Bottle or solids before bed?

[Ambinsi]

Background:
I am in the process of tweaking DD's routine. She's 7 months old, bottle/formula fed and has been on solids since 4 months old. She's been getting cereal in her bottles but we're in the process of taking that out and giving it on the spoon instead. She's a decent eater but definitely prefers her solids to her bottle. She loves her fruits and veggies and really has to be very hungry to drain her bottle. I'm in the process of trying to drop a bottle and feed her less often so that she'll take those required ounces without a struggle, plus her solids. I'm trying to do the "3 meals a day" thing and have her take her bottles as well and sometimes I have issues with timing. Its like the day goes by and I can't fit it all in.

My question is....is it necessary that they have a bottle before bed?? Is it "supposed" to be part of the bedtime routine? Does she have to have a bottle as her last meal of the day or can it be solids???

I'd appreciate any input here. And if anyone wants to share their routine/EASY for their 7-8 month old I'd love to read it.

Thanks.

[anna*]

Remember that at this age she really needs to still be getting most of her nutrition from milk rather than solids, so I would try to keep plenty of bottles in her routine for the next few weeks/months at least.

At 8 months our EASY went something like

7am milk
8am breakfast (solids)
9.30am nap (1.5hrs)
11am awake
11.30am lunch (solids)
1.30pm milk
2pm nap (2hrs)
4pm milk
5pm tea (solids)
6.30pm milk
7pm asleep for the night

[~inbalance~]

Hi again  
Here are a few links that maybe will help a bit: 
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=68458.0
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=57483.0

I think around that age with DS1 we were doing something like:
7am milk
8am solids
11:30 milk
12:30 solids
3:30 milk
5:30 solids
7pm milk then bed
I was breastfeeding though.

I won't share my current 7 month old eating routine, because as I mentioned on your other thread we are really struggling in that department to get a good routine going. 

You definitely want her to maintain her milk intake at this age so I would focus on the milk feeds rather than the solids.  Solids are still mainly for fun and exploring new tastes. 

[Ambinsi]

Thanks for the replies (hi again Martina lol!)

I just want to clarify that when I say "drop a bottle" I don't mean for the purpose of cutting back on her milk intake. What I was trying to do was offer larger bottles less often. For example, I started to notice about a month ago that she was rarely ready to eat at the four hour mark. So rather than give her a bottle at the four hour mark and have her take 5 oz, I realized that if I waited 4.5 or 5 hours, she would take 6-8 oz. My pedi wants her to take around 24 ounces a day at this point, so rather than struggle with her all day to get those ounces in her, I wanted to stretch it out so she'd take larger bottles and it would be less of a struggle. When she's ready to eat, I give her the bottle, I won't hold out. But if the clock says its "time" and she doesn't seem interested, I wait and she'll take it and drink more from it later on.

I've been experimenting with our routine and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Some days she will take almost 30 ounces and today she only took 18, so I have to do a DF to get those extra ounces in her. I'm definitely not trying to cut back on her milk intake at all.

She's really into her solids so I've been offering her 3 meals a day. She eats with enthusiasm....should I be cutting back on her solids???

[~inbalance~]

Ah gotcha.  Well, sounds like you're working on figuring out a good routine for her.  TBH, if she's taking 30oz one day and only 18oz the next, I would consider that ok.  Would you say it's kinda like 50/50, half the time she drinks a bit more and half the time a bit less?

As long as she's getting that amount then I don't think you should have to cut back on her solids if she's enjoying them. 

I'm not too familiar with bottle feeding though so maybe my advice isn't the greatest.    IMO though you have to do what works for you, so you can juggle things around to make it all fit but the bottom line, as has been mentioned, is make sure she's getting enough milk. 

Does she tolerate dairy?  You can maybe start trying yogurt or cheese soon, and that counts towards milk intake. 

[Ambinsi]

Excellent idea Martina. We saw the doc today and I meant to ask about yogurt and stuff but I forgot. I'll be calling about that tomorrow. Thanks!

[Ambinsi]

But before I forget....does the bottle have to be the last "meal" of the day??? I'm trying to fit it all in!

[~inbalance~]

Well, I'm not sure that it 'has' to be, but I've never encountered anyone who didn't do milk before bed.  Why is it that you don't want to do a bottle before bed?  Is it just because you're having trouble fitting it all in?  Again, I'm not too familiar with bottle feeding but my understanding is that if you are going to get rid of one it would be one of the daytime ones.  Why don't you try:
7am bottle
8am solids
12pm solids
3pm bottle
5pm solids
7pm bottle before bed
Give or take 30mins here and there, depending on wakeup, naps, etc.

[Ambinsi]

Thanks Martina...that's pretty much what I figured. Bottle before bed seems to be the norm. That's the one that's the struggle though sometimes, because we're trying to fit everything in during the day and if she has her solids at 4:30 or 5, she usually can't stay up until 7. She's super tired and cranky and she ends up in her crib before the 7 pm mark which means I'm trying to give her that bottle early. Its definitely a scheduling issue, as we've discussed....

[~inbalance~]

Have you asked on the bottle feeding forum?  Maybe some other bottle feeding moms can share what they have done.  Both my boys always took the bedtime feed no matter when dinner was, but I wonder if a lot of that is a comfort thing for them with the breastfeeding. 

[Ambinsi]

I think it is a little different with the breastfeeding....although I really don't know from personal experience. Do you think I should try to post this in the EASY topic because this seems to be a general scheduling issue, right? First naps, now this....

[~inbalance~]

You could post on EASY looking for advice on how to make your whole day work.  Something along the lines of figuring how to fit in naps and feed times.  Have you had a look at these as well?:
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=164030.0
Sometimes it helps to get an idea of what others are doing. 

[Ambinsi]

I have had a look at that, thanks....I'm going to post elsewhere as I see that this is a much larger issue than just feeding alone or naps alone. Thanks.

[~inbalance~]

Good luck