Should I give solids first for breakfast and top up with bottle?

[Knonie]

My DS is driving me nuts at present - bless him!! We started weaning at 5mths on the HV's advice - he's a big boy, the size of a 9mth old!!! He had a bit of a eureka moment the first time I offered him solids and hasn't look back and to date we've not found a thing he doesn't like. He's happily having three fairly big meals a day.

BUT... I'm not sure if this is a routine thing, a too much milk thing or just his way.. Initially he was brilliant at having his bottles, followed by his solids approx 1hr later.. but he wouldn't take a full 8oz bottle first thing in the morning anymore. He was starting to drop back on his other bottles during the day as well and this concerned me as I know that ultimately I'm aiming towards him having an 8oz feed in the morning and another before bed by the time he's a year old. So I wondered whether it was his dream feed messing everything up and so I decided to drop it and let him wake when he was hungry instead.

The first night he woke at 2.30 but by the time I'd gone downstairs and warmed his bottle he'd gone back to sleep and didn't wake until 6.30am and the 2nd night was exactly the same. However, the 3rd night he fussed for about 1hr around 3am but didn't really wake (he was in with us as we had friends staying and I assumed his dad's snoring was irritating him - it does me after all LOL!) but then on the 4th night (back in his own bed) he woke crying at 3 - so I settled him and he went back to sleep but then was restless from 4-6am... Every morning he woke and took a full 8oz feed but wouldn't take his solids if I gave it more than 1/2 hr later.... I decided because it was obviously disrupting his sleep to go back to giving him a DF but of only 4ozs.  He's now sleeping right through to 7am and taking an 8oz bottle but will not take solids for love nor money!!!!

So what do I do? give him breakfast made from half his 8oz bottle and then top up afterwards, drop the dream feed and just go with it, or something else???

His routine should be:

7am Wake and bottle (ideally 8oz)
8am Breakfast
8.30-9am Nap (1-1.5hrs)
10-10.30 Wake
11am bottle 4oz
12pm Lunch
12.30-1pm Nap (1-1.5hrs)
2-2.30pm Wake and bottle (4oz) (early coz of school run)
4-4.30pm Catnap (45mins -1hr)
5-5.15pm Wake and tea
6.30pm Bath and wind down
7pm Bottle (8oz) and down for the night
10.45pm DF (4oz)

Thanks
K
x

[~inbalance~]

Hello!    How old is he now?

[Knonie]

Hi Martina thanks for replying.

He's exactly 6mths but is on the 91st for everything so is the size of a 9mth old. He's taken so well to weaning that he's already accepting slightly textured food, with no gagging!!! I swear he'll be sitting down for steak and chips with us before he's a year old!!!

I can't help thinking that the DF is at the route of it all as he went for 12 hours really well and everytime he woke it was at exactly the same time each morning which points to habit and I wonder whether that one night in with us was what disrupted him and that had he been in his own bed we'd be through it perhaps...? When we went to weaning he was taking 6 x 8oz bottles a day and he's been taking 3 x 8oz and 2 x 4 oz plus at least two very good sized meals.. I've dropping the df back to 4oz since trying to drop it all together but he still won't take solids for breakfast so I wonder if that last 4oz would make the difference given a bit of time?

The other problem I have with breakfast time is that I have to be out of the door by 8.20 to walk my dd to school and as he's up at 7am he should be ok for solids around 8 but, as many do, he has a shorter activity time first thing and therefore wants to go down in his buggy by 8.30 - which works perfectly for the school run but this does mean that he's quite tired by the time he gets to his solids. I tried feeding him earlier but he's still full from his milk.... hence my question about swapping the solids for before and topping up with the milk..?

[~inbalance~]

I think as it is now you should leave his milk first and let him have all of that instead of solids, since it's more important nutrition wise.  Even being a bigger baby, he will get more calories from milk than solids at this age.  It's also common for some babies to not be as hungry for breakfast, or not be hungry when they're tired.  That's ok, I really wouldn't worry too much about how much solids he has at breakfast, just offer it when you can and let him have what he wants.

I'm not sure at what age the DF is dropped but I think that now is probably a good time, so you can try going that route and see if it helps.

At this age you want him to have at least 24oz of milk a day, minimum.  At the end of the day, as long as he's getting that amount, you can give it to him however you like.  So if you really feel that half before his breakfast and a top up after would work for you and him, there is nothing wrong with that either. 

[Knonie]

Thanks Martina

I am going to drop the df as I do think he can go without it and I'll see for a week how that affects him and then perhaps try giving him a little milk and then the solids... his solids are milk based so he would be getting at least his 8oz but at the same time getting used to a more solid start to his day. He is also teething at the mo which became very apparent yesterday lunchtime as he refused his bottle and solids - after some teething gel and calpol he soon ate everything in sight.. so I think I (as usual) need to exercise some patience!!!

Thanks again for being there!!

K
x

[~inbalance~]

Good luck!  You might have to play around with times and amounts, but I'm sure you'll figure out what works for you and him. 

[Knonie]

Hi Martina - well I started giving him 4oz for breakfast and then offering him his solids and he positively hoovers them up now and I'm slowly increasing the bottle before...

That said, I went to see my HV last Wed and she's suggested that I start to cut his milk back to one bed time feed!!!!!!! Not really happy with that at all, especially as he's started EW now and they're erratic so think that he might be getting hungrier!! He eats a very large portion of solids at each sitting and I would have thought that I should be cutting that back and increasing his milk rather than the opposite (i've posted on the EASY forum for advice on changing his routine too as think it needs tweaking along with his A time). He's justing managing to sit up unaided and I can't believe that he would need less at such a developmental stage..!? I do appreciate that at 26wks he's big (21lbs6oz and 71.5cm long!!!91st centile) but I would have thought that as he's so in proportion that continuing until he's more mobile and then cutting back if necessary?? Would really appreciate your comments...

K
x

[~inbalance~]

How much milk is he getting now?  Personally I do think that at his age you should not decrease his milk at all yet.  I wouldn't drop any feeds.  But so long as he is getting enough milk, you can increase is solids. 

I know sometimes HV's give such conflicting advice. 

Glad he is liking his solids though! 

[Knonie]

He's been having 4oz when he wakes plus 2-3oz mixed with his solids, then 4oz at 11am, another 4 between 3-4pm and then up to 7oz for bed. He litterally will eat ANYTHING... he has what we have, just whizzed up and thinned if necessary and is already quite happy with texture.. so far he's had two different roasts, spaghetti bolognaise, liver n bacon, scrambled egg - nothing fazes him..

With the milk i decided to give him a df last night as he only took 4oz at bedtime and he took 5oz and slept through to 7am. I then offered him an 8oz bottle and he took 7ozs followed by breakfast 1/2hr later made with 2oz of milk!!

My dh and I gave this all a lot of thought yesterday and have come to a decision... Over the last 7wks I've had to go to hospital 3 mornings a week for treatment on my skin (long story, which I won't bore you with) but as you can imagine this is fairly disruptive to the little man's routine in that I have to interrupt his am nap on these days to put him in the car and drive to the hospital, then get him out and then back in etc.... He will stay asleep when I put him in the car and for the drive to the hospital but once we're there, he's a wake and no going back!

I finish my treatment next week and I believe that once offered a stablised routine he'll settle down on everything as I think he probably needs more A time, but because of the interruption in his am nap he's possibly a little OT and also is probably needing extra calories at the mo because of trying to sit up on his own...sooooo I'm going to ignore my HV(!) for the time being and give him a bit of space to adjust and if that means that I need to go back to a df for a week or so then so be it but instinct tells me that dropping his milk back at this time, is not what he needs..!

[~inbalance~]

I think your plan sounds like a good idea.