Moved-14 mo and lots of milk/formula intake and bottle at night

[hrk]

Starting another thread on feeding, since it will take to long to find the other one, lol.  Thanks for any ideas you can offer.

I feel like I am offering a lot of milk (probably about 24 oz, lately-this is an estimate); we just dropped to one bottle at night before bed.  All the other milk is given through sippy.  The bedtime bottle is a combo of milk/formula.  It is that last bottle before bed that throws us way over the quota.  The left over from his evening meal goes in his bottle and is topped off with formula to 8 oz.  He has 7 oz (rarely drinks it all) at meals the left over goes for snacks in between.

Last night he didn't want his potatoes (doesn't like them-they are always hit or miss) and pecan crusted salmon (not a huge hit either.)  Oh, and fruit, which he usually chooses first.  So, last night it was fruit and then his whole sippy.  This hasn't happened before...  Then he took a whole bottle again an hr later???  CRAZY.  

Pedi said she wasn't too concerned, when I was in for a previous apt about a week ago.  I mentioned that he was doing about 24 oz.  She said we would discuss it again at the 15 mo check.  Seems like a lot.  I wonder if I am feeding too much milk, and that is lowering his solids intake.

Perhaps I should offer just water for snacks, regardless if he chose to have some milk at the meal.  I know he will do the big bottle top off at night.  I don't know that he would last to morning w/o it.

Any thoughts?

[~Karen~]

Hi Jean - Just to add to this thread what we do in the way of feeding if it's of any help.

7am - 9oz bottle of cows milk and he'll usually drink most of it.
8am - Cereal with probably about 4/5oz milk mixed in and some fruit with watered down orange juice to drink
1030am - Snack of fruit or rice cakes or something with water
12noon - Lunch say a sandwich or avocado/banana mixed together a lot of days and fruit/biscuit after.
330pm - Snack with water
5pm - Dinner (he does tend to eat quite a lot!) again with water and usually a yogurt after.
7pm - 8oz bottle of milk, again he usually drinks most of it.

I got into the habit of doing milk first thing in the morning and at bedtime with Amy and it always seemed to work so I've carried on doing the same with Ethan.

[babymunkey]

Hi Jean! Will be joining you guys on the 12 month BC soon....

I've been pondering the same thing - I 've decided not to offer milk as opposed to formula in bottles, so am aiming to switch and wean both at the same time......but we're still doing lots of milk......

on wake-up I offer a sippy of milk - he only "sips" at it, plus then B'fast - we do cereal or porridge with milk, plus he has his sippy with milk in - total intake varies somewhere between 100 - 200 ml

Morning bottle before nap with formula - will take 250 - 300 ml

I only offer water with lunch

mid pm snack - fruit or biscuits with milk - anything between 100 - 150 ml

water only with dinner

bedtime bottle is still formula - 250 - 300 ml

We're still in 2-1 nap switch so on catch up days I will offer a formula bottle to try to get him to take a catnap, but trying to stop this as think the bottle is becoming a prop, and it makes him not want his dinner.

HTH - but I think if we're not careful we'll be on too much formula too.......I think the milk after solids is a good idea, and I've never been a fan of milk with a main meal, dont know why, just doesn't seem right......we were always only allowed water as kids with our meals, and milk as a snack in between...

H

[hrk]

Thanks for the input, gals!  I need it, too.  I am going to reread tomorrow, when I am less pooped.  Today he did 22 oz.  Had a much better dinner; apparently he liked the spinach calzones I made.  Of course, they had cheese- more dairy, lol.

I also grew up with milk at meals, Stacy :-)  I live out in Wisconsin, land of butter, cheese, and milk, lol.

Thanks again!  

[~Natalie~]

I grew up on milk at meals too

James has gotten more confident on using the sippy by himself and so drains the whole cup at one sitting because he is so proud    But I have also noticed in the last couple weeks that he wasn't eating so much and I am sure it is because he was filling up on milk first.  So now I give him his meal and wait until he specifically asks for his cup and then I get it out of the fridge.  At that point he has already eaten some and has decided if it is worth him eating more.  He usually then finishes eating while taking sips from the cup. 

For the most part he has 18ou in a cup and then of course whatever miscellaneous dairy he has had throughout the day.  Water between meals. 

[hrk]

A long while ago, we had to revert to solids first to get him to eat solids.  Otherwise he was too full on the milk to care about them.

H, it is good to see you again!  Hope Harrison is doing well.  The milk is a puzzle for us to figure out with Heath.  Hopefully Harrison will start to drop the amt like a lot of the other babies in bc.

Today, he only had 1 oz of milk with breakfast.

Heath was hungry at 9:50.  I gave him a calzone (cheese and spinach), and he gobbled it up.  He also had 3 oz of milk.  I am now hiding the milk until later in the meal, as Natalie mentioned in her post. 

I will feed him between 2/3:00 a good sized snack/meal, and then dinner.  Bottle top off after dinner, perhaps.  Stacy, I think you mentioned the 8 oz after dinner.  I think I may give it a go; I think that would be better for his reflux.  We get some stirrings in the pm after he falls asleep.  They seem mostly lovey related, but perhaps he is waking b/c some minor discomfort and needs lovey to get back to sleep.  Will see how that goes, too.

Is it ok to go breakfast, meal at 10ish (it seems so early), meal at 2/3ish, dinner at 5:30, bottle after dinner?  It seems if he has a small snack at 9:30, he needs a lot of milk before nap.  He isn't hungry for another meal 1 hr 15 min later if he has a snack; not enough to make it through nap.  If I feed him a meal at 10ish, there, he will eat more and have less milk, but he will make it through the nap.  Then eat decent larger snack/meal after nap. 

Yesterday, he had a larger snack at 2ish.  Then at 4:10 he needed another small snack to get to dinner.  I had to give him some rice husks.  I wonder if it will happen today.

This seems like such a ramble.  Hope everyone is having a great day!   Happy New Year

[~Natalie~]

I agree, if its working for you then do the schedule you mention.  It really doesn't matter what time he eats, whenever he is hungry is fine.  We used to do breakfast at 10am because he nursed so much in the morning he wasn't hungry till then.