Some advice needed on 9.5 mo eating routine

[mrsfabmoretti]

Hi,

My little boy is 9.5 mo and this is what his day looks like, with regards to eating:

6.30am: Breakfast of porridge and fruit or toast
10am: Bottle (usually takes about 5oz, but offer 7oz)
12.30pm: Lunch of homemade baby food (meat and veg) and fruit or yoghurt
2-3pm: Bottle (usually takes about 5oz, sometimes more)
4.30pm: Dinner of veg or pasta
6.30pm: Bottle of 7oz before bed
10.30pm: Dreamfeed (usually takes about 5-6oz, but offer 7oz)

I know that I need to drop the dreamfeed, and have been trying to do this slowly, but I have been struggling to add to his day bottles as he just doesn't want it.

LO doesn't really seem interested in his dinner, but always wants the PM bottle. He is also starting to not want the AM bottle as much.

I know that he is probably having too many bottles on a daily basis but have no idea which one to drop, and how.

Please help! I feel like it's a bit of a mess at the minute.

Thanks

[~inbalance~]

I think you might find some tips here as to how many bottles you should offer and when:  http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=67398.0
Are your concerns mainly about figuring out the bottles, or do you have more specific questions regarding solid foods?  I'm just wondering if I should pop this over to bottle feeding for you if your main question is about how to figure out your bottle routine.  Let me know and I'll help you out as much as I can. 

[mrsfabmoretti]

Hi Martina,

Thanks so much for your quick reply. I have read the thread you suggested and this has really helped. My main problems are with how many bottles, so perhaps this might be best on the bottle feeding forums. Dropping the dream feed is my main concern.

[~inbalance~]

No problem, hope you get some helpful advice over on bottle feeding. 

[Lolly]

At the age of your LO some are dropping to 3 bottles, some are still on 4. My DD was on 3 bottles from about 7.5 months and our routine was quite similar to yours but she had her first bottle before breakfast until she was 1 year. Have you tried giving milk before solids breakfast, if you start dropping the DF then he may take a better bottle first thing. The minimum they need up until 1 year with solids is 20oz but that can include the dairy in their foods so you can always increase that if his intake isn't increasing by much.

If you have a look at this link http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=54662.0 there is info there about dropping the DF by reducing the amount gradually and bringing the time earlier in steps so you can eventually eliminate it.

What do you think?

Laura

[mrsfabmoretti]

Thanks for your reply, Lolly.

I am currently weaning LO off the dreamfeed, and we are down to 5oz (instead of 7oz) at 10.30pm (instead of 11pm). Will keep going, following the plan on the thread you suggested. Is it usual for babies to have NW's during this time, do you know? He drained the 5oz bottle last night at the dreamfeed, but then I heard him fussing a little at 1am.

Also, what do I do if he refuses to drink the extra ounces throughout the day.

Hopefully, when the DF has been eliminated, he will have his first bottle at wake up, like you suggested.

[Lolly]

I'm not sure about the night wakings, my two never took to the DF so we didn't have to wean it we just had a night feed to sort.  If he resettled himself then just keep an eye on things and see what happens, you may need to resettle him if he does wake.

If he won't take more in a bottle in the day you could try an extra feed somewhere maybe. How much does he take at a feed at the moment?

Laura

[mrsfabmoretti]

Hi again Laura,

He is taking about 6-7oz per feed, so I guess he doesn't need anymore. Routine now looks a little like this:

6.30am: bottle
8.30am: breakfast
10am: mid morning snack (if he wants it)
11.30am: lunch
2pm: bottle
5pm: dinner
6.30pm: bottle before bed
9.30pm: DF (currently weaning this)

He seems a lot happier with this eating routine. How does it look to you?

Thanks again for all of your advice

[Lolly]

That looks pretty much like the routine my DD was on from about 7.5 months til she got to 1 year and we swapped breakfast and bottle around because she wasn't eating anything .

If it's working I'd say carry on. He's getting between 18 and 21oz of liquid milk in day feeds plus what ever you can get in his food and 20oz is the minimum they need so as long as his milk intake doesn't drop it should be fine.

Laura

[mrsfabmoretti]

Oh no!!!

Gave LO 4oz just before 10pm for his DF last night anc

[mrsfabmoretti]

Sorry- baby pressing the keys! As I was saying.....

Gave LO his DF just before 10pm and he was awake at 4.45am this morning!! Left him for a while, but by 5.20am, he was crying hysterically (never usually does this with EW- just plays instead) and I caved in and gave him a bottle. He drained nearly 9oz!

Do I perservere with dropping the DF, and try not to feed when and if he wakes early? I was trying not to feed him until at least 6am. Or do I continue with the DF until he seems ready to drop it? He is down to three bottles a day and is a big boy- 27 pounds at 9.5 months. Not really sure where I could fit in another bottle through the day without disturbing his solid feeds.

Please help!

[mrsfabmoretti]

Can anyone help? Still trying to wean the DF but this morning LO was awake for a bottle at 4.45am!