BabyWhispererForums.com
EAT => Bottle Feeding => Topic started by: Grace's Mom on November 17, 2006, 15:48:17 pm
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When we go to 3 bottles a day, how many hours should there be between the 3?
Right now we feed roughly at 6:30 (5-6oz), 10:30 (6-8oz), 2:30 (5-6oz), 6:00 (7-8oz) (sometimes it changes if a nap will end up right during a feed...yes, our routine is greatly messed up and has been for sometime :P).
Right now we do solids immediately after her bottle. Does it work the same when you go to 3 bottles?
She never drinks that much in the morning. With that being the case along with her tummy just being able to handle too much food at what time, how do I add in the extra calories we will be loosing out on? I can barely get her to drink 6oz in the morning.
Thanks for all your comments and suggestions. I appreciate the help.
Melissa
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hello
based on the amounts your lo is drinking at the moment, and her age, I personally would stick on 4 bottles for the time being. Formula will provide most of her nutrition for a while yet so you don't want her to be having any less that she has now just yet.
We didn't go to 3 bottles until dd was nearly 9 months, and only then because she had cut bottles 2 and 3 down to only 2-3 oz each (from 8oz before).
When we did go to 3 bottles we cut out the 11 am bottle and brought lunch forward to 11.30, then her pm bottle at 1.30 before nap, then a small snack when she wakes to take her through to dinner at 5.15pm.
hth
k x
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Hi Melissa,
I agree with Kathryn. I would not drop a bottle until your lo starts telling you she wants to do so.
She will start fussing around some of her feeds - when she does this then it would be time to drop down to 3. If your lo is already doing this then I would drop the 10:30 bottle - can offer a small snack then, and bring lunch forward.
My DS was on 3 bottles at 6 months - he was never a great milk drinker, and when he was on 3 bottles, he would have them at 7:00am with breakfast straight after, 2:00/2:30 before nap and again at 6:30 before bed.
HTH's
Paula x
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Thanks everyone. :D We weren't planning on dropping the bottle just yet, I just like to be prepaired iykwim. ;)
Paula....when you say she will start to fuss around some of her feeds...what does that mean. Will she be fussy because isn't hungry?
Thanks again. Good night.
Melissa
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We werent able to drop to three bottles until 9 months and then our day looked like this
8 solids
10 bottle
12 solids
2 bottle
5 solids
7:30 bottle
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Lana- With your schedule, what time is your lo waking? 8am?
I am looking to drop a bottle. My lo has begun to play with his bottles and push them away more. This morning's bottle was 1oz. Here is our schedule at the moment.
6/7am wake up
7:30am solids
8:15am bottle
9/9:30-11am nap
11:30am solids
12:15am bottle
2/2:30-4pm nap
4pm solids
4:45pm bottle
7pm bottle
7:30pm bedtime
We switched to solids before bottle about a month ago because he wasn't eating a lot of solids. Now he is dropping his liquid intake, I think because the bottle is so close to the food but I think if I move them farther apart I need to just go to three bottles.
Thanks for the help ladies.
Kimberly
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but I think if I move them farther apart I need to just go to three bottles.
I think you are right ;D. Bram usually wakes between 7:30 and 8 so our day starts a bit later than most I know. may I ask why there is so much time from wakeup to meal? If you want to go to three bottles then you could try like this:
7 solids
9 bottle
11 solids
1 bottle
4 solids
7 bottle
HTH
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Brendan used to wake up consistently at 6am and I would just leave him in his crib until 7am. (He always did fine, just chatted and played by himself.) Lately though he has been waking up a little later. I haven't quite figured out why, nor do I know if it is a phase or a new wake up time. He is also not as hungry in the morning. His morning bottle and solids has always been the smallest of the day. I moved it back a little to try to get more in him.
If the bottle's end up being right before naptime how do you keep it from turning into a prop? Do you do it just like bedtime and make sure there is at least a little time between the bottle and the nap/bed time routine?
This schedule reminds me of when Brendan was a newborn and I had to feed him every two hours or so. We have come full circle! ;D
Thanks.
Kimberly
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If the bottle's end up being right before naptime how do you keep it from turning into a prop? Do you do it just like bedtime and make sure there is at least a little time between the bottle and the nap/bed time routine?
Yup you just make sure that he doesnt fall alseep on the bottle. It was never an issue here thankfully. And it was the only way that he ended up drinking enough or eating enough.
This schedule reminds me of when Brendan was a newborn and I had to feed him every two hours or so. We have come full circle!
Oh yes and once you drop bottles all together you will have meals and snacks every two hours ;D
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Thanks. Here is what I am going to try.
7am Solids
8:30am Bottle
12pm Solids
1:30pm Bottle
5pm Solids
7pm Bottle
It is a little different from your suggestion. I am going to try having them only 1.5 hours apart and see how that goes. I am also going to try to increase the time between meals to 5 hours.
We'll see.
Kimberly
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Melissa - fussy meaning that she will not take much of the bottle, or basicaly not want any of a particular bottle at all.
This is when you will want to think about dropping a bottle.
HTH's
Paula x
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Let me know how it goes Kimberly ;D
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Kimberly,
How's the new schedule working out today?
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Hello all. I was out almost all day today so it was a real test of the new schedule.
7am 4oz cereal with 4oz formula
8:15am 4oz bottle
12pm Cheese Quesadilla (a little, he never eats well when we are out)
2pm 8oz bottle (He was supposed to eat at 1:30pm but I got lost on my way to a party)
5pm Cheese Quesadilla (very little b/c grandma and grandpa were feeding/playing with him)
7pm 7oz bottle
All in all, not bad. I would have liked him to eat more solids. I think his morning bottle is so low because he gets some formula with his cereal.
Thanks for being supportive!
Kimberly
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Kimberly,
On a random note, how do you make your Cheese Quesadillas for your lo ? It sounds yummy. You can pm me if you like.
Melissa
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Keep us posted as to how it's going!
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HI there,
I have a question about droping a bottle. My DS is 8 mths old and here is his schedule... I should tell you that he is 23 pounds and loves his solids and will eat some nutrio's or a mum mum cookie. Trying to give him his milk on a sippy now and seems to be taking a bit more. If I drop a bottle is the schedule ok?
8am - (1/2 cup of cereal with 90ml of water) and a 6oz bottle of formula.
10:30-11 nap
12pm 1/2 med jar of veggie 1/2 med jar of fruit used to take 6-7 oz of form but now is only about 2-3oz
2:30-3:30 nap
4pm 1/2 med jar of veggie 1/2 med jar of fruit used to take 6-7 oz of form but now only 2-3oz
7pm 9oz of formula - bed
thanks,
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Where were you planning on dropping a bottle. By your schedule it looks like he gets three of his "bottles" with his meals and only one by its self. I thought that was the ultimate goal to have the milk with each meal and then some snacks in the middle with a bedtime bottle (to be dropped eventually). Based on the schedule you wrote, your lo is drinking more than mine. He also is very healthy to be 8mo and 23lbs. Mine was almost 21lbs at 8mo and I was told he was healthy and not to worry about his intake.
HTH
Kimberly
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Can I jump in and ask? Do you drop from 4 to 3 once you have switched to giving solids first before bottles?
We've just moved to 4.5hr EASY on Friday and still giving bottle first; and last week managed to extend A time to cope with dropping catnap - yes a lot has been going on but we're getting the hang of it now ... so just curious. thanks
Sonja
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I switched to solids before the bottle at about 8 months (a little early but my doc recommend it) and then from 4 to 3 bottles about 2 weeks later. It makes more sense to me to have solids first when there are only 3 bottles. Some people continue with the bottle first in the morning though.
Hope that helps.
Kimberly
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HI there,
Here is my update, My son is 8mths old. He didn't seem to want any bottles at all anymore. but he liked his solids before his bottle. So now after a week of tweeking here is our schedule...
8am - cereal
10am - 8oz bottle
12:30 - veggies/fruit / juice
2:30 - 8oz bottle
5pm veggies / minigo 2oz milk in sippy cup
7pm 9oz bottle.
We have just recently dropped the cat nap as well and this seems to be the best soultion for my lo.
Leigh
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Leigh- Your schedule looks great. I am glad that things are working out for Kyle!
Kimberly
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When our DS was 8 months our schedule looked something like this with 3 bottles.
7:00 - Morning Bottle - 8oz followed straight after by Cereal
11:30 - Lunch
2:30 - 7 oz bottle
4:30 - Dinner
6:30 / 7:00 - 8 oz bottle.
Hope this helps.
Paula x
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Thanks for replies ladies, they all help :).
I think we'll swap to giving the solids first next week, but keep the 7am as a bottle to start the day followed by brekkie. Once we've done that for about a week then I guess I'll see if he starts the 'fussing' as Paula mentioned and then see if he wants to drop a bottle.
Here's our rountine now & how I'll try to amend it:
7am bottle
8am solids breakfast
9.30-10.45am ish sleep
11.30am bottle (swap to solids lunch)
12.30pm solids lunch (swap to bottle [color=green]& is this the one that gets dropped?)[/color]
2-4pm ish sleep
4pm bottle (swap to solids dinner)
5pm solids dinner
5.20pm ish bath
b/w 6 & 6.30pm bottle
7pm bedtime
I'm not sure given our routine which bottle gets dropped? :-\ :P
Thanks
Sonja
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have some more questions. We swapped to solids first yesterday but not sure we got it right and wondering if we should have dropped a bottle too? :-\
Here's our day:
7am bottle
8am solids breakfast 1 weetbix with form milk + 1 1/2 cube fruit
9.30-10.45am ish sleep
11.30am solids lunch mixed veg 6 cubes, followed by finger food fresh banana pieces
12.30pm bottle (fussed a bit took only 100ml)
1.20pm snack yoghurt
2-4pm ish sleep
4pm solids dinner mixed fruit 6 cubes
5.15pm bottle (drank 180ml, no fussing)
5.40pm bath
6.30pm bottle (fussed a lot took 120ml with difficulty, probably b/c bottle @ 5.20pm)
6.45pm bedtime
Questions:
should I have given snacks instead of bottles @ 12.30pm & 5.20pm? Therefore going from 4 to 3 bottles.
I'm sorry if I'm asking the obvious just need some guidance :P
Thanks
Sonja
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Sonja,
You may find that he was fussing at the 12:30 bottle as he had just eaten. You may want to leave that bottle until 1:20 and instead of offering a yogurt - offer the bottle there instead.
The evening bottle is very close to his last bottle and may be the reason why he is fussing so much with it. Maybe try a smaller bottle to help him take a bigger bottle before bed.
I would keep your routine going for a few days and see how your DS goes, and if he is still fussing then it might be time to drop a bottle.
HTH's
Paula x
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Thanks Paula they're great suggestions and in fact did some of those yesterday as I knew that it needed tweaking somewhere :P and as it happened he had 1 less bottle, the one at 5.15pm was replaced with a snack.
So our day was like this and it seemed to work & so far is working today too:
7am bottle 1
8am solids breakfast 1 weetbix with form milk + 1 1/2 cube fruit
9.30-10.45am ish sleep
11.30am solids lunch
12.40pm bottle 2, was a bit fussy but not as much - so will move this one later to compensate
2.15-4.15pm sleep
4.15pm solids dinner mixed fruit 6 cubes
5.15pm snack yoghurt
5.45pm bath
6.30pm bottle 3 - was good with this bottle
7pm bedtime
Sonja
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That is fantastic news Sonja,
Keep us posted on how Connor is getting on.
Paula x
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Could someone right down there routine with 3 bottles but including sleep times i am getting a bit confused. My LO 9m, we ready!
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My lo is 9 months and he is on three bottles. He also gets his solids before his bottle. We switched it while he was still on four bottles. Personally I find it difficult to figure out how to do bottle first with three bottles but I know some people have, hopefully someone will post that routine so you can see it. Here is his routine.
7am Solids
8:30am Bottle
9:30-11am Nap
12pm Solids
1:30pm Bottle
2:30-4pm Nap
5pm Solids
7pm Bottle
7:30pm Bed
Hope that helps.
Kimberly
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Thanks Kimberly.
I have just looked at the FAQ page and found 1 with milk first.
Your LO has longer A time than mine so i am just trying to sort out what it would be for LO. Is your lo hungry as soon as he/she wakes in the morning?
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Brendan has not shown any real hunger cues in a while, except for some crankiness right before his bottles. He actually wakes up around 6am most days and I leave him in the crib. He will play and sleep on and off for the next hour. Most of the time breakfast gets pushed back till 7:15am. He is not cranky and I think I could probably push it back even farther if I wanted to. He also has never been a big eater in the morning. It has always been one of his smallest meals.
I found that when I switched to three bottles, his A times automatically grew to match.
Kimberly
P.S. I am glad you found one with bottle first. ;D
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She a poor eater so hopefully offering less offen she will want more!
When your LO Birthday? I trying to work it out it looks near to my LO's 22/02/06 (due on 9th though)! :)
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He was born 2/24/06 but was due about a week prior. So even though your lo was born two days before mine, my lo is actually about 2-3 weeks older. How interesting. BTW...he is a big boy. 8lb 13oz at birth and 21lbs 3oz at 9 month check up.
Kimberly
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OUCH!! she was only 7lb 7 but still OUCH!!
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That is fantastic news Sonja,
Keep us posted on how Connor is getting on.
Paula x
Paula - thanks again for the suggestions. Our new routine is going really well ;)
Sonja
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Sonja,
That is great news. ;D
Paula x