Why not give solids and bottle at each feed?

[geoffreyandme]

Is this a silly question? I am trying to put together a daily feeding routine for Geoffrey now that I am back home with him full time. He is going to be 8 months on July 10th. As I read through all the posts and the book and other sites it seems like everyone does a feed and the bottle separate. Is there a good reason for that?
 
Right now Geoffrey's schedule looks like this:
8AM  8 oz Bottle (first) and then pureed fruit
12 or 1230PM Solids-veg/meat pureed combo then 6-8 oz bottle
4:30PM Solids fruit or veg and maybe yogurt then 6-8 oz bottle
8PM Bedtime bottle 8oz and fruit and yogurt
If the bottle is offered first he will drink most of it then eat his solids and then take the rest of the bottle...

I think I want to add in sippy cup times and snacks but i like that structure of having the "three whole meals" as well.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you -Jennifer

[tylersmommy]

The main reason is that most babies have tiny tummies that don't hold a lot of food. Spacing out the feedings ensures that a baby fills up on the good stuff (formula or breastmilk) instead of solids, but then has a small appetite for solids a bit later. It can also help a baby eat more daytime calories. Even most toddlers eat every couple of hours because their little tummies don't hold much food...breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, and dinner. When Tyler was a baby and I tried to do breast/bottle and solids all at once, he either wanted nothing to do with solids or spit up a ton. So it didn't work for us.

Of course, every baby is different. Some babies are totally happy having both bottle and solids at the same time, so it comes down to whatever works best for you!

[molynekl]

Jennifer,
My son is just a few weeks older than yours and we had a dr.'s appt. recently where he told us to put Lewis on 3 meals a day.  A bottle first in the a.m. followed by his solids and then solids first for lunch and dinner followed shortly thereafter by this bottle with snacks intermingled in there.  We've been in the camp of having Lewis eat about every 2 hours as he has his bottle every 4 hours and then the solids just sandwich in there to tide him over to the next bottle.  What you're doing sounds like where I want to go.  I'm curious how you got there.  It amazes me that your son will eat so much food in one sitting.  Our transition is coming slowly.  Right now, I'm trying to go 5 hours between bottles and make the solids closer to the bottles whilst offering a snack.  Do you have any suggestions?  Did you have to work to get to 3 meals a day or did it just work out like that?  I would love to hear any tactics you had.

Thanks and obviously, I don't think you should worry about your feeding routine.

[marensmom]

this is a question i have had as well.  dd is only 4 1/2 months old and not started on solids yet (although the pediatrician gave us the go-ahead... i just don't feel like she needs them or is ready for them, and i know i'm not ready to rush her life by!).  the pediatrician told us to try to line her solids up with our meals, so she would get the idea of three meals a day.  but then, he also told us to dive right in to feeding cereal three times a day, and has a very liberal timetable for moving ahead with other foods.  it does seem to me that if we do a bottle every 4 hours and solids every two hours... then we're snacking.  i don't mind "snacks" when it's time for them, but when just starting out it makes me worried that she'll not take as much of her bottle as she should.  she has the tendency to turn to a snacker before you know it, so i've had to be pretty strict about not feeding too close together (obviously, if she were hungry-crying, i would, but she will eat any time you put a breast or bottle in her mouth, and that has lead us down a bad bad path in the past of not filling up and then not sleeping all night which she previously was doing!)  anyway-- my thoughts were to start with the breast/bottle and cut her off a little early, so she's still a little hungry, and try the solids then, and of course, let her finish breast or bottle afterwards, too.  i agree though, that her little tummy can't hold that much and so i'm torn between the choices.  any ideas anyone has would be appreciated!  not that i don't have some time to think on this

thanks,
julie

[tylersmommy]

Right now, I'm trying to go 5 hours between bottles and make the solids closer to the bottles whilst offering a snack.

Is there a reason why? If your LO naturally falls into this eating pattern and it's clear that's what works best, then go for it, but it sounds like he's doing well with his current routine.

Trust me on this one, gals...once your LO is a toddler, odds are that he or she will eat about every 2 hrs during the day. It's totally normal. Their tummies are small, and hunger pangs or drops in blood sugar are an open invitation for tantrums. That's why toddlers eat snacks. Please don't worry about trying to get your LOs to eat only 3 meals each day with several hours in between...find a routine that works best for your LO and go with that!

[molynekl]

Thank you for your input.  That's really helpful.  I don't like trying to change him to a new eating routine when things are going well, but it was at the dr's recommendation so I've been torn.  I guess it made sense to me to have him on three meals a day because there where I want him eventually, but that IS a long way off.  It especially helps since you have a toddler and know that it's not a magic switch from being a baby to eating three meals a day.  Since I introduced solids 2 1/2 months ago until that dr's appt. a few weeks ago, I was thinking of solids as what tides him over in between breast/bottles every 4 hours or so since the milk is still his main nutrition.  Is that a good way to think about it?  If so, when do we change to looking more like 3 meals a day?

This was our schedule prior to the dr's appt. that was working well: 
7:00 6 oz. bottle
7:45 breakfast (2T cereal mixed w/1 oz. formula & 2T fruit)
11:00 4-5 oz. bottle
1:00 lunch (2T vegetable & 2T fruit w/water cup)
3:00 4-5 oz. bottle
5:00 dinner (2T cereal mixed w/1 oz. formula & 2T vegetable)
7:00 6 oz. bottle

Please let me know what you think. 

Thank you!

[tylersmommy]

Since I introduced solids 2 1/2 months ago until that dr's appt. a few weeks ago, I was thinking of solids as what tides him over in between breast/bottles every 4 hours or so since the milk is still his main nutrition.  Is that a good way to think about it?  If so, when do we change to looking more like 3 meals a day?

Yup, that's a good way to think about it. Bottles should still be his main source of nutrition, and solids are for practice and nutritional supplementation. When Tyler turned 1, we dropped bottles and switched to whole milk. That's when his meals started to line up with ours. His routine had looked similar to yours, and with the bottles gone it changed to:
8 - wake up and eat breakfast
10 - snack
12- lunch
3 - snack
6 - dinner

That's pretty much how it looks to this day, except he eats snacks less often. Your best bet is to follow your LO's cues and adjust feeding routines from there!