6 months and dropping to3 bottles??

[kirstym]

Hi i was wondering if anyone could help me or advise me on EASY for dropping to 3 bottles a day!

At the moment she i give her bottle at 7, 11, 3 and 7 and then her DF at 10.30-11pm.
she has her breakfast at 8am, her lunch at 12 and her tea at 4.30.
recently she has been refusing her 11am bottle literally only having 2 ozs!
just wondered how our day would look if i was to drop the 11am bottle.

I think i know but not 100% would i give her a little snack at 10am, her lunch at 12 and then when she wakes give her bottle then say about 2,30-3pm??


all help wanted please xx

[rachelusc]

How many ounces is she taking in total for the day?  I think the total daily intake is just as important as the timing/frequency.  Also, you could try weaning the DF and seeing if this has any effect.  Would a 10am snack and/or 2:30 bottle interfere with naps?  If no then I say great!

[Lolly]

I agree you do need to look at overall oz, 6 months is young to be dropping to 3 bottles, it's usually around 9/10 months that babies drop to 3 bottles. Don't forget that milk is more important than solids at the moment, so if solids are replacing milk you are better off cutting solids back a bit to preserve the milk intake.

Can you tell us how many oz of milk she is getting, how much solids she is eating?

Laura

[kirstym]

hi TY you both for your advice! she will take....
7am bottle 5-6oz but then i make up 2oz with her breakfast
11am bottle 2-3oz
3pm bottle 3 oz
7pm 6oz
DF 5-6oz

but yesterday i never gave her 11am and she drank a full 7oz bottle at 2.30 and then a full 7oz bottle at her bedtime??

I was just wondering if she was to drop to 3 and she seems happy with this would it be best to try and give it to her just after lunch and move her lunch to 11ish instaead of 12??

so she would wake around 10.30-11 and have her lunch at 11.30 and give her milk at 12ish?  just wondering as i dont want her to have milk and then go straight down for her nap? 

Its all so confusing i rememeber with my son doing all this but cant remember how i did things! My DD is a good baby and i just want to do my best to keep to a routine, as i know my son is so well behaved all due to the baby whisperer forums and kind words and advice xx

[Lolly]

That's a pretty good milk intake really, especially if she is taking those 7oz bottles at bedtime and the afternoon. She needs a minimum of 20oz of milk with her solids and the milk in solids counts too. I would say as long as she is getting at least 20oz of liquid milk plus what you can put in food (and things like cheese and yoghurt) she should be getting enough. In fact, if she is draining the afternoon and bedtime bottle you can put more into them.

If she is taking more by dropping a bottle and you are happy with that it should be fine. Just keep an eye on nappy output and growth! It's a good idea to bring lunch a bit earlier then give the bottle, we used to do the afternoon bottle just before DD's nap and it worked well, we just made sure we didn't feed to sleep.

Laura

[kirstym]

hi TY so much for all your advice on this.
i just wanted to say i made her bottle for 11am just to see if she would drink, and again she only drank 2ozs! im really in two minds to carry on making her this bottle or just give her lunch earlier and her bottle when she wakes up ( so this would be around 2pm)??

[MadisonC]

DS is 9 1/2 months and I just dropped his 11am bottle about 3 days ago and its been going really well.  My Dr. told me 9 plus months you can start with introducing whole milk a little at a time so at 7am bottle he gets 7-8oz and then at 830am 2 egg yolk scrambled with yogurt, 11am where bottle would be he gets whole milk in a sippy cup and a snack, 1230 lunch, 230 bottle 7-8oz, 515ish dinner, and 7 bottle 7-8oz and its been working really well!

[kirstym]

ah thank you, i think i will just have to play around with it for a while! but people have advised me that she maybe a little too young to drop to 3 bottles she is 6 months, at her 5 1/2 month weigh in she weighed nearly 20lbs!! so maybe this is why she is ready not sure?? when i give her her 11am she only takes a few ozs and then she has her lunch and then her other bottle at 3pm and again she only drinks a few ozs! but when i give her a little snack and then her lunch and her bottle when she wakes at around 2 ish she drinks it all!!

[clairebear79]

I'd say go for it!  I've just done this with DS who is 9 months - he never really seemed hungry for his mid am or pm bottles, so I've combined them into one.  I was going to drop the pm one, but I've actually dropped the 11am one, replaced with a small smnack at about 10.30 & brought his lunch a little earlier.  Then I'm giving a bottle straight after his nap around 2-2.30.  This seems to be working quite well & his intake at the remaining feeds has increased to around 7-8oz.

[*Kara*]

I would go for it too!  LO is certainly leaning towards three per day.  If you are battling with her taking small bottles and she is becoming a snacker, combine away!  She may start eating a bit more at lunch as well

[kirstym]

now im really confused!!!!! oh my god when will it fall into place??  today 7am bottle 7ozs
11am 7ozs??? what to do?  i think im just going to have to wait a few more weeks til i can establish if she really needs to carry on with 4 bottles?

[Lolly]

Good idea! Just another though, could she be teething a bit? That could be putting her off her daytime bottles.

Laura

[*Kara*]

I was going to mention teething as well.. my DD is happy to eat early and at bedtime, but the middle of the day (her 1130/330 bottles) are hit and miss.

[S.A.mom]

Hi
In a similar situation with my LO - when you refer to a small snack before lunch, what do you mean???  Sorry for such a silly question, just not sure what 'a snack' means in terms of early solids?
TIA