Weaning and adjusting routine for 8.5 mo

[SukieCat]

Hi - DS is 8.5 months old and I'm ready to start gradually weaning him.  He's currently BF and FF and I want to move towards all FF.  We have a kind of goofy feeding schedule due to issues with low weight gain (around 4 months), issues with sleeping (around 4 - 6 months), and just how it happened to work out.  I think that in addition to weaning, I'll also need to fix his EASY, so I'm not sure what the best way to go about it is.  Here's a typical day for us:

BT/S 7 pm
E 3am, nurse (sometimes he'll sleep through, but he's been teething and learning to crawl, so not lately)
S 3:30 - 7:30am
E 7:30am, nurse
A
E 8:30, fruit puree
A
E 10:00, 4 oz bottle
A
S 10:30 - 12
E 12, nurse
A
E 1pm, oatmeal cereal
A
E 2:15, 6 oz bottle
A
S 3 - 4:30pm
E 4:30, nurse
A
E 5:30, veggie puree
A
E 6:30, 6 oz bottle
A
BT/S 7pm

As you can see, he eats a lot.  He has absolutely no issues with weight gain now, and most days his naps and night sleep are good.  I don't really feel like he's nursing that well anymore, and he's obviously eating a lot of other solids and liquids.  So I guess I'm wondering if anyone has advice for how to wean (as in, which feeding to drop first, how long before dropping the next), and also how should I adjust his eating routine to move more towards a more typical EASY (instead of EAEAEASY )?  We had such a struggle with naps, and now he's so good, I'm afraid of changing things up too much.  I'd appreciate any thoughts or advice!

Thanks!

[*Ali*]

Have a look at this FAQ and let is know if you have any questions Weaning

Your EASY looks fine to me.

[SukieCat]

I guess I'm not sure how much to feed him.  Like, if I drop nursing after his morning nap and replace it with a bottle, how much should I give him?  And then should I still give him a second bottle before each nap?  I'm concerned that I'm going to be feeding him too much, especially since I don't know how much he's actually taking when he nurses.

[Fiver]

If you're switching to a formula, you'll probably find that you don't need to give milk any more often than every 4h.  I'd probably try to be guided by LO about how much to give as much as possible.  Does he seem content now after a 6oz bottle?

[*Kara*]

I guess I'm not sure how much to feed him.  Like, if I drop nursing after his morning nap and replace it with a bottle, how much should I give him?  And then should I still give him a second bottle before each nap?  I'm concerned that I'm going to be feeding him too much, especially since I don't know how much he's actually taking when he nurses.

At this age my DD was taking 4 bottles a day, 3 bouts of solids and STTN.

We did a wake up bottle of 6 ozs
Solids an hour later
Lunch was a 6 oz bottle and solids (she would take a good amount of solids right after her bottle)
Her afternoon bottle was 6 ozs (it was like a really early dinner time at this age) ~430/445pm and solids right away like lunch time.
BT bottle was 8 ozs.

You may find that it's hard to get everything in to the day with two naps and a good amount of solids.  Many babies on formula do head towards 3 bottles at this age... common would be:

Wake and 8oz, solids an hour or so later
Lunch after AM nap (~11/1130)
8 ozs bottle just before PM nap
Dinner solids around 5/530pm
BT bottle of 8 ozs.

The signs to watch for would be reduced amounts at the two middle of the day bottles, or a refusal of one of them (could be either).  This signals that he needs more time between feeds and dropping to three when things get to this point will often result in an increased formula intake.

You want to aim for about 24 ozs per day (20ozs being the minimum).

[SukieCat]

Thank you so much!  He is usually content after a 6oz bottle, except sometimes I end up making him another couple of ounces for his BT bottle.  Lately we've been doing 6 oz before morning nap, 6oz in the afternoon, and 8oz at BT, along with 3 nursing sessions and 3 solid feeds.  Like I mentioned, I'm really not sure how much he's taking when he nurses.  Sometimes he'll only settle at the breast for a couple of minutes and I don't try to force it, so I think he may not really be eating that much.  So when he goes to bottles only, I think the timing will get shifted a bit so that he's eating more right when he wakes from naps as opposed to right before he goes down for a nap.  Does that make sense? 

Kara, the schedules you posted are very helpful!  He doesn't really ever refuse to eat right now, except for the nursing sessions.  It'll be interesting to see how much he wants to eat when we go to bottles only.