Problems taking bottle now that we started solids...

[Jacksmom77]

I've read a few other posts where people have had this same problem - my DS started rice cereal about 2 weeks ago & now he is not wanting to take his bottle...any suggestions on what to do? Also - just curious, what are other people's LO's eating now that they've started rice cereal & what times? TIA!!!

[tylersmommy]

How old is he and how much cereal are you offering? How many ounces of formula did he used to take per day, and how much is he taking now?

[Jacksmom77]

He's 4 1/2 months old.  He is doing very well with the cereal - has never been very successfull with breast or bottle. I'll be lucky if he takes 4 ounces every 3 hours.  Now that I have incorporated the rice cereal (mixed with fruit - per the dr.'s suggestion - he is taking about 3 ounces every 4 hours - I'm offering him the rice cereal 2xday - about 1 1/2 tbsp - again, per dr.'s suggestion. 

[tylersmommy]

Have you tried cutting back on the cereal? It can be pretty filling, and often reducing the amount of solids you offer can help keep him interested in his bottles.

[Critter]

Do you give a dream feed?  That's another way to get calories in.  Also, remember that whatever milk/formula you're using to mix the formula counts as formula intake, so if you're using 2 oz of formula, then remember to add that to the day's total.  Another thing you might try is making sure that solids and bottles are spaced pretty far apart.  We did and still do give Luke his solids and bottles about 2 hours apart.  Solids are given before sleep time (with the exception of dinner...we give a bottle about an hour after dinner).  Here's Luke's schedule:

6:30 wake and bottle
8:30 breakfast
9:00 nap
10:30 bottle
12:30 lunch
1:00 nap
3:00 bottle
4:00 snack (he's 8 months old and we just added this)
5:30 dinner
6:00 bath
6:30 bottle and bedtime.

[Critter]

I forgot to mention that this has pretty much been Luke's bottle schedule since he was about 2 months old (with the exception of night feedings).  He put himself on a 4 hour EASY.  We just added in the solids in between his bottles. 

To answer the "other foods" question, I started with green veggies.  Green beans were his first veggie and I gave him a half a jar of stage 1 green beans with a little cereal for dinner for a week.  Just watch your baby's cues.  He'll tell you when he's ready for you to add more.  The next veggie we gave was peas, then squash, then sweet potatoes, then we introduced fruit at breakfast, so he had breakfast and dinner.  I guess after that it was about a month before we added lunch in.

[Jacksmom77]

Thank you both for the suggestions & thank you Amy for the schedule - I'm going to try & cut back his cereal a little & move him to 4 hour (he's been on 3) & see if that works - thanks again!

[LŠuren]

Jacks mom let us kno how you get on and if we can help you move to 4hrs.