Ahhhh, ladies, thank you SO much for all of the advice.
creations - I think reducing the oz is the way to go for M -- I don't think he would take kindly to cold turkey! So once we are down to 1 oz, after 3 days, if he wakes for the NF, do I just give him water? Or will he just naturally stop waking because he's not interested in getting the water? (btw, bringing in another bottle of water during the weaning process is genius).
You mentioned offering a sippy cup -- I will probably do this before his afternoon nap. He doesn't use one yet, but I guess if he is thirsty, he will learn! I have tried the sippy with him a few times and he seems to just like to chew on it, but I think that he gets that something comes out when he puts it in his mouth. Also, re finger foods -- I have just started trying to give him things like cheerios, puffs, and finely diced soft fruit. He is having a hard time with it -- he tends to gag. If I remember with DS1, he had no problems with finger foods at all and was able to eat Cheerios and pieces of avocado on the first try. Is this something to worry about, or after a few weeks should he adjust?
tgm - hi! I hope dd2 is feeling better! I like your schedule. It's very similar to what creations has suggested. If your BT bottle is 6/6:30, how far in advance of BT is that? I've currently been feeding M right before bed (he doesn't fall asleep on the bottle, but I wonder sometimes if eating and sleeping are too close together and he has a eat-sleep association, not that he needs it to fall asleep, but associates the two and that's why he wakes to eat iykwim?)
goldmom - I feel your pain on the long NWs. M is typically very hard to resettle. Sometimes he doesn't even resettle after eating, which is why I think it is time to cut them out. I actually think they may cause him to wake more. He is a reflux baby, and while it seems to be under control now, I think so many months of eating big feeds in the middle of the night (because he was relaxed) have become so habitual.
DS1 used to have EWs due to hunger and when I fed him, he went back to sleep until 7 or 7:30 which was heaven. I can't believe I was so eager to cut that feeding out -- now, if M would sleep a decent chunk at night I'd be happy! LOL. We are getting EWs now that are not related to hunger as he wakes at 5:40/5:45 every morning and this is after having a feed around 3. Even if he waits to wake up until 4, it's a 5:45 WU. Ugh
Thank you so much, ladies, for your help. I tried spacing the bottles and solids out more today and it seemed to be better. Tonight will be night 2 of weaning the MOTN feed.