Feeding routine for 5.5 mos

[schlok72]

Hi there,

I'm from Asia and have a pair of fracternal twins born at 36 weeks. My DS was 5.7lbs when he was born and my DD was 3.9lbs, however both of them were healthy and was never in NICU.

They're 5 1/2 months old now and I've started them on organic baby rice cereal since they were 4 1/2 months and have since introduce them to apple sauce, pear sauce, sweet potatoes, califlower & broccoli to their diet.

Currently I'm facing an issue with my DS. Ever since we introduce her cereal, she has refuse to drink her milk at one go. She's currently taking 5 oz and we ALWAYS have to split her feed into 2 part each time before she can finish her milk, which is seldom. However, she LOVES to eat!! She loves her cereal with apple or pear sauce and even finishes the pureed califlower on it's own!

Well here's my DS daily schedule and I hope to get some advise/help on this please....

6.30am : 5 oz (of which she only drinks 2 oz)
7.15am : Bathe
7.30am : Continue from the 5 oz. Most days she finishes this feed
7.45 - 9.30am : Nap
10.30am : 1.5 Tbs apple sauce + 2 tsp apple sauce (She finishes this within minutes!)
11.30am : 5 oz (Usually she only take in about 3-4oz)
11.45 - 2.30pm : Nap
2.45pm : 5 oz (Again she refuses to finish her milk at one go, most days she take in only bout 2-3oz)
3.45pm : Continue from 5 oz.
4.00 - 5.00pm : Nap
5.45pm : Bathe
6.00pm : 2 Tbs baby rice cereal + 2 tsp pear sauce + 1 tsp pureed califlower (She gobbles down everything!)
6.30pm : 5 oz (refuses this feed, so had to split feed again)
11.00pm : 5 oz (Always NEVER finish. Only take in 3-4oz)

She sleeps through from 7pm to 6am, however some nights she will wake up whining for her pacifier between 4-5ish. Afterwhich she will go back to sleep again till 6am. From 6am onwards she will be awake but never hungry since we've tried feeding her at 6.00am but she just refuses to drink.

Please advise if I should be cutting back her milk feeds and increase her solids. Also she doesn't like to drink water which I'm afraid she might be dehydrated cos she doesn't have very wet nappies ever since going onto semi-solids.

Help....

[Mimi 2]

Hi and welcome to BW!

For the looks of your routine, I think you need to consolidate your milk feeds and maybe even decrease the amount of solids to encourage her to finish her bottle at one sitting.  Did she ever finish a full bottle (6-8 oz) prior to the introduction of solids?  Usually at this age babies are taking 4-5 bottles of 6-8 oz each.  So for example if she wakes at 6 am and is not hungry at 6:30 yet then offer the first bottle at 7 am, 11 am, 3 pm, 7 pm, 10 pm (df is necessary).  Then about 30-60 min after the milk feed offer solids.  At this age, solids is just for taste and experimentation of textures.  Milk feeds are much more important for her brain and body growth as it contains everything she needs.  Solids may make her feel full but is doesn't efficiently provides what she needs as it has a lot of bulk. 

Are you using a slow or fast flowing nipple?

Have a look through the EASY sample routine to give you some ideas.  http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=10386.0

PS  I'm moving this over to the Bottle Feeding board.  Maybe other moms will give you more insights to helping her consolidate her milk feeds.

[* Paula *]

I agree with PP.

At this age, their milk is still the main source of nutritian, and any solids which are introduced are only meant to be tasters, and not actually a meal as such.

From the looks of things your lo is filling up on solids and this is why your lo is refusing to drink the milk.

What size teat are you using?  Do you think that your lo could be bored with the flow and may require a faster flow teat?

With regards to solids, I would always offer milk first, and then if your lo has taken a decent amount of milk, you can offer a solids taster an hour after the milk feed.  Keep this taster small to ensure that your lo is hungry enough for the the next milk feed.

Good luck, keep us posted on how you get on.