Still struggling with timing of meals

[Sarah O]

Hey guys,

I feel like a broken record here and I apologize. ::)I'm unsure about how to get these meals coordinated with my babies' naps.  Right now they wake at 6:30ish.  Feed at 7am.  Crash by 8am.  If they sleep for two hours which is what I'm working on with them, that takes us to 10am.  Surely that's not the right time to have a solids meal because they're about to have a bottle at 11am?  But I can't cram the breakfast in BEFORE the nap because a) they're not hungry and b) they start to get too grumpy/tired.  And so this pattern continues through the day: they feed at 11am and need to nap by 1ish...and if it's an hour and a half or two hours that brings us to 2:30 or 3 and surely that's too late for lunch and they have a  bottle at 3pm anyway??

Should I just hold off on getting too far into solids until their awake time is a bit more and cram the meals in before the naps?  They're 6.5 months old.

Thanks guys,

Sarah

[notenoughshelfspace]

Not sure how old your little ones are but this is what I used to do.
Wake up 8- have a four oz bottle, get her changed take upstairs finger food etc... Cereal and fruit at 8:30.
9:30 Nap for two hours
Lunch 12:00- With water in a beaker
Nap 1:30- A bottle (5oz)
Wake up 3:30 Bottle (-5oz)
Solids 5 ( with water)
Bedtime bottle at 7:15 (10oz)

[Sarah O]

Thanks for your reply.  They are 6.5 months old.  Your schedule's quite a bit different than ours.  For starters I'm reluctant to offer solids before bottle (like you did at lunch) because my bubs have a tendency to fill up on solids and then not take their bottle.  But if I give a bottle they won't be hungry for solids until it's smack in the middle of nap-time.  Ah well.  I'm not going to stress too much about it.  I'm sure time will correct everything...that's certainly been the case so far whenever the BW techniques haven't worked (extending naps, independent sleep, etc).

Thanks!

Sarah

[notenoughshelfspace]

Fair enough, time does tend to sort things out. Sorry not to be more help.

[magicbelly]

Hi Sarah O

I am on the exact schedule as yourself and had the same queries. I give morning bf 6.30-7am, the solid feed around 10am when she wakes (2-3 teaspoons) and then bf at 11am. What i find happens is although she may not bf as much she makes up for it at her 2.30-3pm feed. I have introduced the second solids now at 5-5.30 before the catnap (which she still needs) then bf at 7pm and dreamfeed 10pm. I only started doing this solid schedule a few days ago after re-reading Tracey's advice where she states that we must be consistent with the feeds so babies know what to expect and develop the routine. She also suggests that solids should be given before the bf (except start the day with a bf). I was all over the place with my solid schedule before this but now it seems to be working fine and the routine is good.

I am not sure how i will introduce the third feed just yet but it is all still early days. I will soon start thinking about dropping the df that is suggested from 7 months so i am not sure how i will manage getting the extra calories in the day?

You are right though, everything seems to just work itself out in the end.

[Sarah O]

Hey Magicbelly,

Thanks for your reply.  How old is your LO? Maybe we can venture into dropping the DF together!  I'm reluctant to drop it for one of mine though 'cuz he's not into solids yet AT ALL and I fear he will start waking because of hunger without the DF.  Do you know whether dropping the DF is based on them being well entrenched in solids or is it dropped regardless?

Sarah

[notenoughshelfspace]

I dropped mine before I introduced solids so you can do it before.

[magicbelly]

Sarah O

My bub is 6.5months also. Basiclly as I understand we have to get the food in through the day to account for the df we will not be giving. It would be great to work through this together and throw our experiences back and forth. As long as they are getting the calories (milk or food) I dont think it matters how much solid food they are taking. Some feeds I feel as if my bub ate nothing at all.

BTY, I puree my own food and this week I am offering puree avacado and pear together, she loves it and a good source of healthy fats. Avacado on its own was too thick and she didnt take it mixed with breastmilk.  Food for thought!

[mom2asher]

Hi Sarah,

My son is almost 8 months but is on the same schedule as he was when he was the age of your little ones. He too gets up around 6:30( have to wake him up to take him to grandmas). He has a bottle at 7 and then solids at 8:30. Goes down for a nap after that, naps from 9-11, Bottle at 11:00 and then solids at 12:30. Nap from around 1-3 and then bottle at 3. Solids at 5:30 and last bottle at 7:00. Bed at 7:45. We dropped the dream feed about a month ago. I added an ounce to each bottle during the day over the course of a couple days. Then I took away ounces at night. He was only doing about 4 ounces during the df so I did 2 nights of 3 oz, 2 nights of 2 oz and then nothing. He did fine with it. I think he probably didn't need it for a while before we dropped it but I was too nervous to find out! I know it is hard to keep little ones up when they want to sleep in the morning:) How much sleep do they get at night? I found that putting my son to sleep a little earlier at night, just 30 minutes or so, made him sleep longer in the morning ( weird I know). Anyway, I hope this helps a little bit. Good luck.
Kim

[magicbelly]

Thanks Kim, that looks like a good schedule, and a good sleeper you have. A couple of questions out of curiosity:

1. When did he drop the afternoon catnap?
2. Did he wake for the dreamfeed when you dropped it?

Thanks again.

[shells]

I'm not sure if this will help but this routine really works for us. Mind you it has taken us over a month to get here.
6:00-6-30wakes
7:00-BF
7:30-8:00 2Tbs cereal (we are still struggling with this meal most times she will only have a few bits but I still offer her it , I figure when she wants it she will eat)
8:30nap usually 1- 11/2 hrs
11:00bf
12:30 2tbs cereal, 2tbs veggies
1:00-1-30nap usually 1hr
3:00bf
5:00nap 30min
6:00 2tbs cereal, 2tbs veggies
6:45 bath
7:00 bf
7:30 bed

My lo still has a feed in the night usually around 3-4am but I also have not done a dream feed for almost 2 months, I don't know if this schedule will help but it has worked for me so far.

[magicbelly]

Thanks very much Shells, thats great. BTY how old is you lo?

[shells]

My lo is 6.5months

[Sarah O]

Hey Magicbelly,

I make all my own baby food too (including cereals), and avocado "blends" are very popular with one of my guys too.  We've done avocado and banana, avocado and peach, avocado and pear, and avocado and yogurt with wheatgerm.

Do you make cereals too?  If so, how do you get them smooth enough??  My rice cereal and millet cereal SEEMS to be finely ground when I put it through the food processor but as soon as it's cooked, it's like oatmeal.  Any tips?

Sarah

[magicbelly]

I like your avacado blends, i shall try them. i havent started cereals yet but why not try cooking them first and then blending?

I have been thinking about my lo night sleeping pattern because last night she woke 3.30am screaming, she was unwrapped at the end of the bed (which isn't unusual) so straightened her up and back to sleep but she didnt settle and ending up having a huge gulping feed. I really think as soon as i bend over the cot and she smells me/feels me she has a one track mind whether she is hungry or not. Anyway she hardly fed at 7am this morning. To my point - it seems i have a patterm over a week or two of a few good sleep through nights, a couple of nights i need to re-settle and an odd night I cant settle and she takes a feed. What are your lo's like now? Do they always sleep through or do you find a similar pattern occuring?

Also i have changed feeding solids this week to 8/8.30am and 5/5.30pm each before nap time rather than the midday feed and it is fitting in well. If i bf a few minutes early (around 6.45am) as Chloe is usually awake earlier than this it frees up that little bit more time in the morning.

Have you started a 3rd feed yet?