Need some suggestions on how to adjust his feeding schedule

[msfee]

Hello everyone!

I'm new here and I'm soooo excited that I found this site!  I came here hoping I can get some ideas of what, how much and when my son should be eating!  He is 10 months old and is about 20 pounds.  I know he's probably getting too much formula at the moment and I just don't know how to cut it back, ie which bottle to take out, how long between feeds, etc.  I also am kind of stuck on giving him baby food and know that he needs to be moved to more table foods, but I just don't know what kinds of table foods he can eat.  Choking makes me so nervous!  As well as I'm concerned that he might not get enough to eat, if he's just eating table food.

Here's his schedule right now:
7:30 am or 8:00 am- Wake, bottle feed 8 oz.
9:00 am- breakfast.  This is usually a 6 oz jar of the stage 3 breakfast baby food and some Gerber puffs.
9:15 am- take sissy to preschool
9:30 to 10:15 am- Nap
12:00 or 12:30- 8 oz bottle feed.
1:00 pm- Lunch.  This is usually 2 4 oz jars ( 1 fruit, 1 veggie) of baby food.
1:15- we pick up sister from preschool.
1:45 to about 3:30 or 4:00- nap
4:30- 8 oz bottle feed.
6:00- dinner.  1 6 oz jar of stage 3 dinner food.  He will also have some of what we are eating.  mostly potatoes, some noodles, green beans.
9:00 pm- 8 oz bottle feed and off to bed.

He is a good sleeper and will go all night.  I know he is taking 32 oz of formula a day and at 10 months old, that's a lot or so I've been told.  I just don't know how to cut back on the number of feeds.  Also, I need help getting away from the baby food!  My biggest concern about switching to table food is what does he eat and how do I know he's getting enough!  He is very interested in table foods and whenever we eat, he smacks his lips and grunts.  He just always seems hungry and will keep eating no matter how much we give him.  At least with the jars of baby food, I have some idea of how much he's getting, you know?

Any suggestions and advice would be wonderful!  It's been awhile since I've done this and I just don't remember! 

Thank you!!

[Freya'sMum]

Hello!

I think the old saying "if it ain't broke don't fix it" is always useful to remember

Your routine looks quite reasonable, ds seems to have a consistent routine, reasonable nap times (altho the morning one does seem a little short) and he sleeps all night, and a good pattern of milk and solid feeds. It sounds like it's working well so I wouldn't really change it!

There is no real rush to reduce milk intake unless it is affecting the amount of solid foods ds will eat - 32oz is a lot, but if he's still hungry at solid food time why change it? If you think he would eat more if you reduced his milk intake, I would reduce the amount of milk by an oz or 2 each feed rather than drop a whole milk feed as it would change your routine too much! Milk remains the most important food in terms of nutrition until 12 months anyway, so if he's happy to drink it, jolly good!

As for introducing solid foods in finger food form, do check out the FAQ post on Baby-led Weaning which might reassure you about the relatively low risk of choking during self-feeding. You can easily introduce finger foods alongside smooth or lumpy purees until he gets used to self-feeding and then reduce and eventually drop the purees altogether - check out the Recipes section for the Finger Foods for Young Babies thread for some starter finger food ideas

HTH a bit?

Ax

[msfee]

Thank you so much for your reply!  It helped me feel a lot better!  Our routine as it is does work quite well, except him not getting a longer nap in the mornings, it proves it kind of difficult when he wants to nap at 9:00 am, but I have to take my daughter to preschool at 9:15, so I'm trying to work around that.

Yesterday, I fed him breakfast and then introduced a snack between breakfast and lunch, at usual bottle time (12:30) I fed him lunch.  He seemed fine and happy with that and so at 2:00, I decided to try to give him a bottle feed.  He only wanted 4 ozs!  I was worried, but he seemed happy.  He started fussing at 4:00, so I gave him another snack with another 4 ozs of formula and he was content and didn't want anymore bottle.  He ate dinner with us and was happy as a clam until 8:30, when he had his bed time bottle.  So in all, he took in 24 ozs, so on his own, he cut out 8 ozs of formula (which was what I wanted to do) but he kept to 4 feedings.  Does that make any sense?

So he's basically using the two 4 oz feedings as kind of snacks, which I'm fine with!

I introduced cheerios, which were an instant hit, Whole peas which he loved to squish with his fingers and diced peaches.  He seems to be thrilled with his new menu!

I will definitely check out the parts of the site that you mentioned.  I'm actually going to head over to that recipe section now!
Thanks so much!

[~*Sugar*~]

Just an idea for you...if you want to try table food and still be sure how much hes getting why not try using the leftover jars.Save a few jars and put the table food in them just to measure if that makes you more comfortable.I like knowing how much my lo is eating as well but he doesnt like the jar food so I make my own and measure this way.I make his food and store it in jars in the fridge.I am sure you could freeze as well.I usually make enough for 2-3 days at a time and it works great for us.It is also very portable when we have to be out and about as well.

Christina

[msfee]

That is a wonderful idea, Christina!  I never thought about that!  Thank you so much!!!

[~*Sugar*~]

You are very welcome.Glad i could help!!