did i give her too much formula at night?

[anitad67]

my girl is 8 month and 3 wks now.  my milk ran out when she was 8 month so took quite some efforts to get her to drink from bottle at all.  then she only drank from bottle at night or right after her naps if she got a long nap which is rare.  almost like she only accepted bottles when her mind wasn't clear enough.  so, in order to get her get enough milk, i gave in and fed her during the night.

before, she was a real good eater on solids.  basically she ate whatever i put in front of her.  then she got more and more picky.  the last few days since friday, she only ate what we were eating or what we can trick her to believe what we were eating (not very easy to trick her since she really grab our bowls to check it out whether things in her spoon look the same as in our bowl).  she does accept bottles now during the day.  so my question is, how much milk should i allow her?  is the milk that fills up her appetite?  she seems to be interested in eating finger foods but she is not there yet.

another question is, i read some moms here give their LOs sandwich.  i wonder what you put in the sandwich when they are like 8~9 month?  i am so scared she will choke!

thanks a lot for any suggestions!

[* Paula *]

Too much milk in the night can definitely affect their appetites.

Can you post what your lo is taking during the day milk & solid wise and what she is taking at night?

At this age milk is still their main source of nutrician, and should be drank during the day vs at night as you want your lo's to learn that day time is the time to eat and night time is the time to sleep.

With regards to sandwiches.  We used to put cream cheese on, or vegetables that have been pureed.

[anitad67]

yea, i know...  the trouble is, she doesn't want to drink milk during the day and at night if i don't feed her she just stays awake till i do.  i tried to feed her less but then she just wakes up earlier.  not sure what i should do.  today she did make one big progress as she finally fed herself cheerio and biscuits during dinner time.  has been playing with food for a while and eating leaves in the park.  first time she put actually food in her mouth.

[TDR'smom]

She is so cute!

Your lo might be getting used to having some milk in the middle of the night.  Even though she might not need it.

Like Paula said, post your routine with what she is eating/drinking and that will give a better idea...

xxx
Judy

[anitad67]

thanks!!

her routine right now is a mess after her cold then cough for 3 wks.  still cough at night and sometimes threw up 

the first guess is when she wakes up.  this now depends on whether/how much i feed her at her regular 3~4 am wake up.  if i don't feed her she will stay awake from then.  if i feed her less than her usual amount, 5oz, she will wake up around 5:30 am.  otherwise she wakes up around 6:30 or 7.

she doesn't eat much after she wakes up.  this has been the same before/after i got her into bottle feed.

but no matter when she wakes up, it is hard to put her down to nap before 9am.  she normally naps 1 hour max.

so around 10 am wake up from nap, she will drink from bottle.  amount varies, 3~5oz.  she will push the bottle away.

then around noon, we have lunch.  she used to have a good amount of purees i cooked based on Annabel karmel's book but these days she hardly eats anything.  turns her head away to almost everything i have to offer.

around 1 she will have a nap.  sometimes she will struggle till 1:30 or even 2.  she may drink up to 5 oz these days finally but often just 2 oz and she is done.

sleeps till 3:30 max.  had to take her to our bed and actually hold her down these days if i want her to nap longer than half an hour.  this sometimes doesn't work as she often just wakes up, rolls over, then pushes up and ready to play.

after she wakes up, depends on how long she naps, she will drink some from bottle.  if she had 1.5 hour nap, she will drink 7 oz.  otherwise could be nothing.

then if she woke up too early, i will try to give her another nap at 5. 

dinner is usually around 6 then followed by bath and bed.  she is usually asleep by 7:30.  worst case (knock on wood) 8 pm.  she finally agrees to drink some milk before bed time but if she eats any dinner, the milk will be 4 oz max. 

she will wake up quite a few times between now and 11:30.  sometimes she will demand milk by pointing to the table i usually put her bottles although these days i am trying to hold on till after 11pm to feed her.  usually she drinks 7 oz.

then she will wake up again 3~3:30.  i am trying to decrease the amount she drinks now.  last night i tried to add more water to the bottle so it was a thinner milk and she kept waking up from then till 6..

i know there are a lot of depends here    i just started doing pu/pd and routine and she got a cold etc etc...  oh well

thanks a lot for advices!!!