Am I doing something wrong?

[RosieRosieP]

Hello,

I wonder if you could help at all? Thursday last week I dropped DDs 11am bottle. She had been fussing with it for a week and only having 1-2oz if I was lucky.

No fuss was made when I dropped it and i just made sure I offered water and a snack at 11 to keep her going until lunch.

At the same time she started wanting a second night time feed and hour after her last bottle and I'm starting to doubt whether I should have dropped the 11 am feed.

I'm not sure if I am giving her too much or too little through out the day. Here is what I roughly give her.

7am 8oz bottle
8.15 Wheetabix or porridge, fruit and a rice cake
11am snack/water
12noon lunch, fruit, baby crisps (usually 1or2)
3pm 8oz bottle
4.30pm dinner, fruit, rice cake or baby crisp
6pm 8oz bottle
Plus a further 5-6oz bottle 7pm

Any help would be gratefully received x

 

[MindUtopia]

I think that sounds fine to me. My guess is that the second bedtime bottle is either because she's thirsty and not drinking enough water during the day so wanting a top up of milk again before bed, especially in this heat (which is fine, no reason not to keep doing what you're doing until she stops wanting it). Or more likely, she's just having a bit of a tricky time with going to bed and another bottle helps to settle her. The period around 8-12 months is really, really rough on bedtime for most babies. My daughter, who usually went to sleep fairly easy before that, was taking 2 hours to go to bed and then waking every 30 minutes or so at that age. It was just because she was going through a big developmental leap, paired with separation anxiety. Has she recently started to crawl, stand, cruse or walk, or is she just about to? They often use that time just as they are going to bed to try to practice these things because their brains can't shut off easily for sleep when they are on the cusp of learning a new skill. But if having an extra bottle is working, great! That sounds like an easy and sensible way to do it. I wish it has been that easy for us. If she genuinely won't take more food or milk during the day, I wouldn't assume what she's eating has anything to do with it. It also may just be the heat, which of course will pass when things cool down again.