6 Month old delays bottle & refusing bedtime bottle

[mumtothree]

My lo is 6.5 months and he will never take a bottle straight after waking - even first thing in the morning.  He will always wait at least an hour after a sleep/nap before he will take a bottle - any earlier than this and he will just refuse it.  I'm finding this super frustrating, he's on solids too and trying to fit in a bottle and a meal before his next nap can be really hard (his awake time is just over 2 hours).    
His bottles over the day are only 120mls at a time, and he takes around 3 of these before bedtime (8am, 12pm, 3pm approx).  We always offer the bottle before solids.

He still wakes overnight and will generally refuse a bottle for most of his wake ups but will take around 120-180mls overnight (I try not to keep offering it during the night but if he doesn't settle with a pat then I resort to the bottle).   

The other issue we've been having for around a month is that he will refuse his bedtime bottle- even if he's had an early dinner.   He ends up taking it around two hours after bedtime when he wakes or we give it to him as a dream feed. 
I don't feel like he's taking enough milk during the day - he probably averages 480-540mls over a 24 hour period.  Although he eats three reasonable meals a day (if we can fit them in!) we are vegetarian and so I really want him to get an adequate formula intake to make sure he gets his iron etc needs met.  I'm hoping too that if I can sort this he might be more settled overnight!!

Has anyone had a similar experience to this?! I'm wondering if we should stop offering anything over night and see if that helps...maybe just a little bit of water instead?  Or drop a bottle during the day? Any suggestions or advice will be greatly received 

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

At his age the formula is more important than the solids so I would probably cut back on solids (not sure on the recs where you are but here the rec is to not be on 3 meals of solids until much older, my DD3 is 7.5 months and most days we do 2 meals only, one of which is finger food). Until they are one food is just for fun.

[annamomof3]

mumtothree, (we have a lot in common!)

Hi, My LO's are a week shy of 6 mnths, I too struggle with my boy that refuses a "big" first wake bottle and last bottle of the night .  I always think he will drink more then a 5 ounce bottle but thats roughly all he'll take per feed roughly 5 times per day (with exception of a 6.5 ounce in the afternoon.  I find if you up the level nipple to a faster flow or offer .5 ounces more per feed after a week it baby will increase. However I took the advice to cut the solids  - and it made a difference for a few days then he went back to his average 5 ounces. My pediatrician recommends 21+ ounces of formula per day and 3-6 TBS of solids per feeding. That's roughly a jar / tray of a stage-two (6+ mnths) food. Cut the food intake and it will work. I know you think baby needs the amount they've been eating but formula has all baby needs no worries I felt guilty cutting back too but it worked. IF you stick to an E.A.S.Y schedule too like the 4 hour it helps. I had to literally re-train them but now because they're on a routine they eat more and eat better and life is a little bit less confusing! good luck!

[Lolly]

I agree with cutting the solids right back, the very minimum milk they need from 6 months is 600ml and it doesn't seem like he is getting this, most babies will be taking between 720ml and about 1000ml.

Have you got him on the fastest teat?

Laura

[mumtothree]

Thank you for the replies
We introduced solids quite early, on the advice of our doctor because of the small bottle feeds, my wee fella started out on the 50th percentile of growth charts and quickly dropped to the 9th.  With the introduction of solids we've got him back up to the 14th   I add milk to his fruit or veges and can usually get an extra 20 mls in this way.  He does  know his own appetite as will sometimes refuse solids or will only take a little.  He wouldn't be eating more than three to four tablespoons at a meal.  I will try cutting this back further though and see if it makes any difference, fingers crossed! 
He is on the fastest teat that we can get for MAM bottles but I think I'll try him back on Avent fast flow.  I'm wondering if he just can't take so much fluid in one go, but I guess this should be changing as he's getting bigger
We follow EASY as best we can....sometimes tricky with school drop offs/pick ups!

You would think third time round I'd be better at all this!