Is it too early to drop a bottle feed at 8 months?

[violagal]

Hi all,

My DS has just turned 8 months. He has been on solids since 6 months. In the last week or so however I am finding it increasingly difficult to fit in 4 bottle feeds and 3 meals especially in the afternoon as he sometimes wakes from his afternoon nap at 4 and then I have 3 hours to fit in two bottles, dinner and bath etc.

Also, the late morning and afternoon bottles he seems to be losing interest in. As I am still giving solids 1-1.5 hrs after milk I have found myself spending most of that time trying to get him to take the milk feed before offering the solids and I'm not sure whether I should be doing that as of course his milk should be the main food or whether he's reducing his milk intake naturally and I should just let him take what he wants?

I'm still offering 8oz at each feed.  Our day looks sort of like this:

WU 6
E 6:30 6/7oz milk.
E 8 porridge (made with 4oz milk)
S 9:30/10 for 1-1.5 hours
E 11/11:30 milk. He takes 3/4oz to start with then a bit more after half hour break
E 12:30/1 Protein meal 4oz.  Fruit purée 2oz
S 2:30/3 for 1-1.5 hours.
E 4 milk. Same as 11 feed, he'll take 3/4oz and sometimes now refuse the rest.
E 5/5:30 veg meal 4oz. Yoghurt 2/3oz
Bath/bed routine
E 7 milk. Usually takes a full 8oz here. No night feeds.

I suppose I could just offer 4oz feeds at 11/4 or do you think he's ready to drop one of these at this stage?
Thanks!

[*Kara*]

We dropped a bottle around 8/8.5months as well...

The transition from 4 to 3 bottles per day. can sometimes be difficult to spot. The main thing to look for is your LO consistently refusing the 11am bottle, this is the time to be changing to 3 bottles, so your routine may look something like this;
Sample routines for dropping bottles (daytime core hours only)

E: 7.00 wake up and feed milk and breakfast
A: 7.30
S: 10.00
Y: your choice
E: 12.00 lunch
A: 12.30
E: 1330/1400 milk *dependant on your LO’s nap time
A:
S: 2.00
Y: your choice
E: 4.30 dinner
A: 5.00
E: 7.00 milk given before or after bath
A: bath
S: 7.30 bedtime

[violagal]

Thanks Kara. He doesn't exactly refuse his 11am feed (mind you he doesn't refuse anything, milk or food!) it's just that he only takes 3/4oz. I definitely think the afternoon feed needs moving as per the suggestion though as he has woken up early from the afternoon nap crying for milk so might try moving that feed to before the nap and then still offer the 11 for as long as he still wants it.

[*Kara*]

Mine never refused a milk feed either, I was just growing tired of her only wanting a couple of ounces and then being hungry sooner - I felt like I fed her all day long

I moved her to this:
630am wake and 8ozs
8am solids breakkie/water
1130am solids lunch/water
215/220pm bottle 8 ozs (nap was at 230pm)
445/5pm dinner solids/water
745pm 8 ozs and BT

[violagal]

Well I've tried two days of 3 bottles and it seems to be working ok, he's drinking all three! However he's been hungry for the afternoon bottle by about 1.30 which I assume is ok.
One more question - we are using Nuk bottles I've tried the size 2 a few times since 6 months but he doesn't seem to like it - is there any harm staying on the size 1?
Thanks!

[*Kara*]

No harm at all - if he is happily drinking his bottles there is no need to change.

That said, it could well be that he was getting frustrated with his bottles taking so much effort with the size 1 nipples.  Any time you change the flow of the nipple, it will take a few days for baby to adjust completely..

How long does it take him now to finish a feed?  How much are you offering for each of his 3 bottles?