8 1/2 mo not wanting milk first thing, but still having a DF!

[eviemummy]

Hi there,

My little girl was EBF right up to about 7 months when she just started to refuse to take it but would happily have a bottle of formula!! Now she is fully bottle fed on formula as I'm on antibiotics which I'm not allowed to BF with anyway.

Since we've moved onto bottles, I am starting to worry about how much she is taking! She doesn't seem interested in milk first thing in the morning at all - this morning she took 50ml - including what went in her cereal! Also, she is still having a dream feed - about 150-210ml at each one, should I be starting to phase this out now?

Our EASY routine is

7 wake
7.30 small amount of bottle
8 breakfast (made up with formula)
8.30 try a bit more bottle
9.15 Nap
10.30 Awake
11 bottle - 100-150ml
12 lunch
1.30 Nap
3 Bottle 100-150ml
5 teatime
6 bath and wind down
7 Bottle 100 -150ml and bed
9-10.30 Dreamfeed 150-210ml
Won't usually need feeding again until breakfast, but will usually wake for a while at 3 and/or 5!!

Thanks,

Rachael

[Lolly]

You can start to phase out the dreamfeed, that may help to increase her morning apetite! You can either just reduce the bottle an oz every 3 nights, or reduce the bottle and bring it forward bit by bit so as it get closer to their bedtiem feed they don't need it anyway. This should help! http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=54662.0

What do you think?

Laura

[eviemummy]

Thanks Laura - I'll start to phase it out by bringing it forward and reducing it a little! Thanks for your advice - we'll see how things go and let you know 

[eviemummy]

Hi Laura, we have now started to phase out the dream feed and are already seeing a bit of an improvement - dream feed bottle has been reduced to 120ml the last 2 days and brought forward to 10, and this morning she did drink a whole 150ml (well a tiny bit went in her cereal!!)

I'm just wondering what you recommend with regard to getting her to take a full bottle at each milk feed? I know I can keep the formula on the go for 2 hours, so should I just keep trying it with her until she is finished, or just accept that she doesn't want the whole lot? Obviously when I was breastfeeding before she just took what she wanted, but now I'm concerned that she is getting the right amount. How much milk should an 8.5 month old be drinking?

Also with regard to phasing out the dreamfeed, how low do I go? Do I keep reducing until I'm waking her for just 30mls a night? I'm worried that will irritate her more than anything! 

Thanks!!

[Lolly]

An 8 month old *should* be taking anything from 6oz upwards really. At that age my DD was having 3 daytime bottles of 7/8oz and we had just got rid of the nightfeed. From 6 months they need a minimum of 20oz a day and that does include the milk in their solids.

I wouldn't keep offering, if you do you will run the risk of her snacking and never getting hungry enough to take a full feed and a bottle feed should be done by about 20 mins. Once she has started drinking from a bottle you should only keep it for 1 hour, only untouched formula is good for 2 hours at room temp.

Are you making sure milk feeds are about an hour before solids? If you aren't using the fastest teat try that too. Use your judgement with the DF - once you get to 60ml it's probably not worth the effort! You don't need to wake her for the dreamfeed though!

What do you think?

Laura

[eviemummy]

Hi Laura,

I just wanted to say a thanks for your help - Evie is now completely off the dreamfeed and is drinking much better during the day. She is sleeping through the night too (well, waking up sometimes, but settling herself back to sleep so no intervention needed!) so all in all the family is much more settled!!

Thanks for your advice,

Rachael

[Lolly]

Yeah! Great news! Well done all of you!

Laura