Sample routine including solids for 6 mth old

[Gage and Sophie's Mom]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone would like to share their EASY routine with me. We FINALLY made it to a 4 hr EAS and I am wondering if I am doing it right. I couldnt find many sample for a "6 mth old" above, and I am still up in the air with when to feed solids and if/when to extend A time past 2 hrs. Thanks in advance.

[*Natasha*]

This is our schedule now but it has been like this since 5 months.

7.30am - Bottle 7oz
8.15am - Cereal approx 3tabls with a few tabls of yoghurt and cows milk (approx 2oz)
9.30am - Sleep 1.5-2hrs
12pm - Fruit approx 3 tabls then some custard
1pm - Bottle 7oz
2pm - Sleep 1.5-2hrs
5pm - Veges approx 3tabls, 1tabls of meat and sometimes pasta/rice
6pm - Bath
6.30pm - Bottle 7oz
7pm - Bed for the night until approx 7am.

[Gage and Sophie's Mom]

Hi Natasha! Thanks for your reply. We have so many things going on right now, I am just searching for answers on the different boards to make sense of it all. As a result I am getting more confused. This was our routine yesterday and then I will list what issues we are working on. Maybe you cans ee soemthing I cant.

7:45 Wake
8:00 6oz
9:00 apple sauce (very little was crabby)
9:05 sleep

11:00 Wake
11:10 apple sauce
Outing
1:00 7.5 oz
1:30 Sleep

3:10 wake
4:00 8oz
4:30 Peas and cereal (I tried to get food in him before he got crabby)
5:10 sleep

5:45 I woke him
bedtime routine 4oz (very cranky)
7:25 Sleep

7:40 woke crying (picked up, reswaddle, tucked in)
8:00 sleep

1:20 am 6oz of watered fromula
4:45 2.5 oz of watered formula

7:30am wake

1. Getting rid of night feeds. He was waking every 3 hrs until transition to 4 hr EASY. Was doing well with only one early morning feed until this morning. I have been watering down formula because not eating during the day.

2. Increase A time to get rid of early morning wakening. This is between 4-6am depending on bedtime. He will eat between 6-4 oz and then stay awake anywhere from 30 min to 1.5 hr playing and groaning. Early rising is also making first A time difficult. A viscious cycle

3. Finding the right combo. of A time and amount of naps to prevent night wakening. We had just been through that. Increasing A time has sure helped.

4. Maybe teething I am not sure. He is used to eat solids great and now not eating as much.

5. Got rid of the Aussie Swaddle, but it is back again. He falls asleep fine without it, but I figured out that it is the culprit of his 45 min naps, so it is back again.

I just dont know where to start with these dillemas as they are so interconnected. I want to establish a fairly consistent schedule so that there is some predictability in the day. I am also confused about watching his tired cues vs. watching the clock to increase A time.

Thanks in advance for the help.

[Colin Macs Mom]

Hi Gage's mom, I just wanted to add a couple of things... have you tried to extend the 1:30 nap? I suspect that lengthening that might help you especially at night. Glad to see that you're getting rid of the night feeds, we did that somewhere between 5.5 and 6 months and it has helped a lot with nighttime. I'm surprised that Gage is still eating not once but twice at night! I think that once you get rid of those you will see improvement.

I would also suggest doing solids about an hour after a bottle - the 4:00 8 oz and solids at 4:30 is rather close together.

[*Natasha*]

Hi Their (Don't want to keep calling you Gage's Mom),

First of all i want to say Gage is a really gorgeous boy i have been meaning to tell you that for a while now.
1.Firstly i want to tell you not to worry about Gage not eating alot of Solids my DD is going through the same thing at the moment especially with her breakfast. We just keep offering it to her and gather she will soon start eatting it all again. We just offer her the same amount everyday until she doesn't want anymore. I think she is getting bored with boring cereal so tomorrow we are going to try her on some toast.She is teething at the moment which is certainly contributing to her solid intake. Now bottle wise in Australia they say when babies are eating 3 solid meals well and getting plenty of calcuim from yoghurt and cheese that 600-800mls (21-28ozs) of formula is fine for babies at this age over 3-4feeds plus some on their cereal. Catherine has approx 650mls (22ozs) of milk in a day. However i have read on this site they recommend 25-32ozs for this age. But it looks like you fit into this range anyway.
2. I think the first thing to work on is getting rid of the night waking and you need to this slowly instead of watering down formula try slowly decreasing the amount you give him. Soon he will realised that it isn't worth waking for such a small feed and sleep through.
3.As for the swaddle if you are happy continueing to swaddle for the time being until routine worked out you can slowly wean him off that later.
4. Ok last thing is routine for the day. Now i think waking up as late as 5.45 may be contibuting to him waking after 20mins of going to bed. Here is my suggestion with 3 naps which could work and help with the night waking as well. As you have this under contol you can slowly extend AWAKE time slight to get rid of the cat nap. I notice he is only up for about an hour before going down for his first nap. Could you possibly strech this out a bit. You say he gets grizzly so does mine and it often means bordem.

7:30 Wake
8:00 6oz
9:00 apple sauce (very little was crabby)
9:30/9.45 (depending on mood) sleep
11:00 Wake
11:30 apple sauce
Outing
1:00 7.5 oz
1:30 Sleep
3:00wake
4:00 8oz
4:30 sleep (only let him sleep 30mins just to help get through to bedtime)
5:10 Peas and cereal (Might be happier to eat here)
6:00 bedtime routine 4oz (try and increas this to 7-8ozs when night time feeds disapear)
7:30 Sleep

When you switch to 2 naps slowly increase A time and put down for nap at 10&2/2.30.
I know this is alot to take in i hope i haven't scared yo to much. Work on things slowly it may take you a week to overcome each thing but it will be worth it
Feel free to ask anymore questions you may have.

[Gage and Sophie's Mom]

Oh my word Natasha! Thanks so much for taking the time to help me. Yesterday was Awesome except for the 2 night feeds.  You know we were down to one a couple of weeks ago and now it is back again. I think it has to do with not getting enough during the day. Early this morning I did try to limit his intake and he got ticked. That is why I thought I would water it down because he gets so mad if he doesn't get to finish on his own.

I think you are right about the boredom thing because I can keep Gage up an additional 30 min if we are out without any fuss. As a result i have been trying to get as much as possible, but geez that is getting tiring too. It also throws of eating because it is either inconvenient to feed or he is too busy looking around to eat

Anyhow, thanks a million for the help. I will defiantly give your suggestions a go. By the way, Gage went to sleep on his own last night without waking 20 min later. I will keep you posted.

[*Natasha*]

Thats a great start keep me posted and let me know if you want any help for the help of 3-2naps i am happy to help