can someone take a look at the E part of my EASY please?

[karendbrooks]

Hi ladies
I have a question about the end of my DS's day.  He's on a 4hour eating EASY with 3hr A times and 2 naps.  Problem is, from 4-7, I feel like all he's doing is eating!  Since he's now napping later, that old 3:30 feeding is now at 4... maybe looking at my EASY would make more sense...

DS is 6.5 mos old.  Angel/textbook/spirited little guy

6:30 ish wake and 6oz bottle at around 7
8:00 2 tablespoons of solids
8:20-9:30 A time and wind down
9:30-11:39 Sleep

11:30 up and 6 oz
12:30 2 tablespoons of solids
A time until around 2:20 then wind down
2:30-4:00 S

4:00 up and 6oz bottle
A time until 5:30 or 5:45
5:40ish 2 tablespoons of solids
bath, massage, book
7:00 bottle 6oz bottle
7:30 bed time

DF at 11

This can fluctuate 15 min here or there, but the problem remains I feel like he's doing nothing but eating from 4-7.  I have looked at the sample routines in the stickey, but cant figure out if I should drop a bottle or what?

Confused.
Thanks for the eyes and help!
karen
A

[DM588]

Hi Karen, my LO is of same age and eats roughly the same times - what makes his day different though is that i have cut his naps to 1hr30mins each and only 2 a day. He is also having 3 solid meals as your LO and our E times are:

7am - 6oz
8am - solids
11/11.30am -4oz (won't take any more)
12/12.30pm - solids
3pm - 6oz
4.30/5pm - solids
6pm - 6oz (bed time bottle)

I guess my shorter naps means i can feed the afternoon milk a little earlier.

I wouldn't really say it seems like a huge problem if your LO is taking all milk and solids ok. Not sure if it might be suggested anyway but you could probaly cut back his DF and gradually lose it now that he is on 3 solid meals. What do you think?? sorry, it's probably not much help but i've been looking and looking and can't see any other way around it unless you capped both of his naps to 1hr 30mins and maybe put his CN back in to give him the 30mins back which would leave more time between his afternoon feeds??not sure if you'd want to re-introduce his CN though??? (would possibly only be for a couple of weeks or so anyway until he could do just 2 x 1hr30min naps then you could cut the CN again???) HTH in some way or other!!

[First Time Mom]

Hi Karen, I think your EASY looks good, as long as your ds is happy. It does feel like they are doing nothing but eating and it will continue to feel like this for years as later when they stop the formula or bfing they will have 3 meals and 2 snacks! My ds is now only 8 months so still bf with his solids but I remember when my dd was 1.5-3.5 even a day at the park took lots of prep on my part with meals, snacks, and drinks all packed up in a mini tote cooler!

[kikoz]

I think your EASY looks good, as long as your ds is happy. It does feel like they are doing nothing but eating

haha totally agree on that ...
We only started to do 3 bottles when lo started refusing the afternoon bottle or taking as little as 2oz!
so then we switched the midday feeds:
at wake up 1st bottle then breakfast
then solids at 11/11:30
and 2nd bottle before 2nd nap.
and the solids after 2nd nap and last bottle as BT

so yeah all day indeed

[tearss]

HI Karenbrooks and DM588, do your LOs still wake up in the middle of the night given the routine that you have followed?

Is it because LOs are taking more than 2 naps and ard 2-3hrs that explains why they wake up in the middle of the night

[karendbrooks]

tearss... I meant 4-7pm!    Sorry for that.  He's sleeping through the night  

DM588 - I think you are right about the DF.  We were on vacation for a couple of days and his routine got a little wonky, and one night his usual 7pm bottle got pushed to almost 9:30 :O.  That was a weird day, but he still got the same amts, just spread out all over because of flying, driving and napping...  Anyhoo... that night after the 9:30 bottle, I just put him to bed and he slept until 6:30 (his usual wake up) so technically he didnt get a dream feed.  Thinking that dropping it is in order.  Just gotta figure out how  

[DM588]

Tearss -  No my LO doesn't wake up for a feed. Since about 4 months he has his bed time bottle then goes through until his 7am feed. he does wake between 5 and 6am for the day but not through hunger. he is always happy playing in his cot for about an hour before he gets fed up then comes in with us. he never wakes hungry and happy to wait until 7am which I do so that the rest of his feeds work out for his routine. (tbh - he is not a particularly hungry baby and although nice and chunky he never asks for a feed!!). not so sure about the naps particularly making a difference although I guess if they have too much sleep in the day then yes they will wake happy to play in the middle of the night. I honestly think it's all about the right time for each LO though. (and a little luck i guess lol)

Karen - yes  just play around with his DF for a couple of weeks and see what happens. i did that for a few weeks. same thing as his bedtime really!!! Until i found one that worked which is now 6pm!!! Seems early but it works for him!!! Try just cutting an oz or 2 every few nights until he is just having 2oz and see how he gets on with that - then when he's happy sleeping through with only that small amount he'll be fine without!!

[karendbrooks]

thanks.  that's how I weaned his 3am feed, so i figured it would work for the DF too.  As for bed time, he's usually in bed and asleep by 7:30 or so.  Usually wakes up singing somewhere between 6:30 and 6:50.  He's a happy little dude   Right now, though, since we just got back from vacation, things are a little screwy.  Went to sleep last night at 8, and tonight I'm aiming for 7:45.  He got used to staying up all day and going to bed at 9 or so.  Trying to get back to normal. 

[tearss]

Hi both, so happy for both of you that your dudes are sleeping thru the night. my LO was sleeping thru the night till i intro semi solid into his E. I guess i might have started on a wrong note resulted in him not getting enough food..coz after i see that he wants solid..i start to replace milk with rice cereal for 2 meal session. ever since, i have been waking up in wonky hrs! Coz i tot tracy mentioned that 4hr feed routine for babies.

How heavy and tall are both of your babies now?

[karendbrooks]

weight - 17lbs 12 oz  and height - 27 and 1/4 inches here.    He's tall and skinny  

[First Time Mom]

Tearss, do you mean that you replaced 2 milk feeds with solids or are you offering the milk feeds and the solids shortly after? Not sure what you mean about Tracy's reference to 4 hour feeds- the milk feeds should be about 4 hours apart and the solids feeds should be added in there with the milk feeds but about an hour or so after the milk feed. Also, how old is your lo?

[tearss]

Hi first time mom, I started out with replacing 1oz milk with solid. After seeing that
he's loving it. I tried to replace one milk session. Total giving him 2-3 milk at 6mths on. Now he is 6.5 n he keeps waking up in the middle of the night. Then I start to question if he's getting enough as he used to sleep thru before I intro solid . Then I realise the right routine is to intro it as am additional meal instead of meal replacement at this age. May I ask e.g baby has always been taking 180ml. Aft intro solid he only takes in 160ml. So say breakfast at 6 I give him 160ml I shd give him 2tbsp cereal at 7 right? Will it b too much for his little stomach? It's more challenging to get him to sleep lately, he seems to b crunching up but he's also learning to crawl. Right now he just lean to master the art of cruising..

[DM588]

My LO was 18lbs 6oz about 3 weeks ago so i'm guessing easily around 19lbs now. about 27-28inches but a very solid little man - not really fat just solid!! Like a mini rugby player..lol!!

tearss - your LO needs to be on at least 3 milk feeds a day 6-8oz each feed (should really be on 4 and starting to reduce 1 of them soonish). (not sure if that is BW way at this age but I have used Gina Ford for weaning so my LO is on 3 full bottles and 1 4oz bottle + 3 solid feeds). You don't need to necessarily swap an oz of milk for an oz of solid as you said above, initially the solid is just a taster and they will let you know when they've had enough. As he is getting older if he can't take much solids you could always try the tier method, so you give half his milk then his solids, then finish off with rest of milk!! Hope that makes sense??? But basically his milk is the most important for all his nutrients until a yr old although he will start needing more solids on top as he will be using more energy as he gains more mobility. Sorry my head is a bit fuzzy right now so i hope that makes some sort of sense!! Do you have any weaning books??? They're great to follow and make sure you are on the right track with quantities and types of food to introduce etc!!! hth

May also be an idea to start your own thread on here so you can get more onlookers and advice

[First Time Mom]

Tearss, yes, I agree with DM588 to start a separate thread as anyone who started reading this one originally would not know you have a different question. If you give the full bottle at 6 and then the cereal at 7, it is not too much for his tummy- as long as you feed his solids to him until he decided he no longer wants it and he will show you he is full by shutting his mouth, turning away, brushing you away with his hand, or even fussing. Let him open his mouth for the solids, never force feed. I would go back to 4 of the formula feeds a day to see if he stops his nws, if they are from hunger.

[tearss]

Hi first time mom and DM588, thank you for your replies! Really appreciate it.

Last week, i started on Tracy's EASY guide for 6-9mths routine. right now, every 4 hrs i will give him a full bottle, then in between like  1 hr after milk i will feed him with cereal. at times i will try to stretch to 4.5hrs if not he wld not finish his full bottle.

DM588, you are giving 4oz instead of full bottle to your little one..so did you put in more cereal? Do you have any good weaning books to recommend?

Yes, i did start a new thread but lukewarm replies. No worries, it's good to have your input too. Thanks lot gals.