FEEL LIKE A FAILURE, PUBLIC HEALTH NURSE SAID I AM NOT FEEDING DS ENOUGH!

[geoffreyandme]

Okay, i am feeling quite blue at the moment..and a little confused because I thought I was doing it right... Geoffrey is nine months today and here is his feeding schedule..can anyone give me some feedback please? They said he should be on only 3 bottles a day, and eating eggs, pasta, meats, veggies chopped up.

8AM 8oz bottle, 4 oz pureed fruit and cereal
NOON 8 oz bottle, 4-5 oz pureed but lumpier veg and meat with fruity "dessert" (organic jar that says from 7 months)
430PM 8 oz bottle, 4-5 oz pureed veg and meat with fruity "dessert" (organic jar that says from 7 months)
8:30PM 8 oz bedtime bottle

sometimes a rice cake snack in between.

THANK YOU!

[Ennypen]

You know something.. my Health Visitor said exactly the same to me.. and yet William is healthy, happy, progressing and very very energetic sooo.. I used my mommy sense... and ignored her lol

William is a year old now and in a day he has..

Wake up bottle - about 5oz cows milk
Breakfast - cereal with about 9 oz milk
Lunch - jar of vegs ( a middle size stage 2 (from 7 months) jar whatever that holds) and a yoghurt or fruit
Snack.. toast with cheese spread or more fruit or finger food crisps (special baby ones)
Dinner - large jar of veg (stage 3 from 12 months) with meat/cheese/fish / pasta etc  or whatever I have made for him, fish fingers and mashed potato or something with pasta, followed by a pudding or fruit or rice pudding or something similar
Bedtime - 9oz bottle of milk

See its not much different from yours is it?? If your lovely Geoffrey is happy, healthy, thriving and active you carry on the way you have been.. you will find that soon he may stop wanting one of his bottles so you can go down to three - William did that and he was on a bottle at 7am, 1pm and 7pm when he was your LOs age. If I were you I might even be tempted to drop one of the afternoon bottles gradually and you might find he starts to eat a little more solids.

I personally think you are doing great.. of course I havent met Geoffrey and Im not medicaly trained.. but compared with my experience you are doing just fine.

[geoffreyandme]

Thanks sooooo much Ennypen...my sense when she initially said it was that his feeding routine isn't THAT bad....after all, it took him awhile to get started on solids in the first place (7 months before he really got into the groove); he was 7 weeks early and has struggled with reflux and lactose intolerance so feeding has been a challenge. But you know when it's like a public health nurse and she isn't very compassionate, i felt awful! He weighs 19lbs..do you know if that is normal? He was 5lbs when born. Your son looks so happy and healthy in your photos! Geoffrey isn't asking for more, but i think i will cut back on that afternoon bottle and add more solids..am going to try him on eggs and/or wheetabix...what's the rule on introducing these foods..one new food per day only?

[woopster]

I have just cut down to 4 x 6oz bottles a day (down from 7oz!) and 3 meals.  Lydia weighs 18lb 4oz and Sam weighs 18lb 6oz.  They are 13 months old (10 corrected).
Trust your instinct.  You know your baby better than anyone.

[Ennypen]

Have a look on the FAQs and stickies on this board for the guidance about how to introduce new foods - I am sure they will help.

Can I highly recommend weetabix if your LO is ok with wheat.. William adores it and as well as getting fibre and nutrients hes also getting a good amount of milk which he needs in his diet. Its a great breakfast food and it fills him up nicely!

H xxx

[deb]

Depending on your sources, babies shouldn't be having eggs till 1 year anyway! (I did start a bit earlier, but food allergies aren't an issue in our family, so I felt comfortable with that.)

The only thing I can see different between your schedule and mine around the same age was that my kids tended to be more "grazers" and have snacks between the bigger meals, some yogurt or cheese or cottage cheese or meat bits Cheerios or finger-food stuff.

As for his weight, not that it means anything at all but Natalie is almost 15 months and weighs 21-22 pounds; her weight hasn't changed much in the last 5-6 months - she's just too darned BUSY! (and she wasn't early either)

I agree - unless your LO isn't gaining or is otherwise visibly undernourished, my guess is you're doing fine. Give yourself a pat on the back.

[xxkaty23xx]

I am beginning to wonder just where they get these HVs from? I was worried my ds2 wasnt eating enough and my HV wasnt in the slightest bit interested and said he was 'fine', even though between 18wks old and 13mo he has only gained 3kg... he is tiny, people mistake him for a 6mo and i was that worried i went to the doctors and explained it to her and shes prescribed my ds2 multivitamin drops as i cannot get him to eat much, the HVs either interfere too much or just dont help at all  I am sure you are doing a fantastic job, and if your instincts are telling you that he is healthy then i am sure he is fine 

[geoffreyandme]

THANKS EVERYONE!
I am realizing that guidelines are a bit different here in Ireland..I am an American living here and was kind of going by the American standards too..i.e. no eggs until a year and everything is more slowly and carefully introduced.
I just gave him a chunkier meal of meat/veg solids and then his bottle which he took 4 oz of..that might be a good change to start. I am going to do Weetabix in the morning and no eggs for awhile. Shall I mix his formula into the weetabix then..or they say you can use water or juice too..

[xxkaty23xx]

my LO always has milk with his, he had it with formula until 1yo and now has it with cows milk, it tastes nicer that way in my opinion 

[Ennypen]

Yes use one of his bottles of formula, or part of one, to mix it with - thats what I did.

My HV told me I could gradually start to mix it with cows milk as he approached a year and now he loves it with cows milk in too.

Its yucky with water or juice.. go for the formula every time xxx

H x

[KellyC]

I agree with the others, you know whether he's healthy, happy and growing    Also Zander is 11.5 months old and weighs around 21lb (and eats like a pig!) so your LO sounds a very healthy weight too.

Isn't it funny how the recommendations differ according to the country you're in when they're all made of the same stuff!!  Zander's been having eggs, cow's milk, meat, fish, berries, citrus etc. since he was 6 months old (though I believe if you have allergies in your family the advice is to wait).

Kelly x

[sazza]

hi geoffreyandme

i found some weight and height charts here:   https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=59357.0
i'm sure geoffrey is quite normal, but i found these quite helpful - my ds is only in the 25th percentile for wieght according to the charts we have here in new zealand, but on these charts (adjusted for breastfeeding instead of formula) he's around the 50th. he's really busy and energetic and i worry he doesn't eat enough, but by these guidelines he's doing ok.

HTH

[kim&savannah]

Geoffreyandme~

I wouldn't worry if he's healthy and happy.  And as far as his weight, it sounds like he's done great putting on weight!  My dd was 7lbs 3 oz when born and only weighed 19 lbs at a year--dr was totally fine with her weight gain because it was fairly consistant on the charts (around 20%) most of that first year, so she was just a skinny kid.  ANd honestly, she ate a TON.  Then, at 18 months, she stopped being so interested in food (pretty normal thing--toddlers are so inconsistant), but by 2, her weight was actually up to the 50%.  So I really think their bodies know what they need and want--as long as they are growing and there aren't other signs of a problem, don't stress.  And it sounds like you are doing quite a bit of solids for his age, especially since he's only been on them for 2 months.

As far as cutting down to 3 bottles--I don't think you should worry about that yet either.  I bf, but we stayed at 4 feeds a day until she was over a year, then slowly dropped them as we began to wean over the next 2 months.  Since they say that until a year, breastmilk, or formula, really is their main source of nutrients, I think the more they get, the better.  THis is the time to introduce foods, slowly, but they don't really NEED them yet, so you're doing great.

~Kim