hard to feed milk since start eating solids

[sszskristy]

Bub is 6.5 mth and has been eating solids for 4 weeks. Three meals a day but not too much for each meal. Since the three meal is established, her milk intake drop to 17-20 oz now. I googled a lot about how much milk they should drink everyday and this amount seems just on the borderline.

But the real thing bother me is not the borderline milk intake but she is not interested in the bottle at all, especially in daytime. She can only finish the whole 5oz bottle for the last feed before bedtime and the dream feed during the night. She refuses the bottle in daytime and seems prefer the solids rather than milk.

If she has 4 bottles per day and can finish each bottle without problem then I won't be worried even though the total amount is not too much. But what she is doing now make me feel that she has problem with feeding.

Any advice please?

[creations]

Hi
Could you post your EAS times so we can see when you are giving the milk and when the solids, there may be a way to alter your routine slightly (and around naps too) to help with this.  Also are you offering purées or finger foods?

3 meals is quite a lot for a 6 month old. Many don't take 3 until more like 8 months although of course some babies really do take to solids well and enjoy it.  Mine was on 3 meals quite quickly but as it didn't lead to less interest in milk it wasn't an issue.  As you are concerned you could reduce to 2 meals and see how her interest in milk picks up, and we can look at timings and foods too?

[sszskristy]

I tried to reduce the solids but it didn't increase the daytime intake. She's just not interested in the bottle anymore. Seems like she is easy to distracted when feeding. She prefer playing and solids rather than milk now. She really want to eat when we're eating. So I give her 3 meals but just in small amount.

7:00 milk
8:00 cereal
9:30 nap
11:30 purée
13:30 milk
14:00 nap
16:30 milk
18:00purée
19:00 milk
23:00 DF
4:00 milk

I know people will suggest me to give milk first then solids after the first nap but trust me she just won't take it. This routine works best for her. I hope she can follow a perfect routine as well but things is just easier said than done.

[creations]

Yes switching to milk first then solids an hour later would be my first step.
At 6 months I really wouldn't want her milk to drop any further than it is already.  20oz is acceptable and in addition any dairy solids count towards that milk intake but it might be wise to remember that her formula is a complete meal with all the balance of vitamins and minerals whilst solids or dairy solids are not.

Switching to milk first may not show any effect in just one or two days, you may need to stick at it longer to help change the balance of milk/solids, the same goes for reducing or cutting one of the solids meals, it would take several days for her to get the idea that she needs to take more milk.

LOs are generally good at self regulation and meeting their needs but I would be cautious of allowing her day time bottles to drop at this age, it is not advised.  If it was me I'd take her to a very quiet, possibly dimly lit room with no distractions for her bottle feeds and reduce solids until she gets the message to take her milk.

I know people will suggest me to give milk first then solids after the first nap but trust me she just won't take it

This is where you need to decide whether to trust her choice or to put your foot down as her parent.  Whilst you say 'trust me she will not take it', she is not the one in charge, she's 6 months old and it is ultimately for you to decide what is best.

I would switch to milk first solids second but I would also bring the solids a bit closer to the milk time so that there is a longer time gap between the solids and her next milk feed, giving her time to build up more of an appetite. Something like:
7.00 milk
8.00 breakfast
9.30 nap
11.30 milk
12.00/12.30 lunch
2.00 nap
4.30 milk (or earlier if the nap ends earlier)
5.30 solids (or cut this meal altogether)
7.00 milk
11 DF milk
4 NF milk

it might also be that she is dropping milk in the day and preferring solids due to there being two night feeds. Rather than allowing her to drop her day time milk I would be more inclined to gradually wean the night feed so she has more appetite for milk in the day, leaving 4 decent day time milk feeds and the DF.

hope this helps

[Lolly]

I think Creation's post is spot on - she has given you good advice and the routine she has posted is exactly what my bottle fed babies were doing at 6 months.

We dropped to 3 bottles at 8 months with DD which is earlier than is usual as she was a refluxer and we had to get a balance between solids which were helping the reflux and enough milk to get her needs met.

I think dropping the night milk is a good idea too, she should be fine with DF or the NF at this age. You can do it gradually by dropping 1oz every 3 nights or so.

The other thing to consider is what size teat/nipple are you using? If it's not the fastest one then I would swap it.

You do need to stick to any new way of doing things for at least a week before you know if it is working or not.

Laura

[sszskristy]

thanks guys I will be trying to fix her routine from now on. I'll let u know how things is going. BTW, her second tooth has been coming out lately, could this be the reason that she refuses the bottle? When she had her first tooth she was fuzzy for 1 or 2 days, but didn't have feeding issue as I remember.

[creations]

I would have thought she'd be more likely to skip solids than milk if she has pain from teething, it's quite common for LOs to either go off solids or be fussy with which solids they want during teething but I don't think I've seen any previous threads about dropping milk with teething.

[sszskristy]

Hello, guys, just let you know things has got improved a lot these days. First of all, I weaned her off from night feeding around 4:00 am. It was easier than I thought, just pat her for 5 minutes and she went back to sleep very soon. It already happened 3 nights in a row. Secondly, I give her milk first as u suggested after the first nap. She takes it, almost 4-5 oz.

But I still have a problem. She needs extra milk before her afternoon nap around 14:00. About 3 oz. She is really hungry and can't go to sleep. I think maybe it is because I remove the NF and she still has the same amount as before at 7:00 am and 11:00 am, which makes it like I  transfer the NF to 14:00.

And after the afternoon nap, not surprisingly, her 16:00 feed would drop a little bit as she just had some milk 2 hours ago. Is there anyway to fix this problem or just leave it? I hope she can add the NF amount to the 7:00 and 11:00 feed, not an extra feed at 14:00!

Here is the routine in the past days since I post here:

7:00 milk 4oz
8:00 breakfast
9:00 nap
11:00 milk 5oz
12:00 lunch
13:30 milk 3oz
14:00 nap
16:00 milk 2.5oz
17:30 dinner
19:00 milk 5oz
23:00 DF 3oz

[creations]

Wow, you made great moves forwards

I think she is used to having a milk before her nap isn't she? It could be a little bit of habit because she is used to having a milk at that time (and it gets her ready for sleep) but also she maybe just can't make it right through until after nap time as it would be more like 5hrs between milk feeds.  LOs do tend to naturally extend the milk times when there are solids and naps between but she might not be ready just yet to go to 5 hrs E.
You could try the 1.30 milk earlier, say as a top-up right after her lunch which might help her be hungry enough for a full milk feed after the nap as it would put some extra time between the milks.

Are you offering water with her solids to make sure she is not thirsty?

[sszskristy]

yes u r right, like I mentioned I used to offer solids first then milk at noon, so she did have a bottle right before the afternoon nap. And the 5 hour stretch also make sense. So I am gonna try what u just told me!

yes I give her some water right after solids. But not too much she spil out some of them.