When to drop to 2 bottles??

[Beed]

Hi

Not sure if this should be in sleeping or feeding?

My 7 month old DS has always been a big boy (he's just off the scale), was 9lb 8oz when he was born.  He has 3 x 6oz bottles a day (6.30/7am, 2.30/3pm and 6.30/7pm).  He is on 3 meals a day also.

Recently he has been waking in the night a couple of times and not going off to sleep at the end of the day without a lot of crying.  My HV made me feel quite conscious of his weight and really questioned his milk intake etc.  He was 22lb at 5 months and 23.9lb at 6 months old and was on 3 x 6oz bottles and 1 x 4oz bottle (at 11am) then.  So I dropped the 11am feed.  We started weaning at 5 1/2 months so he didn't pile on the pounds too much between then and being weighed again.

I'm wondering if he needs more milk at night now and whether I should drop the 3pm feed and up the 6.30/7pm feed a couple of oz?  I don't want to overfeed him?

Routine goes like this:

6.30/7am - 6oz milk
8.15am - quick nap (inevitable as on school run!)
9.00/9.30am - Breakfast of weetabix/ready brek and a few crusts of toast
10.30/11am - Nap (1 hour)
12.00/12.30pm - Lunch of scrambled egg and beans/philadelphia or humous or similar finger sandwiches and some blueberries/satsuma or similar
1.30pm - Nap (1 hour)
3.00pm - 6oz milk
5pm - Dinner - Chicken/Fish or Meat homemade meal from Annabel Karmel Book and a yoghurt
6pm - Bath
6.30/7pm - 6oz milk

Tried PU/PD but he only really goes back to sleep with some Calpol (he is teething - which seems to go on forever) but I don't want that to be a habit!

Please help!

B xx

[Lolly]

He's actually on the low end of the milk range for his age. The recs are a MINIMUM of 20oz a day from 6 months with solids and that's until 1, most babies are taking 28-32oz of milk at 6 months, so I don't know what your HV is on about encouraging milk to drop. Milk is more important than solids at this age as it contains more calories, and the essential fats and nutrients.

Where is he weight wise on the centile charts? Is he sticking to his growth curve or has he jumped up? My DD was a 91st centile baby and is still there at 5.5 yrs!

He could be waking at night as he needs more milk in the day and I would increase the day milk feeds and see if that helps first. Mine were both taking bigger bottles at 7 months and he doesn't need to drop to 2 bottles until he is 1, around 10 months is the "normal" age to drop to 3 bottles really. Does he drain those 6oz bottles? If he is then you should increase them anyway so he can stop because he is full and not just because the bottle is empty.

It's hard when the HV is giving you advice that doesn't seem right, but remember it's just that - advice, this is your baby and you can do what you feel is best for him whatever she says! I got very good at nodding along and then coming here to see what others did and made my choices from there

Laura

[Beed]

Thanks Laura.  He is sticking to his growth curve (albeit it off the scale!).  He is a real chunky monkey and eats extremely well. I don't want him to get too big as HV said he had quite big 'folds' in his legs and if he gets too big it will stop him from moving around!!!!  So now I'm paranoid😳
He drains every bottle every day and DH said he was desperate for more tonight at bed time, but honestly he would keep going and going. He once took 11oz!!!!! 
So I should stick to my 3 feeds and up them all by an ounce maybe?  He'd be having 21oz a day then.

B

Xxx

[Buttonbobs]

Just wanted to say I agree totally wth Laura, my DD is on the larger end of the percentiles, and has always been so (once she got over her initial weight loss after birth). She always had a large milk intake, I was still giving her 4 bottles of 8oz per day when she started nursery at 14 months of age, and she kept one bottle of formula going until after she was 2. I appreciate that some people (including some HVs) might have felt that wasn't necessary, but I wanted to follow her in weaning her off the milk, and certainly her solids intake wasn't affected at all.

She always had lovely podgy rolls and folds, certainly at 7 months there were many of these. She was a bottom shuffler, and I often joked with DH that she sat unsupported so early (4 months ish) because her tummy helped to hold her up but seriously, she is now fast turning into a bean pole with skinny ribs and long legs, with none of those lovely baby told anymore.

To me it just seems likely that your DS is a bigger baby, you're certainly not over feeding him milk. Personally I would up the oz across the feeds until he stops draining the bottles, and perhaps even add back an extra feed if you think he needs it. If you're offering solids after milk then I don't believe he should be able to overeat really at this age.

Hugs honey, follow your mummy instinct, if you think he's hungry feed him a little more. Xx

[Beed]

Hi Girls

Thanks so much for your lovely replies.  I did increase his bottle by an ounce so he is now having 21oz plus milk with his cereal and yogurts etc.
Unfortunately this hasn't helped!!!!

He is still waking once or twice in the night and then at 5.40am!  I can settle him normally and last night I sat and watched him for a while after he thought I had left the room and he rolled onto his front and was getting up on his arms and rocking forward (which he does in the day trying to get crawling).  I wonder if this is what is disturbing his sleep and what I can do about it!!!

I will try him with 8oz in his last bottle tonight and see if that helps, but I'm so exhausted now and dread going to bed to be woken again in a few hours    I also have 2 other children that I don't want to be disturbed every night and he does have a rather loud cry!!!

HELP!!!
Bx

[Lolly]

What's your routine like at the moment? It could be that the NWs are routine rather than food related and yes, trying to crawl will definitely disturb sleep so make sure he has as much floor time as possible during the day.

If he is still on a routine like the one you posted initially then it could do with some tweaking as you have A times during the dfay which are too short for his age and then a long stretch til bedtime which will make him OT.

Laura

[Beed]

Hi


Routine goes like this:

6.30/7am - 7oz milk then breakfast
8.30/9am - Sleep (inevitable as on school run!)
10.00/10.30 - Wake
11.30/12pm - Lunch of scrambled egg and beans/philadelphia or humous or similar finger sandwiches and some blueberries/satsuma or similar
1.30pm - Nap (1 hour)
2.30/3.00pm - 7oz milk
5pm - Dinner - Chicken/Fish or Meat homemade meal from Annabel Karmel Book and a yoghurt
6pm - Bath
6.30/7pm - 7oz milk

Any tweaking suggestions welcome!!

B x

[Buttonbobs]

It does look like this could more of a routine issue. Neither of the naps you are getting are longer than an hour, and an hour and a half would give him a more restorative sleep. It sounds like you can't help the first nap being so early. Are you able to shorten it a bit? Say, keep it no longer than 45 mins?

Then, we can work on getting the afternoon nap a little longer. An average A time at this age after a full nap would be about 3-3 hours 15 mins. It may be that 1.30 is a little late for that nap and he is possibly OT going down, especially after a short nap in the morning. Would you be able to try a little earlier - perhaps 12.30/12.45?

Could you try that for a few days and see if you get a longer nap in the afternoon? Then perhaps try a CN before BT?

The other alternative would be to try to keep him awake on the school run in the morning and put him down for a nap when you get home. This might make the evening better as with two longer naps he might manage with A times of 3hours to 3hrs 15 mins ish across the whole day and this may result in better sleep overall.

What do you think?

[Beed]

Hi Naomi

I think you're right! I think it's all a knock on effect!

So yesterday he woke at 4.45 babbling away and then started crying at 5.15.  I settled him back to sleep and he woke at 6.00 to start the day😳.  I kept him awake until 9.20 and he slept for 2 hours!  Lunch at 12.00 and we went out for a walk in the fresh air. He fell asleep at 2.00 but was woken up at 2.45, in time for his 3.00 bottle anyway.  I tried him for a catnap at 4.45 but he wasn't having any of it.  Dinner at 5.30, bath and then bed at 6.45!  He woke in the night but settled himself and then woke at 6.30!!

It's hard to factor in the long sleep in the afternoon in the week due to school runs and after school clubs for my other children.  I have to leave the house at 2.50 to pick them up and if in the car he is in and out of his car seat twice, so very lucky if he stays asleep!!
Will try it again today and see what happens!
Thanks for your reply, I'll keep you posted.

Bx

Not gone well so far this morning. DH is working from home as I'm ill and DS fell asleep in buggy at 8.50. I tried to transfer him to his cot so he wasn't disturbed by DH but he woke and I've spent the last hour trying to re-settle him, to no avail. DH has now took him downstairs and I'm pulling my hair out!   

[Buttonbobs]

It does sound like that longer A time could work for him better. On the day you posted first, I do think a longer second A time would have got you a longer nap - that 2 hours obviously wasn't long enough given the 45 min nap that resulted (I'm assuming he woke naturally from your wording rather than you waking him for the school run).

I'm sorry to hear you're ill sweetie. Go easy on yourself and just do what you can manage for now. What time are your school runs and what time do you have to leave and what time do you get home for each one? It might be if you get a good long nap like that 2 hour one, you can do another A time of 3 hours plus and that might take you past the second school run. You might then get a second longer nap and then theough to BT. It may not be possible though, in which case we'll need to work with what is manageable for you.

((()hugs)))) and healthy vibes x