HELP!! Need to find an EASY sched for 5 month old already eating solids!!

[ebuffano]

Hi everyone! I am desperate to find a schedule for my 5 month old who is now eating solids. There is only one feed in which I can get 4 hours in between bc of her naps. The other feeds she struggles to finish 5oz and I think it's bc she's just not that hungry. Here is the schedule she is on now:

5/6am 5 oz bottle then sleep til 8

8am wake up and eat by 8:15 (5oz) sometimes have to mix with rice and feed in spoon to get her to finish it.
8-945 play
950/10 sleep until 1145

1145 wake up
1215 eat (5oz) and veggie
1145-140 play
145/150-310 sleep

310 wake up
310-450 play.  340 eat (5oz)
455-6 sleep
630 5oz bottle

730 bath/bedtime routine with bottle 4oz
8 goal to be asleep

Sleeps til 5/6am gets bottle goes back to sleep until 8

I really want her on a 4 hour schedule bc I don't think she's hungry enough at 3 or 3.5 esp with solids. I don't know how to do this bc she has the three naps and she does need that last one or she gets cranky. Please help me!!!

[Lolly]

Hello and welcome to the forums!

Is there a medical reason you have started solids early, to help reflux for example? If there isn't and solids are interfering with her milk intake then I would scale the solids back as milk is far more important for them than solids until they are 1. The BW way is to give solids about an hour after a milk feed and build up slowly. Most babies aren't on 2 solids meals until around 7 months.

She is getting nearly 30oz of milk which is an ok amount of milk in 24 hours. If she has a bottle at 5/6am she won't be hungry for another one until at least 9am, so I would try an reduce that feed to wean her off it and hopefully start your day with a proper milk feed. The best way to do it is to reduce the amount in the bottle by 1oz every 3 nights. You may have to start your day before 8am, but you will also be able to get onto a better nap routine as you are heading for dropping the catnap and having 2 good naps a day.

Have a look at this link which has some examples of routines for the age of your baby.
chronological EASY samples, 4-6 months

What do you think?

Laura

[ebuffano]

Thank you for your input. There was no medical reason. She was just ready. She eyes our food and would grab and now she even holds the spoon and puts it in her mouth. She just started going from 8pm to 5am with no feeds and I kind of attribute that to her getting the solids as she want doing this before. I'm not pushing her to full meals of just solids by any means but since she loves them I was trying to find a better way to get them in. When she has the 4 hrs between the 815 and 1215 feed she takes the bottle and solids like a champ. It's the 3 hrs in between that we struggle. I really didn't want to wean that 5am feed becasue she just started going brought the night and with my work schedule and having my mom and mil watch her doing the day the 8am wake time is great 7:30 would even work.
I really don't want her to start her days at 5am or 6 as she doesn't get to bed until 8 because of our schedules. I really want to move her to a 4 hr routine but I just don't know how and all the examples show a 7am wake time and 7/730 bedtime.

[Lolly]

You could still use those routines, use the timings from the wake up time that suits your family.

To get a 4 hour EASY you just need to push the afternoon feed a bit and not feed at 6.30, so instead of 3.40 I would feed at 4/ 4.15 and then just before sleep. Those timings fit in with the naps you have.

If you want to keep the 5am feed, that's up to you but don't expect her to take a full feed less than 4 hours from that feed. Keep an eye on how much solids she has as things like rice cereal are pretty empty calories but can fill them up too much so they get less calories from their milk. Solids now are just for tastes and textures, not to replace any milk.

Your A times are on the short side for her age too, so you may want to think about moving her towards 2.5 hours which will make your catnap shorter as you work towards dropping it. The catnap is only supposed to be about 40 mins, it's meant to tide them over to bedtime so as yours is just over an hour, if you stretch the A times you have the scope for a shorter catnap. You may find that if the A times increase she sleeps through that 5am feed time by herself.

Laura