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EAT => Feeding Solid Food => Topic started by: haleytreat on January 05, 2016, 03:30:40 am

Title: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: haleytreat on January 05, 2016, 03:30:40 am
I just started on solids (rice and oatmeal cereal) on dec 24th. She eats 3 times a day of 4 tbsp a time. She has a bottle an hour before her cereal but it is a fight to get her to drink more than 3-4 ounces. Can someone tell me what the routine should look like for a 6.5 month old with solids - i am not sure i am feeding at the right times??? Also, i read somewhere about dropping a bottle. So how would that work into the EASY routine? The routine looks something like this…its kind of different each day as she does better when I let her wake on own

today went as is:
745 - wake and eat 4 oz
830 - 4 tbsp ceral
1130 - 4 oz
1215 - 4.5 tbsp
330 - 5 oz
430 - 3 tbsp (only offered 3 to see if she would drink more later)
650 - 6 oz - but it was a fight to get her to eat this
will do a dream feed at 10 - always drinks 8 oz but i think its because she is sleeping:)

should i wean out the dream feed and then look at doing 3 bottles a day? How do i wean the dream feed? I will also add that she isn't starving in the morning. I mean she is hungry but then will want to be done after 3-4 oz of formula. I would think after 10 hours of not eating she would be starving.

Thank you!
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: MasynSpencerElliotte on January 05, 2016, 05:16:09 am
At 6.5 months I would not be looking to drop a bottle yet...I am wondering if perhaps cutting back on the solids a bit might help get the daytime intake up so you could start to eliminate the df. It took us quite some time to build up to 3 meals a day (2 months or more) so being at 3 meals only a couple of weeks in might be a bit much, solids just aren't as filling as bm or formula at this age.
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: haleytreat on January 05, 2016, 05:48:53 am
ok I will try that. Thank you. Regarding the schedule of the solids. what should that look like? Meaning when should I be feeding her solids? An hour after the bottle?
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: haleytreat on January 05, 2016, 21:00:18 pm
after doing a little more reading I realized I think I am feeding her too much solids right now! :o
I will cut back on the amount and times for awhile. I guess I am just a little confused at how to proceed with solids and milk intake. Not sure why ;)

So should routine stay the exact same way as far as milk feedings go with just adding a little solids an hour or two after the milk feed? How do I know when to increase the amount of solids and when to increase the times solids are given?
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: creations on January 05, 2016, 22:31:34 pm
I would think after 10 hours of not eating she would be starving.
At roughly this age many LOs start taking most or all their calories during the day, this is more so for formula feed LOs.  Whilst it's not unheard of for the DF to continue a little longer now is also a great time to gently wean it.  There are FAQs on the bottle feed board for weaning the DF and guidance on milk intake at various ages, I can help you find them if you have trouble.

Your milk times are fine.
Your solids times are also fine (1hr after milk as a guide) although as pp has said 3 meals per day right off is quite a lot.  Some LOs will enthusiastically ask for 3 meals (or for food any time they see you eat) so for some 3 meals do come quite early but they are usually very small.
In general you'd look at around 8 months old to increase to 3 meals.

Portion size, as you have discovered, is on the large side, 2 or 3 tea spoons would be enough for a solids meal at this age. Again all LOs are different, mine wouldn't have been happy with such a small meal but his milk intake never dropped so I didn't need to cut back his solids.  As a guide you would be looking for the milk feeds to stay basically the same as they were and for the solids to be in addition to the milk feeds, not instead of.

Several months from now (maybe around 10 months but again they are all different) you might see some reluctance on one or more of the milk feeds and at that point you could switch 1 of milk feeds to a solids snack, the times stay the same but instead of milk you give a small snack with a cup of water.  Later you might switch another.  Routine wise it is easy to stick to the same times, keep the WU and BT milk feeds and switch first one then the other of the mid morning and mid afternoon milk feeds to a snack. Hope this makes sense... we will still be here for you to ask when the time comes :)

The WU and BT milk feeds continue beyond 12 months, you might then switch from bottle to cup or straw, or you might be happy to continue with the bottle a while.  At 12 months solid food becomes the primary food source. Obviously this doesn't happen over night so over the next 6 months you will see a gradual increase of solids and LO joining in with family meals.

With regards to the EASY routine: all E times milk or solids may need to move to fit around naps as the nap routine changes with age.  This is fine.  Milk feeds might extend to 5 hrs apart if LO is sleeping but because there is a little solids meal between the milk feeds this means she hasn't really been 5hrs without food.

Do remember to offer water with solids too.

This is also the age it is recommended to begin to introduce finger foods and for LO to self feed.  This could be instead of puree or it could be at a different meal time, either is fine. Again it is not about eating a lot but about learning how to manipulate food in her mouth, and about the smells, flavours and textures of different foods.  It can be as simple as offering a wedge of vegetable from your own meal.

I think/hope I answered most of your questions, hopefully this gives you a bit of an overview of how the coming months might be.  Do ask if you have any other questions :)
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: haleytreat on January 05, 2016, 23:34:44 pm
Thank you! I guess I just thought that amount was ok because she was even wanting more after 4 tbsp! :o But then she wasn't drinking as much during the day. I will cut back and see how things go! Thank you!
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: haleytreat on January 06, 2016, 03:35:35 am
I looked at the pamphlet i got at her 6 month checkup again and sure enough I read how much to give her wrong. It said work up to 3 tablespoons A DAY and I thought it said 3 tbsp EACH FEED! Too funny to not share! ha! I guess the good news is I have a baby who isn't afraid to eat solids considering she was eating that much with no problems! lol!
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: creations on January 06, 2016, 18:20:07 pm
Yes it looks like she'll be a foodie :)
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: MasynSpencerElliotte on January 06, 2016, 19:00:54 pm
She does sound like a foodie! My DD1 & DD3 were the same way.
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: haleytreat on February 25, 2016, 02:21:38 am
My daughter is now 8.5 months old now and has an A time of 3 hours. I am confused how you get in solids and the last bottle with this current A time. here is the typical routine.

WU & E  7 (bottle)
E - 9 (solids)
S - 10 -1130
E - 1130 (bottle)
E - 130 (solids)
S - 230 - 330/4
E - 330/4 (bottle)
E - 5/530 (solids)
E - 630 (bottle)
S - 630/7

I keep bed at 630/7. I am confused because I feel the end of the day gets messy with her napping later so it pushing back the eating times and solids and I feel like she is getting A LOT of food in a short amount of time. What do others do with longer A times and feeding solids and bottle??

Hope I make sense on what I am asking! HA!
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: MasynSpencerElliotte on February 25, 2016, 02:50:07 am
How many oz are the bottles? I think we may have been down to 3 at this stage (8oz each) so the late afternoon would have been a small snack not a bottle or an early supper.
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: haleytreat on February 25, 2016, 02:51:42 am
anywhere from 6-8 ounces. Mostly 8 ounces. So with 3 bottles. what would the EASY schedule look like?
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: MasynSpencerElliotte on February 25, 2016, 05:21:00 am
Tbh I don't rememer specifics (DD1 & DD2 were on bottles at this age, DD3 was still partly bf)..I did do their solids at my meal times so bottles were fit around that.
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: creations on February 25, 2016, 09:54:09 am
Your routine looks great!! :)

TBH I would say it's a touch early to be dropping bottles and switching to a snack just yet, around 10 or 11 months would be more common to switch a milk feed or two to snacks.  I know the evening is a bit of a rush for you to fit in all those feeds but maybe view it like a tanking up before BT.  If LO is taking the bottles fine and still enjoying her meals then all is well.  What you might do, to give you a bit more time, is move the dinner a bit earlier, say 4.30/5 but if she's fine as she is then there is no need to change anything (other than you might feel you have a little bit more time to get ready for the BT routine as I can see it's a bit of a rush for you at the end of the day).

So with 3 bottles. what would the EASY schedule look like?
As I say, I wouldn't switch right now, but looking ahead, it would usually be one of the milk which comes mid morning or mid afternoon which you would switch to a solids snack with a cup of water (so she still gets to eat at the same time she is used to eating and for you it is easy to keep the times you are used to), for you this would be either the 11.30 or 3.30 bottle you would switch...then later switch the other to a snack too.  This leaves 2 good milk feeds at WU and BT.  The guidance is to drop all bottles at 12 months but many people choose to hang on to 1 or 2 of them and if LO is just taking the bottle of milk swiftly (not walking around sipping from a bottle all day) there is no harm in keeping 1 or 2 bottle feeds a bit longer - the important aspect at 12 months really is to bring the BT milk earlier so that teeth are brushed before BT rather than going to bed with milky teeth.

Just one other thing I wanted to mention, I know you didn't ask this but... if you are still feeding purees now would be a great time to switch to finger foods.
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: haleytreat on February 25, 2016, 13:43:35 pm
Thank you so much! Yeah I just realized I need to do more finger foods. Seems like I just want her to stay my little baby :)
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: creations on February 25, 2016, 14:50:44 pm
Don't worry, she's going to need and love you a long long time, finger foods won't stop that :) :) :)
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: MasynSpencerElliotte on February 26, 2016, 04:14:18 am
Sorry...here the recs are 24-32 oz for a 7-9 month old and 18-32 oz for a 9-12 month old so 3 x 8 oz bottles was well within the norm for an 8.5 month old.
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: haleytreat on March 30, 2016, 20:54:41 pm
we are now almost 9.5 months. we are at 3.25 hours A time. looking ahead, how does the routine work when we get up to 4 hours? since she would take a bottle again right when she would be going down for a nap.

Thank you!
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: creations on March 30, 2016, 21:16:10 pm
Often LOs with extend the time between milk to more like 5hrs because they have the solids meal between meaning they are getting some additional calories there.  having said that, some people do a slightly earlier milk feed timing it just before the nap but trying to avoid feeding to sleep.
hth
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: haleytreat on March 30, 2016, 21:28:01 pm
Oh ok. Thank you!
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: haleytreat on April 19, 2016, 22:52:32 pm
We are almost at 10.5 months. What kind of routine should I be looking at now with milk and solids? I want to make sure I am not feeding her too much formula and not enough solids  ;D

routine is basically this:

7/730 WU and milk - 8 oz
830/9 - solids
1030 - 12/1230 - sleep
12/1230 - milk - 8 oz
130/2 - solids
345ish - milk 6-8 oz
4-5 - sleep
530ish - solids
730ish - milk 6-8 oz
8/830 sleep


is this ok? What should I be working towards as far as feeding routine as she gets closer to 12 months????

Thank you!!
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: MasynSpencerElliotte on April 20, 2016, 05:49:44 am
Off the top of my head the max recommended amount of formula per day is 30 or 32 oz, so you are within that but after age one the milk becomes more of a drink than the main sustenance.

By 12 months we were on a more grown up food routine that followed the rest of the family. Milk became a drink with breakfast and we offered mid morning & afternoon snacks and lunch and supper at the same time as everyone else (they were on one nap so that made it easier - when the nap was earlier we did lunch in two parts pre and post nap).
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: creations on April 20, 2016, 18:53:07 pm
Some time between now and 12 months you might notice LO being less interested in one or more of the milk feeds.  At that point you can switch either the mid morning or mid afternoon milk feed to a solids snack, offer it at the same time but solids with a drink of water.  You might continue like that for a little while and then switch the other in the same way.  If it doesn't happen before 12 months then at 12 months just make the switch.
Bottles are recommended to be dropped at 12 months but many people choose to keep them a bit longer to ensure LO gets at least 1 decent milk drink per day, although solids take priority at 12 months LOs often have 1 or 2 milks (depending on the amount) per day for several years.  Of course if LO goes off milk then you'd look at ensuring other sources of calcium were provided.

Most LOs will self regulate on quantity of food so you can follow LOs lead on how much solids at each meal.
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: haleytreat on April 20, 2016, 19:00:15 pm
Oh ok. Thank you!!!!!
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: haleytreat on May 04, 2016, 14:27:11 pm
So at 12 months I stopped formula all together?
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: creations on May 04, 2016, 18:39:23 pm
At 12 months you can switch to cow's milk and there is no need to continue with infant formula (assuming there are no allergies, I think your LO is on regular formula, yes?).  it must be full fat cows milk, LOs can't have reduced fat for a couple more years.

The guidance is to drop bottles at 12 months but like I said before some people choose to keep one or two bottles to ensure a good portion of milk is taken each day, you can put cows milk in the bottle rather than formula.  Or you can switch from bottle to cup or straw.
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: haleytreat on May 04, 2016, 20:36:20 pm
Ok thank you. No allergies so milk will be fine. I just wanted to confirm no formula is needed and to just put milk in bottle if she isn't drinking enough in cup. Thank you!!
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: Lolly on May 04, 2016, 20:59:17 pm
Just a thought, it may be easier to make the transition at 1 if you drop to 3 bottles first.

At 10ish months, most bottle fed babies are on 3 bottles and a common routine is to have a wake up bottle, solids breakfast, snack if needed, a solids lunch and a second bottle just before the afternoon nap. Then it would be a solids tea/dinner and a bedtime bottle. As they are getting more grown up it doesn't matter that solids come before milk as you are working towards less milk anyway.

Laura
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: haleytreat on May 04, 2016, 21:24:00 pm
Thank you!
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: haleytreat on May 04, 2016, 21:50:17 pm
I am on 3 bottles but curious does it matter when I give the middle bottle? Also what is typical time frame for solids after a bottle? 1-2 hours? And then timeframe for next solids after a snack?
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: haleytreat on May 04, 2016, 22:45:13 pm
She isn't the best at drinking from cup. She knows how she just doesn't drink a lot. Is this normal?
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: creations on May 05, 2016, 09:31:32 am
I am on 3 bottles but curious does it matter when I give the middle bottle? Also what is typical time frame for solids after a bottle?
If you have a little look back this was covered previously. For you, if you are still on the same routine it would be either the 11.30 or 3.30 for the bottle (and the other time would be the snack). It is tricky to say exactly when milk/snacks and solids should be as LOs routine for sleep vary so much with some already on one naps, some on two and with some a long nap morning or a long nap afternoon... so like I said before, one of those regular E times is the bottle the other is the snack, then the bottle switches to a snack making 2 bottles (WU and BT). As Laura has said some LO like that bottle before their nap.
Solids times also depend on your routine but roughly an hour after milk (or snack), yes.

She isn't the best at drinking from cup. She knows how she just doesn't drink a lot. Is this normal?
Quite normal.
Some won't take milk from a cup but might do better with a straw.
Mine has always been a step or three behind on what he will drink his milk out of compared to what he will happily drink water out of. So when he was drinking water form a sippy cup he wouldn't take more than a few sips of milk from a sippy and needed a bottle and then he accepted the straw.  When he took water form an open cup he continued to need a straw for milk...and then accepted milk (proper full drink of milk I mean, not sips) in a sippy cup.  He now takes a big milk drink from a proper open cup rather than straw or sippy cup.
You might have more luck with a straw or even a sport bottle (which I know is another bottle but a bit more grown up than a baby bottle).
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: haleytreat on May 07, 2016, 16:56:12 pm
Ok thank you! I guess I am just curious as to when I should start transitioning going to solids before milk during the day. Now or wait till 12 months. I have a hard time at times getting in all the solid meals and snacks and wonder if I am feeding her enough. I started a water bottle type and she seems to do better with that than a sippy cup. Thank you!
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: creations on May 08, 2016, 07:35:51 am
Some people move to solids before milk if LO is not taking enough solids. If I remember correctly Laura (who posted above) switched to breakfast solids first, milk later, because if milk was first LO wasn't interested in breakfast.  But if the meals are being taken well then there is no need to change any of the timings.
Mine is 5yo and still has WU milk, breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner and really the only change in timings is that once he started school there wasn't an hour between milk and breakfast, otherwise the times are basically the same as when he was a baby it's just that he has solid food rather than milk.
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: haleytreat on May 08, 2016, 18:52:50 pm
Oh ok. Makes sense. So if she starts to lose interest in solids try the switch to see if that makes a difference. Thank you! Also if I remember correctly I should wean the middle bottle soon anyway Because at 12 months no bottles should be given, besides wu & bt, am I understanding correctly?
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: Lolly on May 08, 2016, 19:37:33 pm
You are right Creations!

We switched the morning milk to mid morning snack just after she turned 1 as she wasn't eating any breakfast. My DD dropped the bedtime milk at 18 months too.
Also if I remember correctly I should wean the middle bottle soon anyway Because at 12 months no bottles should be given, besides wu & bt, am I understanding correctly?

The recs are for no bottles after 1, not even wake up and bedtime because they *should* be switched to cups for oral development and to protect teeth. That said, many keep the wake up and bedtime bottle for a while yet. As I said, my DD moved from a wake up bottle to a mid morning sippy of milk just after 12 months and I swapped her bedtime bottle to a sippy of milk at about 18 months and she just started choosing not to drink it soon after. My DS had a bedtime bottle until he was about 2.5. We tried to swap it for a sippy several times but gave up in the end as he was very attached to the bottle.

If you continue to give a bottle make sure they drink up the milk quickly and you take the bottle away so they aren't sucking on it for long periods. At bedtime you need to make sure you clean teeth after milk and before sleep.

Laura
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: haleytreat on May 09, 2016, 00:36:53 am
should  I be putting the formula in the sippy cups or is water ok- asking about the milk feeds for during day. You probably answered that already but I lose track of what I've already asked!!  ::)

It just dawned on me with taking away the bottle, I took that as use water in sippy cup but now I'm wondering if I should be putting formula in the cup until age 1 
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: creations on May 09, 2016, 08:15:01 am
For the  mid morning and mid afternoon bottles that you switch to a solids snack it is fine to offer water in a cup, LO still has TWO good milk drinks at WU and BT.
That said if you want to put formula in the sippy, you can.  Personally I would offer water as well as they should have water available if they are taking solids. So either one sippy of water or two sippy cups one water one milk.

Laura has already covered the bottle recs thing from 1yo.
My route - I switched BT bottle to a solids supper with sippy of milk at 12 months (roughly an hour before BT) by doing a gentle wean over about a week where I offered the solids and sippy milk then at BT reduced the milk bottle by a bit each night until after about 7-10 days he only had water in a bottle he didn't need to 'drink' but had a few sips if he wanted.  Once he was happy with that I switched to a sippy cup of water which goes by his bed in case he is thirsty just before BT.
The other bottle, WU, I needed mine to have a big milk drink, it took 1 month of trying to switch him off the bottle. At 13 months that bottle was gone and he took his morning milk with a straw.
Personally I wanted the bottles gone, not only the recs but I was fed up of them!  I was able to get rid of the steriliser and free up some kitchen unit space as soon as that last bottle was switched.
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: MasynSpencerElliotte on May 09, 2016, 13:15:47 pm
My 2 year 8 month old still drinks her morning milk from a very bottle like sippy with the nipple part slit entirely open...but she pounds it back in about 30 seconds so there is no carting it around and causing dental issues. So it isn't the bottle per se but what they do with it. I do not sterilize it anymore and it just goes in with the regular dishes (and we only have one of that style bottle).
Title: Re: bottle and solids schedule help
Post by: haleytreat on May 09, 2016, 13:37:56 pm
Thanks everyone! I appreciate the advice!!!