13, 2006, 21:46:53 pm »
Your "routine" seems like a good plan, except that my LO has 2 1/2 hours of awake time and he isn't hungry for solids until 1 1/2 hours after his bottle.  But, I get the jist of what you were doing.  Thanks so much!


Offline * Paula *

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Re: Should we drop a bottle ?? Need help with timing!
« Reply #6 on: October 14, 2006, 18:59:15 pm »
Keep us posted on how you get on.

Paula x
Thomas Michael - 12 July 2005
Abigail Louise - 23 October 2007