Help please- need a tweak re bottle feeds after dropping CN

[Kirsti]

Hi,

Ive found this forum really helpful since my DD was born, so im hoping someone can help me tweak our routine...

DD is 6.5 months old and has just recently dropped the DF and CN in quick succession. My problem now is that she doesnt want her bedtime bottle - I feel that this is because she just isnt hungry enough & is also too tired.

She does 2.75-3hr A times and 2 x 1.5hr naps. The last A time of the day seems too full of feeding as we are trying to fit in a bottle after the 2nd nap, plus solids and then a bottle before bed (we do bath first then bottle otherwise she is too excited to go straight to bed).

At the moment she will only take 2oz of her BT bottle, which then means she wakes around 9.30-ish and I give a top up as she hasnt really had enough milk. She also only takes around 4oz of her first morning bottle (this is the reason we weaned the DF) so her overall milk for the day ends up around 18oz (she usually just about finishes 2 x 6oz bottles for her other feeds) plus maybe 3oz top up, so 21oz...
is this enough??
(Bottle sizes are the amount of water before the milk powder is added - should I be calculating her intake from the 'made-up' amount?)

Thanks in advance

[Lolly]

The minimum they need from 6 months is 20oz a day, most babies will be taking around 24oz of liquid milk plus solids.

How much is she actually eating solids wise? Can you post your whole day with

E - what times how much
Activity - how long for
Sleep - what times, how long for.

It's easier for us to look at and see what's going on in this format.

I would say though that milk needs to be the priority until she is much closer to 1 so you may need to scale the teatime solids right back until her milk intake picks up again.

Laura

[Kirsti]

Thank you Laura,

It varies a bit but a good day goes something like this:

Wake 8.00/8.15
E 8.30 6oz bottle offered but only drinks around 4oz
A 9.00 cereal made with 1-1.5oz formula
S 11.00-12.30
E 12.45 6oz bottle offered but often only drinks around 5oz sometimes will finish bottle
A 1.15 Lunch - usually approx 1/3 of stage 2 jar babyfood or homemade equivalent amount - mix of chicken, veg, potato or similar, sometimes a petit filous fromage frais as well if she seems keen for more food.
S 3.15/3.30-4.45/5.00
E 5.15ish 6oz bottle offered usually just about finishes this one
A 6.00 supper - trying to limit this one to some finger foods, thinking that she'll eat less - so maybe a couple of toast fingers with dairylea or fruit spread, or a couple of rice cakes or similar - she is eager for more food though and would happily eat a similar amount to lunchtime.
Bath 7.00
E 7.30 6oz bottle offered but only takes approx 2oz - this feels too close to previous bottle/food
S 7.45/8.00

Then I will need to top uo around 9.30-10.00 due (I believe) to the small amount of milk at 7.30 - she has previously had a full bottle at BT and will sleep from 8-8, but now that A times have stretched her feeds are later during the day and she doesnt seem ready for her BT bottle.

[Kirsti]

A bit of an update....

After a few more days with each bottle becoming a battle, I decided I had to change things around. So I tried giving DD her lunchtime solids before a bottle - and she was much happier, eat lunch well and then about an hour later took almost a full 6oz bottle

After a bit of trial and error we now have a routine which feels better for us:
Wake 8am
E 8.30 7oz bottle
A 9.00 Cereal or toast
S 11.00-12.30
E 1.00 Lunch
A 2.00 7oz bottle
S 3.30-5.00
E 5.30 Dinner
A 6.30 6oz bottle, followed by bath at 7.00 then wind down plus another 3-4oz bottle
S 8.00ish - a bit unsettled and clingy sometime between 9.30 and 10.00ish at the moment but otherwise sleeps all night

I know this isnt quite in line with the EASY routines but it seems to work for us at the moment, and DD is drinking almost all of her bottles now, so a total of approx 22oz per day plus a little dairy in her solids.

[Lolly]

That's good you have found something that works! Just keep an eye on her milk intake so that it doesn't drop any lower, it's usually around 9/10 months that babies are on a routine very similar to yours bottle wise. If she does start to drop milk then you should really reduce the amount of solids she has until the milk comes back up and then slowly increase solids again.

Laura

[Kirsti]

Thank you Laura,

I will certainly be keeping a close eye on her intake she now takes a full 7oz bottle first thing in the morning, which she has never done previously! and it does feel as though her intake is increasing slightly as she settles into things - she was only getting around 17oz before and that was a battle! Now its 22oz quite easily plus she does also have an ounce or so in her cereal, and either cheese or yoghurt each day.

I will be watching out for any decrease and will check with our HV as well, but she seems happier & feeding times are more pleasurable now, so I think its right for us, for now.

DD has been between 95th and 98th centile since birth so I dont have any concerns about her weight


Once again, thanks for all the help this forum provides - it really is a godsend at times