Author Topic: Snacking question  (Read 2166 times)

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Offline Kellyshe

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Snacking question
« on: June 04, 2013, 12:11:28 pm »
DD is ~8.5months old.  We started solids at 7.5 months due to food intolerance issues.  She was going the night with no feed, sometimes 1 NF.  What I'm finding now is when I feed her, she takes half the bottle and doesn't want to finish the bottle.  She usually takes 3-4oz and that's it.  Whe try to finish the bottle with her for up to an hour.  We used to be on four 7.5 oz bottles but now it's more like 5-6 bottles of 5oz each.  She is also waking every 4 hours at night to feed.  This happened when she was eating every 3 hours so I switched to every 4.  Does this now mean I need to drop a bottle and move to every 5 hours with solids in between?  Will this allow her to go back to drinking more?

Just more background info:  she does have reflux but she's not arching or crying at feeds.  We are using dr brown bottles, level 2 nipple.  I tried the level 3 and she gags and coughs.  She is 16 lbs 13.7oz.  She is on AA formula.

Offline *Kara*

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Re: Snacking question
« Reply #1 on: June 06, 2013, 03:34:29 am »
Could be reflux flaring with specific solids - could be teething - could be too much solids.

Babies like to keep us on our toes :)

What does her day look like in terms of feeds/how much and what does she get for solids?

Also - if she only takes a few ounces during the night, just put her back to bed.  Don't disrupt her sleep for a further hour trying to convince her to eat...



Offline Kellyshe

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Re: Snacking question
« Reply #2 on: June 07, 2013, 15:00:54 pm »
I think my DD is a grazer.  It could be the reflux, who knows.  As for feeds....I asked daycare to see if she would hold out to 5 hours between feeds with solids in between.  She does anywhere from 4-6 bottles per day (1 or 2 NF).  Solids are hit or miss and I don't think she can do more than 4 hours between feeds.  As for feeding, she generally takes 2-4oz...then isn't interested but if I give her a bit, she'll drink more. It's like she wants to finish the bottle over the course of an hour.  I think the total volume of formula per day is 30-36 (approximately).  I'd say for solids she has a total of 1-1.5 jars of food.

I thought maybe she was frustrated with the flow of milk.  I went up to the next nipple size. She chokes on that.  I don't know if she's distracted or taking in smaller amounts because of reflux.  Whow knows.

As for NF - we feed her and she takes what she takes.  We all just want to go back to sleep! :)  Last night she took 4 oz from a 5.5oz bottle. 

Offline *Kara*

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Re: Snacking question
« Reply #3 on: June 07, 2013, 19:43:22 pm »
I do think she may just be in the habit of snacking knowing that she will be offered more in a short time so no reason to bother really.

Easiest way out of this is to limit her feeds to 20 mins.  Whatever she takes in that time is all she gets.  Push her as absolutely far as you can towards a minimum of 3 hrs before she eats again.  The idea is that she will get good and hungry, take a much bigger feed and then last a good 3-4 hrs before needing a milk feed again... many babies actually drop to 3 bottles of 8 ozs each around this age too.

I would also be really tempted to limit her solids for a few days just to get her back on track with taking proper milk feeds (her solids amount is low to average for her age while her milk intake total is a bit high - average would be 3 ozs of solids 2-3 times per day - a jar is 4 ozs - and milk intake would average 28-32 ozs).  A night feed would be uncommon if baby has a DF, but if no DF, one night feed could still be needed.



Offline Kellyshe

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Re: Snacking question
« Reply #4 on: June 17, 2013, 18:31:24 pm »
I just saw your reply. I will try this (and ask daycare to do the same).  I hope this works.  It's frustrating to feel like I'm constantly feeding her and she's not interested.  I'm also tired and would like more sleep at night!

Offline Kellyshe

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Re: Snacking question
« Reply #5 on: June 18, 2013, 23:58:23 pm »
Ok... So yesterday she fell asleep at 7:30 without taking a bottle...woke at 10pm for a feed (6 hrs between bottles - last ate a 4pm.  She woke at 4am.  I didn't think she was hungry so instead of feeding her I tried to get her back to sleep (took just over a hour).  She woke at 6:30am so I started the day (exhausted).  I tried solids in the morning at 7:30am and it went over like a lead balloon (clearly she wasn't hungry).  I told daycare to hold off on the first bottle.  They fed her at 10:30am and she did the whole bottle.  So she did go 12 hours between bottles but the timing is all wrong.  I asked daycare to hold off on the second bottle so she would be hungry.  They gave her the bottle at 2pm and she took 5oz of a ~8oz bottle.  Even though I asked them to dump the rest after 20 minutes, they did not and gave her the last bit at 3.  Tonight she fell asleep at 7pm and woke at 7:30pm in which we fed her.  She took 8oz.

She's had 24oz today during daytime hours.  I'd say she had only 3-4oz of solids.  My question is if she wakes at night, do I give her a bottle since solids are low or do I try to get her back to sleep?  Is she not ready for 3 bottles cause off low solids?  I know we need to increase solids but I'm not sure how (will be posting in the solids board). Or should I just focus on the bottles and hold off on solids?

I don't know what to do here.  Please let me know your thoughts.

Offline *Kara*

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Re: Snacking question
« Reply #6 on: June 19, 2013, 21:50:33 pm »
Hi Hun :)

Absolutely you want to focus on formula right now.. as she gets closer to a year of age, we will shift gears but if she has food intolerance issues, you can certainly keep formula as part of her diet (not as a meal per se, but as a decent supplement) until closer to 2 yrs.  Personally, I kept DD on formula until she was 25 months as so many are just random/picky until the age of 2.  It can be hard to keep a balanced diet in these wee creatures.. she was down to just her 8 ozs at bedtime from about 18 months (from 13 months - 18 months, she had 2 bottles, total was about ~14 ozs/day).  It gave me piece of mind that she was getting all those vits/minerals each day as a supplement to her diet.

If she wakes during the night and isn't easy to get back down, I would assume hunger.  If you do feed in the night, I would limit her to 4 ozs.

Her solids intake is fine for her age.

As for daycare - I would be quite stern with them... any bottle should be tossed after baby has started drinking and not finished it (within an hour)



Offline Kellyshe

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Re: Snacking question
« Reply #7 on: June 21, 2013, 15:09:24 pm »
Okay...so I think we have somewhat solved the snacking issue.  We just tried feeding more often during the day (every 3 hours, not 4) and that solved the snacking problem.  She takes the entire bottle without an issue and spits up less.  Her naps have improved, too (from 30 minutes to 1 hour).  While it seems we are going backward, I'm going to follow her lead.  She is getting up for 1 NF, too, but it's still a full feed.  She's definitely hungry.  At least the majority of the calories are during the day.  We'll work on shifting those night calories in the near future.


Offline *Kara*

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Re: Snacking question
« Reply #8 on: June 22, 2013, 19:46:11 pm »
Some babies never do well with a full 4 hrs between feeds - they just get too hungry to eat well!  Given that she does have reflux, she may be best with a shorter time between feeds for the entire time she is on formula - very common with refluxers.

If 3 hrs works for her, I agree that it is best to follow her lead.