8mo number of formula feeds

[Newbie mum]

Hello, I am a mum from the UK and my dd is 8 months and 1 week old.

My dd had just stopped having any milk over night and has also dropped the mid morning milk (she slept through it for a few days and so we went straight to lunch, and now if she wakes earlier I give her a little snack of solid). She likes drinking water from her sippy cup too.
My question is at 8 months does her formula intake sound ok.

210mls formula on waking
Snack mid morning
Solids lunch with a pudding
3pm 210mls formula
Around 4.45/5 light solid tea, no pudding yet
7-7.30 180mls formula (because it is the more satisfying night time milk and they say 180mls rather than 210mls)
Does that sound ok at this stage?
Thank you!

[Newbie mum]

Forgot to say that she also has porridge (made with milk) with fruit for breakfast.

[Lolly]

Her intake is on the lower side of what I would expect at this age to be honest, usually babies are still on 4 day time bottles until about 10 months. They need a minimum of 20oz a day which can include the milk in foods but 24oz pf liquid milk plus milk in solids is "normal" at this age. We dropped to 3 bottles at 8.5 months to get my daughter to take more milk, not less. She was a refluxer and took more milk in total over 3 bottles than the 4, but we increased the bottle size.

Is she draining those 210ml bottles? If she is then you can add another 30/60ml which will increase her intake. Do you find the nighttime milk works/ I'm only asking because there is no nutritional benefit to giving it, it's made to be harder to digest which keeps them feeling fuller longer but she is actually getting less calories because she is getting less overall milk. It's one of the dodges by formula companies to get around the laws that mean they can't advertise first milks.

Milk still needs to be the biggest part of her diet until she is 1, I would carry on giving her milk mid-morning instead of the solids snack until she gets to about 10 months.

What do you think?

Laura

[Newbie mum]

Hi Laura, thanks for your reply. I wondered if the night time milk was a bit of a gimmick. I only bought one tin to see what it was like. Now we've run out we are back to her normal formula so she is getting 210mls as her last bottle (rather than the. 180mls) and so far we've not noticed a difference so we'll stick to her normal formula for now.

Not sure that I read your message correctly- did you say that your lo was taking 3 bottles at 8.5months? that's what my lo Has (3 bottles of 210mls plus milk in porridge and other dairy). Yes she drains them fully in one go. *kellyjs* suggested I add more to the bottles too so will keep doing this (although there is not much room left in the bottle!)

My lo was weighted yesterday and the HV is happy with her weight which is reassuring :-) Thanks for your advice.

[Lolly]

Nighttime milk is definitly a gimmic, along with the toddler milks Switching back to normal formula is a good idea!

Yes, my DD was on 3 bottles but only because she was a refluxer and it suited her better because I could get 3 8oz (240ml) bottles in her rather than 4 3oz/4oz bottles . She was always on the low side of milk intake though and 25oz in 24 hours was a good day at any time!

If your DD is gaining weight fine and sticking to her centile then all is good,  just keep an eye on it. If she is draining those bottles then adding more is the right thing to do for now as she really needs the milk more than early solids.

Laura

[Newbie mum]

That's Laura.
My dd is now back on normal formula for all feeds and has 4 bottles of 240mls (as I'm adding more milk than the usual 210mls) but she still drains those! She has what I would consider a big bowl of porridge in the morning, lunch and a tea too! She also enjoys drinking water from a sippy cup. Her weight has shot up! But I guess this is to be expected now that she is taking solids and not yet mobile. She seems quite tall (husband is 6'2" and I'm 5'6") so perhaps all normal?
I'm not sure how I can add any more milk to the bottle (physically no room!) and I dare say she would just drink it all...she does so in one go and always has done. As you know she has not been sleeping well since I stopped the one night time feed and a since then there have been a few nights when she has only settled with some milk. I did try water but it didnt settle her. I try and limit the amount to 150mls (the last amount she took before she didn't want the over night milk any more) but not sure if I am taking a step backwards by giving her this milk. She settles well after it and straight back to sleep.
As you know I've been chatting with *kellyjs* about my dd night wakings and she has been very helpful, suggesting that it might be teething, which I am sure it might be but I just want to make sure it's not genuine hunger. What do you think?

[Lolly]

It could be teething - are you giving meds?

Apart from the porridge what are you giving her for her other 2 solid meals? If you aren't, you can try giving her more protein as that will fill her more and keep her fuller for longer. If she is still draining her bottles and they are full bottles then I would increase her solids more or offer a solids snack after her mid morning/ mid afternoon bottle.

Laura

[Newbie mum]

Hello,
I put anbesol liquid on her gums most nights before bed. *kellyjs* suggested ibuprofen which I will give if she seems in pain. Perhaps I should give a dose when she first wakes in the night? but I'm not sure how I would do this without waking her up fully. In the day she seems ok, although for the last few days she really seems to be gnawing on things and wants to chew on my fingers.

I'm not sure how good the meals are I give to her. She is a good eater and so far enjoys all the foods she's tried (fingers crossed that stays the same). She's eaten fish, meat and cheese and loves fruit and veg, but I'm not sure how big a portion of protein to give her. How big would you suggest?

Lunch might be: inside of a jacket potato (normal or sweet potato) with grated cheese and low salt beans or other veg eg beetroot (she loves beetroot!), pasta, broccoli and sweet corn bake, tuna fish pati, I gave her the inside of a sausage a few days ago with potato and veg and she liked that. Salmon or white fish poached with vegetables. Avacado. Tonight my husband and I are having roast chicken so dd will have some chicken tomorrow with mashed parsnips and veg.

Tea time, I'm always a bit wary of how much to give her as I worry she might wake up from a sore tummy ...so she has something light like bread with cream cheese, and some fruit for pudding or homemade rice pudding but perhaps I need to start upping this meal as perhaps it's not enough to sustain her over night?

All the food she has is homemade but sometimes if we are out and it's hard to transport my food she has some of an Ella's pouch.

 I think your suggestion of adding snacks is a good one, which I will try, as even when she's had a bottle, if I eat something in front of her she will get cross and want some.

We went grocery shopping today and I have bought some ingredients to make some puddings for her rather than just fruit. I made sugar free banana cupcakes for her which she liked, and I'm going to have a go at a custard and try and find a recipe for a sugar free crumble topping.
Perhaps I just have a hungry girl on my hands?!

[Newbie mum]

Just to add re: teething. I have not noticed a difference whether or not I put the anbesol liquid onto her gums before bed or not. I also once gave a dose of ibuprofen prophylactically before bed to see if that helped, but it didn't seem to make a difference.

[Adelheid]

Hi Newby mom! I'm currently working through similar questions.
To give you a sense, my LO is 9mo old and is BF in the am then gets milk fortified porridge for breakfast, lunch and dinner of solids and 3 bottles (which he drains!) of 300ml each. So, our babys have very similar diets!
Seems to be working out well enough for us.

[Newbie mum]

Hello *adelheid* wow your lo has a good appetite :-) 300ml bottles! Unfortunately my bottles wont fill to that amount but if they did I know she would drink it all down. It's funny when we go out and I see other babies who take elegant sips of milk, have a break, then some more, but not my dd! She doesn't stop until all of the milk has gone. I did worry I was feeding her a lot but now I relax a bit as she tells me when she's full (eventually!). Plus, we are lucky mums to have babies with good appetites. I only hope that this continues especially when they are toddlers