Feeding routine for 6-9months

[Bevers]

Thanks for all your postings - My bub (what does DD stand for??) was like clockwork 3hrs feeds and sleeping through the night from 3months, then at 3.5months he started to wake in the night,cry when he finished 7oz and one 24hr period had 52oz of formula (Aptimal 1) so we weaned him, within a week he was on 3 meals a day of veg and baby rice and fruit, HV said too soon as he was dropping milk feeds so went to brek and lunch only and tried Aptimal extra (hungry baby milk) BTW he is 18lb7 now at 5months, he loved the milk and so we have stuck to 2 meals and feeds however he went a bit random and so I am trying to reinstate a routie, checked with doc and now ok to add in dinner - just put him to bed and he had 7oz and another 5oz of a second bottle - cried for it was inconsolible - think he's ready for dinner. The good thing is he is now going through the night again - since hungry baby milk at 4months. Also going to introduce Chicken and Turkey from Sat.
This is a mix of what he's been doing (thankfully he self settles to sleep at 7.15-7.30pm after lots of baby whispering techniques since 3 wks old). I was tearing my hair out not knowing when I can get out of the house and do things as we were blessed by him being like clockwork from 2 to 3.5 months, I shouldnt moan!!
Here is the plan
6.00 8oz formula (drains the bottle most mornings)
6.30 Breakfast (usually happy to eat more, fruit/2tsp baby rice)
7.00-8.00 Activity (play, toys, nursery rhymes generally play alone at this time some stimulation)
8.00 Nap for 40 mins to an 1 hr (will be in car on way to Nana’s when I go back to work in 4wks)
9.20 5-7oz formula
9.40-10.30 Activity (needs more stimulation/or Fridays has swimming lesson)
10.40 Nap for 1 to 2 hrs (usually sleeps after swimming)
11.30/12.30 Lunch (formula and food)
12.30-1.30 Activity (lots of stimulation)
1.30/2.00 Nap for 40 mins to 2 hours
2.30/3.30 5-7oz formula/play
5.00 to 5.30 dinner (from 21wks)
5.30 30 min power nap – may or may not need/Activity
6.15 stories (wake if still asleep)
6.30 bath, gentle games, dry, massage, into night clothes
6.50 7oz formula
7.30 sound asleep

Wish me luck!!

[BabyBsMommy]

Bevers - I had to start my bf DS on solids at about 4.5 months because he needed more, too.  After talking to the DR and seeing that he wasn't gaining much weight all of a sudden (and was a big boy), started to need to feed more, etc. we decided to try it.  Although we didn't start anything other than rice cereal and oatmeal until almost 6 months, it made all the difference with him.

[edjo]

Hi,

My LO Eva is 7.5 months, this is what she is up to

Bottle 6:30am (220ml)
A
S 9am
E 10:30 Breakfat 3tsp mixed cereal + apple or pear or mashed banana
A
Bottle 11:30 (150-200ml)
A
S 1pm
E 2:30 Lunch Pureed sweet potato/potato/maybe some chicken and a swirl of pear or apple (she likes it sweet!)
A
Bottle 3:30 (150-200ml)
Cn 5pm
E 6pm Dinner/Supper Banana custard mixed with rice cereal, or another jar of something
A Bath/Bedtime routine
Bottle before & after bath (150-200ml)
S 6:30 - 7:00pm

I do the food before the bottle as this worked out well moving to 4 hourly feeds.  I am just starting to think about finger food, but I gave Eva some bread & butter the other day and she just squished it in her hand and wiped it all over herself - very cute!

[Lockyer]

Hi all,
Mason is 9mths 1 week. This is his day-

6-6.30am wake, bottle 180mls
7.30-8am bfast weetbix, stewed apple
9-11am nap
11am bottle 180mls
12-12.30 lunch- veggies and finger foods (apple, cheese. melon etc)
2-4pm nap
4pm bottle 180mls
5-5.30pm dinner this is sometimes what we are having or fruit and yoghurt
6.50pm bottle 240mls
7pm bedtime

We are not set in this pattern of eating though. Sometimes he will have cereal for dinner and mashed banana and yoghurt (or something similar) for breakfast. It all depends on where we are and what he has already had. He is a really good eater though so I just go with the flow.

Take care, ness xx

[crissy64]

Feed back appreciated... Not sure if I'm overfeeding and at what point his feeding schedule should change or when reduction of milk should begin. I've read some moms dropping formula feedings slowly at one point or giving solids before milk??? The only feeding Gavin has dropped was his 4 AM feeding once he started sleeping through the night. He is a big baby at 90th percentile. 29" long and 20 lbs. at 7 months. I never try to force feed him. If I think he has had enough I will stop.

Gavin is 7 months and 2 wks old. Our schedule usually goes something like this:

7AM-  6-7 oz formula
9:30AM- breakfast (banana oatmeal w/ 1/2 jar of baby food fruit flavor)
10 AM- NAP for about 40 min.-1 hour
11:30AM- 6-7 oz. formula
play time (toys, tummy time, videos, stroller walk)
1 or 1:30PM- lunch (1/2 jar to full jar baby food, yogurt)
2-3pm- Nap (sometimes a little longer)
3:30pm- 6 oz. formula
5:30pm- Dinner 1/2 jar - full jar of veggies (likes peas, carrots, squash, sweet potatos) and a little yogurt for dessert
may take a cat nap if he seems tired but no more than 25-30 min. it depends on how well he naped during the day
7:15- bath
7:30- 6-7 oz formula and then bedtime

During the day he also gets some water or juice in between feedings and some natural fruit or cheerios as snacks.

[Freya'sMum]

crissy64,

Your schedule looks fine!

I think at 7.5 months los still need more milk less solid foods, and as Gavin is having between 24 and 27floz milk per day, about central in the recommended range for babies this age, I wouldn't drop a milk feed unless he seems disinterested in his solid foods.

The milk-solid foods balance begins to even out at around 9-10 months, and then solid foods overtake milk between 10 and 12 months, so this is when most babies start to either reduce their milk intake or drop a specific feed, or solids are offered before milk - but as Gavin is having milk and solid foods at 2-hourly intervals anyway, that doesn't really apply!

If his milk intake reduces at all, then you might be overfeeding on solid foods, otherwise, trust his instincts as you have been so far - you both seem to be doing a great job working it out!

Ax

[crissy64]

Ax thansk for your reply..greatly appreciate it!

[heyyue]

My little pumpkin Conner is 6 months and 1 week old. Our feeding routine looks like this:

Wakes at 6am it used to be 5:30. I go in at 6:30 now where before I used to wait till seven but I found that he was to tired to eat solids when I was doing this. Change nappy than

E:@ 6:40 bottle around 180ml sometimes 150ml
A:7am-7:30
E:7:30 (3 cubes of solids which equates to 25grams=1 ounce=30ml)
S: 8:30am down for nap falls asleep around 8:45 sometimes sleeps 1hr1/2 other times 45min
if he wakes at 10am
A: we have activity time until 10:30-10:45

E: 10:45 bottle 140ml-170ml
A: 11am-11:30
E: 11:35 (3 cubes)
A: 11:45-12:25
S: Down for nap around 12:30 sleeps 1hr1/2
A:2pm-2:30

E:@ 2:45-3pm bottle 150ml-170ml
A: 3:10-3:30
E: 3:45 (will only have 2 cubes sometimes 3 on this feed)
A: 4pm-415
S: down for nap @ 4:25 falls asleep around 4:45 sleeps solid until 7pm

E:7pm bottle 210-180
A: 7:10 bath
S: 7:30

DF 11am sleeps till 6am
His milk consumption has dropped heaps have others experienced this?

[Freya'sMum]

3 solid food meals per day is quite a lot for a lo of only 6 months, altho I see that the quantity at each meal is not huge. Generally babies need to maintain their pre-solid foods milk intake and use solid foods to top-up if they remain hungry, so if your lo was having 30oz per day before you introduced solids foods, he should still be having 30oz now with solid foods on top. If his milk intake has reduced significantly, he could be having too big a quantity of solid foods. Otherwise, I'm impressed by the routine you have going - well done!

Ax

[fitzyp]

hello...am hoping for some advise from all you wonderful mums & dads out there...I have looked but cannot seem to find a schedule to match the amount of food my little one is currently consuming.

A bit of background...was on 3 meals of solids plus milk a day ( 4weeks ago)..just cereal...sleeping thru. Just flew him from Oz to Uk....was a little disturbed at night and started waking at 1am & 5am for a feed. I was taken into hospital quite suddenly ( flashing lights n everything so no time to express, he has been bf ..never had formula)...he was without me most of the day and had 5 meals of solids...rice cereal..fruit ..pumpkin etc...and water ( he has been drinking water well)....that night he slept straight thru.

I continued with that for 3 days ( to see if it was a fluke or not)..he slept soundly every night. However as i was a little concerned that he was eating too much I cut him back to 3 ..and bang...1 & 5am wakings last night!!

Should I continue with 5.....

Jake is 7.5 months

routine...more or less as we do fluctuate

7am bf
8am porridge
10am bf
1100am pumpkin/sweet pots...with rice cereal or s fruit mixed with cereal
1300 bf (sometimes no bf here)
1400 pumpkin/sweet pots/carrots etc..plus rice cereal
1600 bf
1700 fruit with cereal
1900 bf and bed.........now this is where he has started to ask for another solid...AND I am reluctant to give as am thinking its too much.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated...he is a big baby ...nearly 10 kilos...and is exceptionaly active...NEVER sits still.

Thank you

[Freya'sMum]

Fitzyp,

At 7.5 months Jake should still be taking as much milk as he did before you introduced solids, so one way to assess whether he's eating too many solid foods is to see if his milk intake has decreased, as you are bf this wouldn't be an accurate measurement but he might feed for less time, or refuse to latch on.

If he's maintaining his milk intake and has room for all the solids you're offering, then I think you can trust his instincts that he wants it, but perhaps you could increase the portions at regular mealtimes rather than offer 5 separate smaller solid feeds, that way he doesn't get into the habit of snacking (although that's about personal choice, I'm not saying that snacking is wrong/bad, just that it seems you have a lot of feeding to do!).

If his milk intake has decreased, then you don't want to fill him up with more solids, but offer him more milk, which is what he needs more of at this tender age!

HTH a bit, and that you are fully recovered from your hospital adventure?

Ax

[marlabarla]

Hi all, have read with interest.....

Right now Baz (long story..!) is 6.5 months old.  He's a big baby (was 4.5 kgs at birth and now is almost 9kgs) and has always had  a mix of bf and formula well.  I introduced solids about 3 weeks ago and he's now just got to 3 meals a day.  Routine is very similar to many I have read:

7am 5 - 7 oz formula
8am breakfast 2 - 3 teaspoons cereal and fruit
9 - 10 nap
11am 5oz
12 baby rice/potato and veggies
12.30 - 1.30/2 nap
2.30 5 oz
4.30 - 5 nap (most days but sometimes skips this sleep)
5pm baby rice and veggies
6 bath
6.30 7 oz formula

My problem is that he used to wake in the night at around 3am for a feed of between 5 - 7 oz.  Now, since introducing solids, he actually wakes twice or sometimes three times.  I give a bottle the first time he wakes but then try to settle him without the other times.  This does not always work as often he'll take another bottle of 5 oz at the second night feed...

So he's now effectively having more formula than he was before solids and less sleep... am I over feeding?  Or could it be because I dropped last bf a week ago that he is waking for sukling time now??  And he's on SMA white for hungry babie!!

My sister has a babe the same age and only gives 4 bottle feeds a day...

help - i go back to work in a month and I really want to get the nights back to normal (since 6 weeks he's always slept most of night).  Why is he eating so much and now sleeping less??

Thanks

xx
 

[Freya'sMum]

Marlabarla (great name!),

Your routine looks good, altho I'd say there is no rush for your lo to be on 3 meals per day, milk still needs to be his main diet, with solid foods topping up his large appetite, but as long as he's taking his pre-solids quantity of milk follow his cues.

The increased night-wakings might be for food, I understand that many babies have an enormous growth spurt around 6 months, in which case, if he's hungry, offer him the extra milk until it all calms down again! If, however, you notice that he's not taking the milk but just wanting the suckles/cuddles, you'll have to wean him off the prop like normal!

I understand the dread of going back to work without a good night's sleep, but honestly, being back at work is no more/less tiring than spending the day at home with a lo, so I'm sure you'll manage even if he's still waking a couple of times per night for a bit!

Good luck with it all, post again if you need to,

Ax

[hhuckabee]

My lo will be 8 months at the end of this week.  She is not that interested in solids.  She eats much better away from the highchair i.e bathtub   Any suggestions on how to interest her?

Thanks,
Hollie

[Freya'sMum]

Some ideas would be to include her in mealtimes, make it a social/fun thing to do, rather than a chore (which eating can seem to be for babies). As solid food is not essential for nutrition still, babymilk still meeting the primary nutritional needs, try thinking of offering solid foods, perhaps as finger foods rather than purees, as an Activity rather than as part of Eat. Sit her in her highchair when you have breakfast, lunch and tea and offer her a variety of interesting nibbles (see link below for young baby finger food ideas) and let her experiment with them, not worrying too much how much is actually swallowed, and ignore her eating really (not neglecting her, but not fussing about it) letting her watch what you do and copy you. And lots of praise when she does eat some, which should encourage her to do it a bit more!

Others may have more ideas...

https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=95978.0

HTH?

Ax