Confused by peds advice about solids...need guidance

[amom526]

So my 6 month old has been on solids for about a month. he was getting 1/2 jar of fruit or veggies twice a day, but he seems ready for more. He is still drinking 4 8oz bottles a day around 7,11,3,6.

My pediatrician recommended giving him his 8oz bottle at 7 and 6 pm, then at the two middle feedings, to give a solid meal with 2 or 3 foods first, followed by whatever he will drink from his bottle. I feel like this will really decrease his milk intake, and something just doesn't feel right to me about this schedule.

I see that a lot of people here keep all 4 bottles during the day, and then do solids 3 times a day about an hour after the bottles. This seems much more intuitive to me, but I feel like my DS would be consuming a ton of food that way. When I have tried this way of feeding, he still polished off his bottles, but can also put away a good amount of solids.

If i follow the second schedule, will he eventually wean himself off the daytime bottles? I'm concerned that he will always want 4 bottles a day, and just keep eating more and more solids.  I get a little stressed thinking ahead, so I like to have somewhat of a clear picture of how things will progress. I know the little ones are unpredictable, but if someone could just explain to me what their experience was with either of these feeding routines, I would really appreciate it.

TIA

[firsttimemummy]

just following along - I think I started with a spoonful or two of solids straight after Murray's milk, but somewhere along the line I changed to solids an hour after daytime feeds .. will need to see if I wrote it in his baby book to figure out when I did it ....

Did your paed give any reasoning for their method over what you wanted to do?

[amom526]

It seemed like he felt it would encourage DS to become a better eater. he said he has a lot of toddlers that only want to drink milk, and not eat well-maybe he thinks this is a way to get them eating better?

[Shiv52]

Milk needs to be the main part of your babys diet until onw and at 6 months they should still be getting at least 26-28oz of milk per day to ensure adequate nutrients. 

I wouldn't cut milk at 6 months.  I always do a milk feed and then solids an hour later. 

With DD1 we dropped to 3 milk feeds at 9 months (still 4 some days) once she was eating and tolerating alot of dairy products and meats etc.  And keep 3 feeds to a year.

DD1 is 9 months and I still do 4 feeds but she is now taking 3 solid meals and doing really well and I can see her becoming disinterested in the 3pm feed so I will probably cut that soon.

I think so long as you offer a variety of solids you're LO will  become a good eater regardless of milk but it is important to leave 45-1 hour after milk so they are hungry enough to try solids.

You could try offering 6oz rather than 8oz at those middle feeds and see does that help.  That way your LO is still getting the right amount of milk but may be a little hungrier for solids. 

[Shiv52]

he said he has a lot of toddlers that only want to drink milk, and not eat well-maybe he thinks this is a way to get them eating better?

Quite possibly that is his thinking but your baby is not a toddler.  He is only 6 months,  You hav plenty of time to build up solid intake and reduce milk a accordingly.  We took to 8 months to get upto 3 meals with both my LOs and then cut milk as necessary.

HTH x

[*jazzberry*]

We are doing 4 bottles plus 3 meals an hour after milk. From what I remember with ds1 and ds2 they both started to lose interest in the 11am bottle at around 9 months, this meant that it was easy to drop, so lunch would then be at around 11.30 or 12 and then a bottle at about 1.30 or 2pm (plus morning and evening) HTH

[shivi]

I did something a little different as I never had the courage to try and leave a bf baby 12 hours at night until they were eating A LOT during the day.

So I kept the four milk feeds  - 7,3,7 and kept the DF at 11pm. I dropped the 11am feed at 7ish months in favour of a bigger lunch, just like Jackie. This meant my kids kept their interest in the 3pm feed a little longer, till even 12 mths in Emma's case, once we were not distracted by other afternoon events ;-)

Dropped the DF at 10.5 mths. So by 10.5 mths down to 3 feeds, at a year down to 2.


S x

[creations]

I feel like my DS would be consuming a ton of food that way

I wouldn't worry about this unless LO actually started to raise a couple of lines above his normal centile (ie put on a LOT).  DS (6.5 months) has already reduced his milk intake himself by around 300ml per day.  he is just about getting his required 600ml.  I give him his milk, then an hour later solids...but he very quickly worked out that he could take less milk because he knew the solids were coming so he has self regulated his eating.
Also bare in mind that LO is 6 months and from here on is going to get more and more mobile so the extra food will be burned off rapidly, they also spend less time sleeping so need more energy/food and their brains are learning so much and that also takes extra energy.  All in all I think your baby would have to massively overeat to achieve excessive weight gain.
I agree with previous posters that milk remains the main food source until 12 months and LO will learn to eat a good variety of foods based on what you offer over time and not by forcing a reduction of milk too early.