Feeding routine for 6-9months

[*Heather*]

Thanks for your input ladies! 
When we started out, I BF first then did solids.  That was at the 6pm feeding (in hindsight, not smart because had he had a reaction, I wouldn't have known, so I since know better to introduce the new food in the morning).  But when I did that, DS was awake every hour until is DF.  So I thought by BF first, I was not giving him enough opportunity to eat how much he wanted?  The next day, I switched to solids first then BF and he didn't have any wakings.  So, I've been doing solids then BF.  I fear, too, that if I break it up to much, I might create a snacker.  Should I be worried about that?

He hasn't been any more fussy before bedtime than he normally is.  We've been doing PU/PD to get him off his pacifier for the last week and have been very successful (he was becoming so dependent on it during his naps, that he would wake every 20/30 min, crying for it), but now whenever I put him to bed (nap or bedtime) we get 5 minutes into the routine and he's pushing me away, fussing, like "OK. I get it. Bed. Put me in it and leave me alone."  So I do and he's fine.  But it's the same fussiness regardless of whether or not he had just been fed the solids.

The last couple of days I've been having trouble with my milk.  Or at least I think DS thinks so.  I've been feeding him the cereal then nursing right after.  At every nursing opportunity he gets very upset and I'm trying to figure out why.  It used to be that he would pull off with this sweet content little smile like "ahh, thanks Mommy."  But now not so much and I can't figure out what's going on.  I wonder if it's related to the solids -- We BF lying down.  He pulls off and rolls from his side onto his back, flailing his arms, kicking his legs and "grrrrrr...rrrrr'ing" like he's VERY frustrated and upset.  He rolls back, relatches himself, then does it all over again.  Over and over.  I finally switch sides and he seems ok for literally two minutes, then he starts up on that side too.  I try to express some to see if there's any in there -- sometimes I get a squirt, sometimes I get a leak, sometimes I get nothing.  So I'm having trouble figuring out what's going on there.  When I literally have nothing coming out when I express, or he keeps pulling off over and over, I'll give up and he's lying there kicking and flailing and crying.  I just don't know what is going on with that at all.  Any ideas?

Also interesting, and I don't know if it's related, but in the last two days, for all four feedings, he starts fussing and getting upset when I put him in his highchair, crying when I strap him in.  I gave him a spoon to play with tonight and he was ok, but if I take a minute to put his bib on, he gets upset all over again.  What's going on?  He used to be totally fine.  I don't get it.

Any ideas or insight would be so greatly appreciated!  I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong and inadvertently messing up my milk supply (which would absolutely devastate me...) or what. 

Thanks ladies!!!

[smikk]

Hi ladies! I've been reading this board for months and it is so helpful, but this is my first post. My little boy Ben is just over 5 months old, over 17lb, big boy! He was starting to wake up again at night to eat, so we decided to start him on some solids. He loves them!! You would never guess he's only been eating them for less than a week. But he's still waking up at night, sometimes twice. I'll tell you our typical day, and if there's any advice you can give me, I would really appreciate it! This is how our day went yesterday...

7am nurse
8:30am 2 tbsp rice cereal w/1 oz formula
9-11 nap
11 nurse
12:30 2 tbsp rice cereal w/1 oz formula
1-2:30pm nap
3pm nurse (not too enthusiastic, going to offer cereal today at 12 instead of 12:30)
5-5:30pm catnap
5:30pm 3 oz sweet potatoes w/1 tbsp rice cereal and 1 oz formula
bath
7:15pm nurse (not too enthusiastic, going to offer solids before the catnap today)
8pm bed (tried to get him down earlier than this but he always fusses and cries - not mantra - until 8ish)

With that day, he still woke up at 1:30am; I tried all my tricks to get him back to sleep but he seemed legitimately hungry and nursed fully on both sides. He woke up again at 4am but only nursed on one side, then slept until 6:45am. I wouldn't mind still having a night-feeding if it were more predictable, but sometimes he wakes up as early as midnight, and sometimes he won't go back to sleep after waking up to eat at 4:30am. Last night I did try a dream feed which we've never really done, and he wouldn't latch on, too soundly asleep.

Any advice?? Should I try to feed him more? Am I feeding him too much? Should I pump and offer a bottle so I can tell how many ounces he's drinking?

Just thought you might have some ideas! I'm going back to work in a few weeks and would really like to get his nighttime a little more predictable. :-)

Thanks ladies!!

[Whatbit]

Hi Heather!  
It sounds like it might be a bit of a supply issue (but I'm not an expert so feel free to take what I have to say with a grain of salt ).  If you've been solid feeding first and then BF, he would be taking less BM and therefore your body thinks that he needs less and produces less.  To increase your supply again you have some options:  
1) put him on the breast first, then give solids and then put him back ont he breast.  Even if he's not getting as much the second time, it's stimulating your ducts to produce more.  The more you do that, the better.
2) put him on the breast first, then give solids and then pump.  It's not as effective as puttin ghim on, but if he's frustrated and not sucking, it won't do any good.  Even if you're not getting much out, the more you pump the more your body will respond by increasing the supply
3) talk to your dr. or a nurse to see if fengreek or another supplemetn is something they would recommend you take to increase supply.
I  has something similar happen around 4 months with a groth spurt and had to start offering two breast instead of 1 each feed and sometimes even give 3 (left, right, left for ex).  DS would get so frustrated and cry and cry... so I understand!!  Hugs!  It will get better.  Try not to get overly freaked out because stress can make it worse

If he fusses in the highchair, offer him the food but don't force it.  If he's clamped shut and starts to cry, take him out and skip that "meal".  He'll drink more at the next BF feed (good for increasing your supply) and will proabbly eat more solids the next meal as well.  If he starts to think meal time is stressful, it will become a battle. He won't starve himself.  Give it a few days and see how it goes.  If he's really getting upset at meals, you might also consider not giving him cereal at all for a few days and BF extra and then try again (like hitting a reset switch on something).  It could also be something not related to the food at all... can your DS sit on his own for 10+ minutes?  If not, it could be that he's spending a lot of energy trying to stay upright and that he's getting frustrated by that.  Try feeding him in a Bumbo or baby seat or on your lap to see if that makes a difference.  If it does, you know it's the seat and not the food.  

Feeding with a break in between like the routine I posted won't turn him into a snacker as long as he's getting enough BM.  In fact, it's the framework for establishing regular mealtimes for the future.  The BF will eventaully be replaced by snacks as your baby becomes a toddler and then the morning and evening BF might be a small snack or cows milk.  NWs to eat are still common at this age (DF plus one other feed) and will go away as soilds are more firmly established, around 7-9 months (at which time you can also work on eliminating the DF).

Hope that helps!  Let me know if you want further clarification on anything!    

[Whatbit]

Smikk, welcome!! 
I think a lot of what I just posted for Heather might be helpful for you as well.  You're giving a lot of soilds and want to be careful not to replace the BM or formula with them too quickly, especially at 5 months (though letting him BF first and then offering the solids later is really good since he's going to drink more BM that way). 
The NWs could be because he has too much in his tummy and it's making him feel heavy for the night... or he could be coming up to the big 6 month growth spurt.  It's really a myth that solids help LOs sleep throught he night- and being unpredicatble in his wakings means he's actually hungry rather than habitually waking   If you haven't established  DF by now, I wouldn't bother with it.  I was never able to DF my DS and around 5 months he would wake once anywhere between 1 and 4am to eat.  That started to gradually move into the early morning hours near 6.5 months and then pretty much disappeared on it's own as solids were consistently established.

[*Heather*]

Hi, Whatbit!

Thanks so much for so graciously offering me your time and insight.  I really appreciate it!!

At the 11am feeding, I BF first, then did solids about 1/2 hour later.  He fussed a little bit when I put him in his high chair, but I preoccupied him by letting him "choose" which bib he wanted -- blue or green.    Then he ate just fine.  I think he loves the cereal, so definitely don't think it's a food issue.  In fact, I seem to not be able to feed him it fast enough.  LOL.  However, he is NOT able to sit on his own yet.  Let alone for 10 minutes.  So, I think you're onto something there.  I'm going to try feeding him in his bouncer seat for the 6pm feeding and see if that helps.  I think you're right.  Thanks for that!  I'll let you know how it goes.

As for the 3pm feeding, I literally had to bounce back and forth between breasts -- left, right, left, right, left.  In the end, I just couldn't get him enough.  He was crying and rooting when I picked him up off the bed.  I just didn't have anything left!  I had pumped 1 1/2 ounces this morning when he didn't take his usual full feeding at 7am (he usually drains both breasts, but was happy draining just one this morning for some reason. So, thinking it was a supply problem, I pumped so as to make the breast think it needed to produce more milk. Hopefully that was the right thing to do?).  So, I put it in a bottle and thought I'd give it a try, offering it to him.  He hadn't had a bottle in maybe a month or so, so I wasn't sure he'd take it.  But he must've been famished because he downed it...and I hadn't even warmed it up.  It was straight from the fridge.  Poor little guy.

So, I'm going to try three things -- 1) BF first, then solids.  2) Feed the solids with him in his bouncer seat.  3) Put him back on the breast after the solids.  I think he'll suck, but maybe not for long.  (Does it still stimulate to produce if he's suckling, not necessarily trying to eat?)

Thanks so much!  I'll let you know how it goes!!

[Whatbit]

You're welcome, Heather!  Sounds like you have a good plan.  Let me know how the next few days go.  And yes, it still stimulates production even if he's suckling,  The more suckling and skin to skin contact, the better

[Lola's Mum]

6am- BF
7:30am- solids (oatmeal mixed with fruit)
10am- BF
12- solids (meat, veggie(2 kinds) and fruit)
2pm- BF
4pm- solids (barley or rice, veggie (2 kinds) and fruit)
6pm- BF and bed

Hi Whatbit

I'm just thinking about my feeding routine so have been reading this thread. Have been trying to get my head round people's routines and I know you're LO is older than mine but I'm wondering when your DS naps. The problem I have is DD has 3 hours of A time in the morning and then will sleep for 1hr 30 or 2 hours, so I've been giving pre-nap BF snacks otherwise she could go 5 hours without a milk feed. She doesn't fall asleep feeding, so it's not a prop. It looks something like this if I am staying in. If I go out for the afternoon, she struggles to get to sleep and might only sleep for 40 mins in the afternoon.

Wake: 7.30
BF: 7.35
Solids: 8.30
A: 7.30 to 10.30
(BF snack 5 to 10 mins before sleep)
S: 10.30 to 12.00/12/30

E (BF): 12.00/12.30
Solids: 1.00/1.30
A: 12.00/12.30 to 3.00/3.30
BF snack 5 mins before sleep sometimes
S: 3.00/3.30 to 4.10/4.40

E (BF): 4.10/4.40
Solids: 5.10/5.40
A: 4.10/4.40 to 7.00/7.30
BT: 7.00/7.30

I've been doing solids (BLW) since 5.5 months. I sometimes find it a struggle to get the solids in, if I'm going out and I feel like it's a struggle to BF her often enough, which is why I'm doing the pre-nap snacks. Do you think this is okay. Maybe I should ask on the BF forum but just wondered how it looks as a feeding schedule generally?  Thanks if you can help.

[Whatbit]

Hi Lola's mom- love your new picture!  She's sooo cute  

According to your routine here it looks like you're doing 3 full BFs a day?  Is that right?  It's recommended that you do at least 4 full BFs until around 10+ months, so that is something you might want to consider.  The extra calories could help her out, especially before bed (or are you doing a DF or a night feed?  I don't think you are but I can't remember).  The top ups before naps could possibly become a prop- her needing that little nip in order to get to sleep because it has the possibility of becoming part of her wind down routine, iykwim?  And later when you want to potty train, it will be hard because she'll have a harder time holding it until she wakes up because there's liquid in her system.  Just something to think about.  Your routine looks good though in terms of leaving a space between her BFs and solids.  I know you do BLW and that she's starting to take in more, so maybe that will also naturally help her not need the little snack before her naps...

My DS is older than Lola by about a month.  He is napping from about 8:30-10/10:30 in the morning and then from about 1-2/2:30 in the afternoon.  He has an early bedtime because of this, around 6:30. 

I understand about the solids when going out.  I do spoon feed him his cereal (and let him take the spoon and do it himself) and some mashed foods so when I go out I try to do this and give him finger foods that aren't as messy... but it's still messy   Or I try and plan to be out between solid feeds and do the BF on the go.  Pros and cons for both and soemtimes I don't have a choice.

Hope that helps.  Have a good day!     

[First Time Mom]

Hi ladies , just jumping in to lock this thread off. It's getting too long at 16 pages and I'm finding too many are posting to answer a post with a new question themselves. When this happens we get other  BW members that do not read the new questions. Please post new questions as individual new threads when possible, to get as many eyes and as much feedback from other members as possible.

This post, back in the day, was originally intended to be examples of routines for 6-9 months. For anyone that does need an example, there is one posted in the FAQ's.

Lola's mom, I've split your last post into a new one so that your question can be carried forward for answers .

Whatbit, just wanted to say thank you for all your feedback and help for the wonderful BW moms posting questions here, you've been terrific at helping and it's greatly appreciated !