9 mo old not drinking as much formula now...

[cam621]

Well, she is finally eating 3 meals of solids a day really well, but now is refusing her 11am bottle and not even drinking the rest of her bottles (usually about 6 oz) completely.  She just finished her nighttime bottle, and it was about 4 oz.  Should I be worried, or is it natural that they drink less formula because they are eating more solids?  Is there a correct balance?  Is 16oz of formula a day enough?  SHould I hold back on some solids?  Should I start dropping her 11am bottle and combine her 11 and 3pm bottles  and maybe add a snack in there?  Not sure how much fluids babies at this age should have...Sorry about all these quesitions but this feeding thing is really confusing!  Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated!

Thanks so much!

[*Natasha*]

Around this age alot of babies drop from 4-3 bottles even though my DD did it at 5 months 
Anyway i did the same as you are looking at doing combining the 11&3 bottle and found she was drinking alot more with 3 bottles than the 4. So what you could do is drop the 11am bottle and give a small snack or bring lunch forward if you want to. Then perhaps bring the 3pm bottle forward to 1.30/2pm if you want or if you are happy to keep it at 3pm. At this age babies need about 26-32ozs a day however this is just a guide some might take a little more or less. You will find once you drop a bottle her other bottles will increase perhaps try 7-8ozs per bottle. Also don't forget the milk you put in her cereal or food also counts. My Dd has 8ozs for breaky and dinner and about 6.5ozs at lunch. Plus 2ozs with her cereal and i always offer her 1-2ozs of milk in her sippy cup with breaky and lunch to get a bit more into her.

[cam621]

Thank  you so much.  That helped a lot.  I think I will try the 3 bottles today and hope it will work out   It is very strange to only feed her 3 bottles but I guess they can't be on bottles forever huh?   

[colenliam]

Hi,
I was just gonna post about this.
Ds has never been a big bottle eater, just doesn't seen to be a fan. (If you have seen any of my other posts you'll know)
I can only get (well this was today and today was a good day )
Morning bottle usually 6ozs and put the rest in his cereal (about 2oz)
Afternoon bottle about 4oz (will sometimes take more, like today all 8oz, but took about 2 hours to get into him)
Bedtime 2-3oz
He has been have BAD night wakings but we did just move to a new province, and he doesn't want to eat in the night.  I don't think hes hungrey.  Just not a big eater.
Also when should solids come first in his diet, cause that is all he wants

[*Natasha*]

Yes my DD was never a big milk drinker either by 2 months she has put herself onto 4hr EASY and still sleeping through the night (no dreamfeed either). She then dropped her 4th bottle at 5 months which was a big shock to me as most babies don't do this until at least 8-9months. Anyway i make her lunch bottle the smallest bottle (as this is the first bottle i plan to cut out around 12months) and make sure she is getting a full bottle in the morning and at night.
We have just swapped over breakfast and bottle as she started fussing with her bottle and she takes it alot better now after breakfast. So this is how things look:

7.30am - Breakfast cereal with 2ozs of milk mixed in and 1-2ozs of milk in a cup
8am - Bottle 8ozs
12.30am - Lunch yoghurt with 2ozs of milk in a cup
1.30pm - Bottle 6.5ozs
5.30pm - Dinner Meat and veges and sometimes pasta or rice
6.45pm - Bottle 8ozs

So in total she has about 26-28ozs a day.
So anyway if you think your DS would take less of the bottle having it after solids then don't do it yet as they still need that milk intake which is important. Could you try and do what i do and give a few ozs with meals either in a cup if he drinks from it or a bottle?
Usually around 9 months is when they say you can offer solids first to get them use to the fact that food is going to be the main source of their meals.