I have a 7 mo 30 min napper who is mostly bottle fed. We had issues with weight gain 4mo when he was mostly breastfed because of my supply so I intro'd formula and he is gaining weight well now. Our current schedule is working ok, but the end of the day is really scrunched, and I feel like I'm shoving food into my little guy and possibly over feeding him. But on the same note I'm terrified to drop a feeding. also, we do BLW, and he hasn't actually swallowed food yet, so right now liquid feeds are his only source of nutrition. I want to move to 4 hour schedule and drop a nap, but I'm afraid of dropping a feeding. Also, he has always been a 30 min napper and I was hoping the 4 to 3 nap transition would help his naps and it didn't, so I don't have high hopes for the 3 to 2 transition.
Here is our current schedule. When I work he is bottle fed, when I'm with him he is breastfed then supplemented with a bottle for 2 of the feedings and then he gets straight bottles the other feedings.
7:30 eat about 8 oz, offered solids after sometimes
9:30 NAP 1- nap for 30, then mom goes in a naps with him for another hour
11:00 eat 8 oz, offer solids sometimes
NAP 2- We run errands here, so he naps on and off from about 1:15-2:30 ish
3:00 eat 8 oz
5:30 NAP 3
6:00 eat about 7 oz, offer solids sometimes
7:30 eat about 7-8 oz
8:00 bed
This is what I've adapted because his naps were so crumby that I was sick of being cooped up inside trying to get him to sleep.
I would really like to drop the second to last feeding, but I need advice. He often gets really fidgety when he eats, especially at the end of the day, and I think it's because he isnt all that hungry. When I take the bottle away he looks at the bottle and reaches for it like he still wants it. When I give it back he gets all fidgety again. He starts chewing on the nipple instead of sucking. Does this mean he is full and I should stop feeding? So that means that he doesn't actually need the full 7-8oz, right? So when I drop the one feeding should I distribute about 6oz among the remaining bottles he gets? So make the other bottles a little over 9oz. Isn't that a lot? I don't want to be shoving food down his throat.
Once I get the feeding thing down I would like to drop a nap, so I may have questions about that later!