Solids before bottle?

[Lucysmom]

Hi - I am wondering if what I am doing is OK....My dd is not that thrilled about solids.  So what I am doing is offering solids and then immediately afterward giving her her bottle.  She has a bottle every 4 hours and drinks 6-8 ounces each time.  So 24-32 ounces a day of formula.  From reading other posts, I know this arrangement is unusual but if it seems to be working is it ok? 

Also, what is the best second meal to introduce?  She always has breakfast, but at lunch it does not seem that she is hungry.  She will suck down her bottle but she is not interested in solids.  I have not tried a meal later in the day.  Since her last bottle is the bedtime bottle, I guess I could do solids sometime around 5?

I feel like a miserable failure in regards to feeding solids!     Please help!  Thanks!

[ry,cait&alex]

Melissa-solids are NOT the easiest thing in the world to introduce.  These babies have NO idea what it is that we are shoveling into them and they aren't quite sure about the texture.  It will take your lo a while to get the hang of it.  As most of the ladies can attest to, my saying is "whatever works for you, is what you do".  If you aren't having a problem with it and you aren't hurting anyone and you aren't breaking a law, have at it.  I try to start off with solids first and then after a couple of bites, I give Cait a "drink" of milk to wash everything down with.  I mean, I drink a soda with my dinner, why wouldn't she want something also?  Now, this doesnt' always work.  Especially after nap, she will suck the bottle down first as she is starving, but I try to save an ounce to wash everything down after her solids.  I give breakfast with cereal and a bottle, then at lunch jar food and a bottle, at 3ish we get a snack bottle only and then about 6:30 we get the rest of the jar food and a bottle.  Cait takes 6 oz each time, so she is up to 24 oz a day plus food 3 times a day.  Do what works for you.   :wink:

bj

[Little Bear's Mum]

Melissa, my son is 8.5 months and about a month ago we started him on solids first then bottle about an hour later. Since doing that he eats a lot more solids and still drinks enough milk. We still struggle with dinner though as he often doesn't seem to want it, but after a while he does eat.

One thing I did realised was I was trying to feed him lunch at 'our' lunch time, around 12 noon and dinner around 5-5.30pm. These were too late for him and he was overly hungry and the food wasn't satisfying his immediate requirement to feel full like milk does. So we started feeding him earlier and he has been a lot happier since. Lunch is now 11.30am and dinner around 4.30pm.

[Lucysmom]

Hi BJ and Hayley - Sorry I did not reply sooner but I was away at my parents' for a while.  Thanks for your replies and reassurance!    So I am still trying to get things settled in terms of feeding but the last two days seem to be going a bit better.  She ate a bunch of cereal mixed with pears this morning and then right after drank 5 ounces.  I am wondering if I should do a bottle first thing in the morning and then solids an hour later as she usually drinks 7 ounces and I would think that she would be thirsty first thing in the morning.   

Hayley - Can you post your feeding schedule - what he eats/drinks at what time?  I am having a hard time wrapping my head around this and I think your feeding schedule might be a good one for Lucy.  Thanks!

Lucy still seems to have that tongue thrust reflex too.  When I put a spoon in her mouth it always feels as if her tongue is in the way or she is playing with the spoon in her mouth.  A lot of times she seems to be kind of sucking the food off the spoon.  She ends up with a lot of food on her face and lips.  I remember feeding my nephew when he was Lucy's age and he ate "properly" and it did not end up all over his face.  So I am worried about this as well.    

Thanks again Hayley and BJ!  And thanks for letting me vent my worries!

[jennc123]

I am having an issue with this, my doc recommended solids first but lately when i do this she won't take her bottle at all, i am lucky if i get 16 ounces in her per day, sometimes less.  Yesterday i did give her 6 ounces first thing in the morning ans she drank all of it and 45 minutes later i tried offering oatmeal, wanted nothing of it :roll: ..its seems either or with her...so right now i really don't know what to do, part of me wants to cut out solids for a day and just offer her milk to get her levels back up :?

[Rosielee67]

My little girl is an extremely fussy eater.  At just over 10 months she about manages the recommended 16ozs per day even if she hasn't had the solids to make up for it.  She eats plenty of baby yoghurt though which is why I don't worry too much if she doesn't get her quota of milk.  As far as any other food, sweet or savoury, she just isn't interested at the moment.  I keep being told not to worry because she will be eating 'everything in sight' at 12 months.....I'm not so sure.??

Does anyone else have this problem?  :?

[Little Bear's Mum]

Melissa, as you will see from our routine the EASY thing doesn't happen like it used to, but it's still a routine of sorts.

6.30am wake
6.50am get out of cot
7.00am breakfast (cereal & pureed fruit or yoghurt)
8.30am bottle 8 oz
9.30am nap 1
11.00am wake
11.30am lunch (veges or egg or baked beans)
1pm bottle 8 oz
2.30 nap 2
4.00pm wake / snack (biscuit or fruit)
5.00pm dinner (veges & meat + custard sometimes)
6.15pm bath
6.45pm bottle 10oz
7.00pm sleep

Just trying to stretch his lunch closer to 12noon and his dinner to this new time of 5pm. He's still struggling a little with home made food and preferring things quite sloppy still rather than chunky with home made. Chunky bought is okay though.

Hope this helps.

[jennc123]

wow, i can't believe your baby takes that much milk, today i managed to get about 15 ounces in bella, its very discouraging :wink: 

[Little Bear's Mum]

I think it's partly cos he's drinks so quickly, he'll down that size bottle in 3 minutes. Seriously!! He was fully breastfed until 7 months and I've been told they have to work harder b/feeeding, so when he went to the bottle found it really easy to suck hard. Anyway, I also think it comes down to the timing of the bottle. When we were doing it within 30 mins of finishing eating he'd only take about half.