6.5 month old erratic bottle feeds since loving solids!

[amelie16]

i've found some of the answers in other threads here but have a couple of questions that I'm not quite sure about.

6.5 month old EASY routine looks roughly like this:

7.00 wake and bottle (approx 50ml)
8.30 porridge (with 90ml formula)
9.15 nap
11.15 wake from nap bottle (approx 70ml)
12.45 activity time until lunch usually soup or similar - eats it all & seems to want more (I do about 6 tablespoons)
1.45 nap
3.15 bottle (approx 80ml)
5.30 dinner usually something with protein in, again about 5 tablespoons
6.30 bath
7.00 bottle (approx 150ml)
7.15 bed
10.30 dream feed (approx 170ml)

Total formula approx 610ml a day.

I know she's not ready to drop the dream feed yet as she eats so much at it (she's always eaten more in the evenings).

Trouble is lately she's becoming less and less interested in milk (maybe as it tastes like crap!) and once she's had enough that's it. She'll drink a little more in a cup for the novelty but it's clear she doesn't want much in the day at least. This morning she refused her 7am altogether although I know she'll eat her porridge in about 30 minutes. My worry is if she isn't getting enough milk and how much solid food to give her. She really enjoys solids, there's nothing she won't eat so far and could easily eat more than the 5-6 tablespoons I give her.

She's not a big baby and has never drunk that much milk. Should I just roll with it and let her drink whatever milk she wants at those set times? She refused her 3pm bottle feed yesterday too but then drank 150ml when I tried to feed her again at 4pm. Is it maybe the timings that she doesn't like?

Any help much appreciated!

[*Kara*]

Could be the timing but I suspect moreso that she is holding out for solids... at this age, you really should be limiting solids when it has an impact on her milk intake.  At her age, you do want her to stay at 24 ozs/day (just over 700mls).

When did she start solids?  She is very young to have 3 "meals" a day.  Most babies at this age are having solids just once a day as a meal (generally breakfast) and then milk feeds at all other times.  After a good 4-6 weeks of a single meal, add in a lunch offering, then in another month or two (closer to 8/9 months) add in the dinner meal.  Generally by this point, most move to 3 bottles a day.

Also, a "meal" is usually around 2-3 tbsp's at this age

The biggest concern with so much solids at this age is two-fold: she won't get the proper nutrition that she would from formula (it has more in terms of fat/calories than solids do), and the other big concern - constipation.  It's unlikely that she will take enough water from a sippy to balance out the large volume of solids she is having.

Overall, I would limit solids for a bit and see if he milk intake goes back up.  Many babies (mine included) exhibit this behaviour when solids are fairly new and interesting