Feeding question. 6month old

[medic9114fun]

Ok so kolby is almost 6months old
He's still formula fed and on purée.

He is always starving. He eats 4-5 tbsp cereal and fruit in am. Bottle through day varying in amounts

5tbsp veg/chicken dinner 5:30ish. Bath then 6oz bottle between 6 and 7 another 6oz usually around 10
He is awake constantly at night and hungry.
I've tried water thinkin it was a habit or not truly hungry. Nope he is actually hungry and will eat anywhere from 4-6oz again at night once if not twice

I'm wondering about step 2 formula. Will it help him be less hungry? I have no idea how much purée he should be eating a meal.

Can anyone help me?

 

[Skatingfan]

I'd love to see the responses as my 6 month old is always starving as well. He eats a 7oz bottle every two hours! We're weaning and giving him a variety of foods as well, but that doesn't seem to be reducing his hunger. I'm not sure what to do, so looking forward to read what others have to say.

 

[liz1985]

Im not sure where you are but in the uk the stage two formula has no extra calories than stage one (at least sma that I use) so I dont think switching formula would make much difference. I would try adding more milk if you can, maybe an extra feed or more oz in the bottle. Or if you dont already add more variety of food with higher calories such as pasta, rice, potatoes, different types of meat. Do you give finger foods or any diary, yogurts, cheese etc?

 

[irish_cob]

Puréed fruit and veg has negligible calories and won't fill him up. Try adding something more calorific like scrambled egg or mashed baked beans or something if you are traditionally weaning. How many ounces of formula does he have in 24 hours? It's not unusual for babies still to need feeding at night until 12 months or even beyond. If blw it's easy to add in something more calorific - toast, meat strips, pasta etc.

 

[medic9114fun]

So far have just done purée. I'm hoping to get him eating more on his own though. So far he has had apple, pear, green beans, peas, chicken, sweet potato, and carrot.

He had a few of the baby mum cookies and eats them himself but only worry I have is he like to shove the whole thing on his mouth when he can. I'm terrified of him choking.

After tomorrow I can add another new food. Was going to do squash but maybe I'll do pasta or beef.

He isn't on any milk. Just formula. He eats roughly 20+ oz a day. Some days a lot more others more like 16-20

I think I'll try to keep a log for a few days to see

Also happy not the only one with a starving ( I use this loosely lol) baby. He has his 6 month apt with his dr in a couple weeks too

 

[george83]

My 6 month old has only just started on purées but he still has at least 30oz of formula, could you try topping up your lo's feeds?

 

[irish_cob]

When I said milk I meant formula. 20oz is the minimum a 6 month old should have I seem to remember, upto a maximum of about 30oz so he's not having too much milk. If he's ok with the cookies I'd let him get on with it. Gagging is fine and normal because the gag reflex is much further forward in babies to protect their airway. Choking is where there is something stuck in the airway and the baby is going blue, that is incredibly rare. It's totally normal for babies to gag on stuff, spit it out, pick it up and put it in again, etc etc, it's all part of learning. As long as he isn't distressed its fine.

 

[MindUtopia]

I would say that what you're describing sounds pretty normal for a 6 month old. My daughter was having 1-2 feeds a night until 9 months (and by 1-2 feeds a night, I mean after the 10pm ish one when we went to bed, so she'd have a bottle at 7pm before bed, then 10, then either 1 or 4am if not both, then woke around 7am). I'd say that's exactly what you'd expect her a baby that age. Yes, some will STTN without a feed, but not all (probably not most!). Think of formula as being the most important source of food for him and solids food after. So as much formula as he wants first (actually 16-20 oz really isn't that much, they actually advise starting on vitamins if baby's drop below about 16 oz), then I'd let him have as much solids as he wants too, but only after formula. You'll see the amount of formula he takes decrease, but I wouldn't expect it to happen right away. My daughter started to take less milk around 8 months and dropped a bottle completely at 9 months. Definitely don't think about putting him on hungry baby milk. He's not taking a whole lot to begin with so you definitely want to keep the amount up until he's ready to drop bottles on his own.

 

[medic9114fun]

Thanks. He finally started taking bigger bottles again. He used to eat 6oz bottles regularly at 12-14 weeks but when I originally posted he had really slowed his bottles. Not sure if it was his ear infection he had the week before and still wasn't feeling well or what.

His bottles are back up to 5-6 oz during the day so 4 of those. Then another 6-7 at bed (630/7) 6oz at 10/11 and sometimes still another 6 between 2-4am.
Still eating 5tbsp 2x a day for food.

I'll see what happens with the cookies. He bites off big pieces it seems. But yes I realize he has to learn somehow lol. So hard to watch.

 

[medic9114fun]

I should also say we are in no danger of low weight either. At 5 months at dr he was 18.4lbs. Hasn't had 6 month apt yet but I'm not sure I want to know. My back is killing me