Please take a look at my 9.5 month's feeding routines

[hanna]

Hello,

I would like to see if you agree that I can cut out the afternoon snack...
She stopped being interested in nursing 1-2 months ago so I am pumping twice a day now, but she still doesn't want much milk.
This is what she eats now:

6.30 am bf for a few minutes
7.30 or 7.45 oatmeal/fruit/water
11.00 breastmilk in cup (2 oz,) vegetable puffs, cracker
12.30 lunch, solid food, water
3.45 yogurt/puffs or fruit/berries--this is the snack I would like to cut out (She used to bf here before.)
4.30 or 4.45 dinner, solid food plus oatmeal in bottle
6.20 pm breastmilk in bottle, 3 oz


I was thinking I could give her dinner a little earlier, at 4.15 pm or so.

Thanks!

[*Kara*]

I am a little concerned about her milk intake to be honest. 

What is the issue with nursing?  Is she just very distracted?

She really isn't eating a balanced diet at all and needs milk as her main source of nutrition until closer to her first birthday, Hanna.

What does her day look like in terms of sleep?  I will see how we can rearrange to get things back on track for you

[hanna]

She started weaning herself a couple of months ago. I was down to 4 times a day and then she started refusing both daytime bf's. I pumped and gave her cups and bottles for a while. But she never wanted/wants more than 1-3 ounces. I have tried formula but she doesn't drink much of that either.
I don't know why you say she isn't eating a balanced diet. I am well aware that it would be preferable if she had more milk. I never had a problem with my first baby. He nursed until over a year old. She just likes food. She eats very healthy food. She also gets calcium from cheese and yogurt.

She should sleep more during the day but gets OT when I take toddler to daycare.

She usually wakes around 5.45-6.00 am.
Then she naps at 9.30-10.30 am
Her second nap is around 2 pm but only for 35-40 minutes. I have been trying to put her down to nap both earlier and later but she most often only has a short second nap. She goes to bed at 6.20/6.30 pm. She is stuck in a OT loop. I have posted on the nap board too since she was 7 months, but this is where she is right now.

[willowsmummy]

i thInk aslOng as shes healthy and getting enough calcium then dont stress about the nursing!! I gave my
LO porridge with EBM for breakfast and made milk jelly with it also!! There is lots of otherways to get plenty of
BM into her without nursing xx

[hanna]

Thanks, what is milk jelly?

[willowsmummy]

Sorry its normal jelly like the sachet stuff that you usually put with water and set in the fridge, but i put it with milk

[*Kara*]

I wouldn't think she is weaning herself hun, very few babies do such a thing before 18 months... she may well have started a nursing strike though

Do you find that she is distracted when taking milk?  If so, it could just be a matter of changing the times that she nurses to get her milk intake up.

At this age, she should be having at least 20 ozs of milk (cheese and yogurt count towards this too of course).

In terms of a balanced diet - what does she eat in a typical day now?  I just see crackers, puffs, and a bit of fruit/yogurt.  I do see that it states "solid food" for lunch and dinner - what does this include normally?

As for her EASY - Does she seem to be low sleep needs compared to average?  Does she seem happy with the amount of sleep she is getting or do you think she would be happier with a bit more?  Her naps are short and I suspect she is UT for the first one and then OT by the PM nap so she takes a very short nap and then crashes at bedtime, leading to a shorter night as well (oh, I have been there!).  What are you doing when she wakes before 6am?  Do you get her up and start the day or keep her quiet/try to get her back down?

[hanna]

Well, she nurses only in the morning. I hope she won't start refusing that one too because then I don't know what I would do. I offered the breast before her 10.30 snack today, and she took it for 5 seconds maybe. She just laughed. I tried for many weeks at different times but she just wouldnt nurse. I think she is too impatient and too distracted. She probably gets a total of 10 ounces per day. If she would nurse before bt it would be great. She would just cry and turn her face away, so I started pumping and now she gets a bottle. I could try to pump more and give her a bigger bottle but when I have offered more than 3 oz in the past she doesn't finish the bottle.

So today, as an example she had

6.15 am nursed her
7.45 mixed grain porridge (when i have enough milk i use it for the porridge or oatmeal) and mixed fruit puree and water
10.30-ish 2 oz of bm in cup, baby rice crackers and some puffs and a few pieces of fresh kiwi
12.30 pieces of chicken breast, pieces of bread with hummus, mango-sweet potatoes and millet puree, 3 oz, blueberries, water
3.45 pm Greek yogurt, almost 6 oz, she usually has 4 oz
4.45 pm oatmeal in bottle, 3 oz, puréed broccoli, 1 scrambled egg, pieces of half of an avocado
6.15 pm 3 oz bm in bottle

As far as naps go, she needs more, she acts and looks sleepy. On the weekends she actually takes her first nap after only A time 3 hrs and sleeps 90 minutes or more sometimes. Then her second nap varies from 40-60 minutes. So I don't know if she is UT for the first nap. Today she was up around 6 am and started crying right away. I had to go in and I tried to hold her and then nursed her and she rested a bit but she was awake and wouldn't go back to sleep. Some mornings she just talks to herself and I leave her until 6.30, which is when she starts to cry usually.

Her first nap was at 9.20-10.20 am today. A time 3 hrs 20 minutes
Her second nap i started at 1.50 and i had to go and give her pacifiers a couple of times. Some afternoons she just sits up in bed and cries. Finally today I held her and rocked her for 2 minutes, put her down almost asleep and then she slept. Unfortunately, I had to wake her at 3.10 to go to daycare. So she slept 2.20-3.10 pm. A time 4 hrs.
Tonight she fell asleep right away at 6.20 pm. If she would only sleep a little longer in the afternoon, she could stay up a little longer and perhaps wake up later in the morning as well.

[*Kara*]

Thank you so much for the detailed food diary!  I think we are dealing with the opposite issue: too much food to leave room for milk   But that is a really balanced diet for sure!  I take back my previous concerns 1000%.  So really, the only concern then is she constipated from a low liquid intake considering the volume of solids she has?

Do you want to increase her BM intake?  The only thing I can see that might be a bit of concern is that 6 ozs of yogurt   That's more than an adult serving!  A baby/toddler serving would be 2-3 ozs of greek yogurt.  And, almost forgot - I would stop putting cereal in her bottle... not needed and can be a choking concern... stopping that might be enough to have her take a bigger milk feed at bedtime

What do you think of that?  Helpful?

With naps, I do wonder if maybe a shorter 1st A time would get you a longer nap consistently.. allowing her to do a longer A time then a longer second nap, but what times do you have school run?

[hanna]

Hi,
No, not much constipation. She loves water. I just have to pump more frequently to up the volume again, so I can give her a bigger bottle at night. She usually has only 3-4 oz baby yogurt or Greek yogurt.

Right now my biggest concern is her naps. She woke up at 5.15 am and stayed awake until I got her at 6.30 am. I then put her down earlier than usual to see if she would sleep, at 8.20 am, but she only slept for 35 minutes. Still that was A time 3 hrs. Normally she would have fallen asleep in the car around 9.20. I take my son to daycare at 9.00 am and I am back at 9.30, so I put her in her crib at 9.30 and she usually stays asleep for a total of 60 minutes.

But after such a short morning nap today I am hoping she can take a long afternoon nap. She has been very difficult to put down for that one lately. She needs or is used to being awake for 4 hrs almost here but still only sleeps 30-45 minutes. Please help!

Thanks

[*Kara*]

Alright - sounds like the food thing is good then   If she gets a touch backed up, an ounce of pear juice in her water will do the trick

She woke up at 5.15 am and stayed awake until I got her at 6.30 am. I then put her down earlier than usual to see if she would sleep, at 8.20 am, but she only slept for 35 minutes. Still that was A time 3 hrs.

A-ha... not really   A time spent in the crib alone isn't really full A time since they are just lounging about quietly.. most moms find that counting it as half time works well, so 60 mins in crib = 30 mins A time.

At 9.5 months, she should be closing in on a 4 hr A time for sure   Can you keep her awake on the school run in the morning?  We might have to use a set nap to stop the early mornings... I have used them with huge success, but we do have to keep her temperament in mind too... do you know if she is a textbook/angel/spirited etc?

[hanna]

She is textbook angel. She is so tired when we are on the way home from daycare that usually she falls asleep as we get back in the car. Her A time by then is 3.5-4 hrs. I can transfer her pretty easily to the crib and her sleep sack, but only once last week did she sleep 90 minutes.

She is not sitting quietly in her bed all the time, though. She is unhappy and crying and we go in, give pacifier etc. (in the morning) but I agree, some of the time is content.

[*Kara*]

hmmm... well, I think as much as it horrid to get up that early, you will have to get her up and start her day when she first wakes... it's really the best way to get her whole day shifted later....

Also wondering if you need to try and get her down earlier after a shorter AM nap to avoid OT...

[hanna]

I don't leave her in bed if she is really crying. A couple of mirnings ths week, I got her at 6 am, fed her at 6.15 am, slightly earlier than normal.

She fights going to sleep earlier (after a short am nap) but I can get her to fall asleep in the car sometimes. When would you suggest?
Today she slept 75-80 minutes in the morning A time 3.5 hrs and 60 mins in the afternoon A time 3.25, but we had to hold and rock her to sleep for the afternoon nap. She was fussy. 

[*Kara*]

I would stick with that morning A time... 75-80 mins isn't terrible and really a good thing at this age as she starts to head for the 2-1.... That PM could be a touch UT though... some kids are fine with a nap 1hr + in terms of being fully restored... maybe try bumping to 3.5 hrs in the PM as well and see if that lengthens her nap after a few days