How do you fit all meals and bottles in?

[kizzywizzy6]

My LO is nearly 6 months and i've just started weaning her. Once she has her meal I am having trouble giving her her bottle, she just won't drink it. My health visitor said that her milk is more important than food so how do you get your babies to take all their bottles and eat their 3 meals a day? Also how do you manage when you go out? Thanks

 

[BethK]

It does seem like were forever feeding!

This is our routine -

6am wakeup
7am bottle
9.30am breakfast (porridge)
11am bottle
1.30pm lunch (toast, fruit, yoghurt, veg etc)
3pm bottle
5.30pm dinner (she still won't eat at this time yet so working on it)
7pm bottle

We don't try her on food within an hour of her bottle and vice versa as she's still full and won't eat it.

I'm hoping soon she'll cut down on her milk feeds as she's still having 8oz every feed but she drains all the bottles so she's a way off that yet.

 

[CMIL]

Well hopefully the key is that you wean your baby when they actually show signs they are ready. If they are ready then they should prefer to take food over milk.

I started with one meal a day. I gave it at lunch time when he hadnt had milk for a couple of hours. If he ate it all I then waited until he gave me signs he wanted milk so maybe mid afternoon. If he didnt eat it all then I gave milk and tried him with the food again afterwards. When this was established and I had tried him with lots of single veg and fruit purees I moved onto mixing foods. Then onto two meals a day. Then included meat and carbs. Then onto 3 meals a day and from there 3 meals a day plus snacks.

I didnt try to schedule it too much. I just went by what he wanted. So like I say, started with lunch until he was used to having it and giving milk when he cried/clearly wanted it. Then when I introduced dinner I let him lead again. If he hadnt seemed to want it, I would have stopped trying to give it for a week then tried again.

I understand what your HV is saying but if she doesnt want the milk then dont sweat it. IF she is nearly 6 months it is important that she starts to learn to eat so you dont have problems down the line. I found at 6 months my son naturally started to drop milk feeds. It sounds to me like you think you still need to give your LO just as many bottles but food too which isnt really the case. Trust her to let you know what and when she needs things.

Good luck!

 

[CMIL]

By the way, if your LO is taking her lunch and not wanting a bottle afterwards, thats a great sign! It means she is ready for her food and wanting to substitute it herself which is the way my son did it and I have never had a problem trying to get him to eat. Weaning has been pretty uneventful for us.

There are some mums who have to battle, give a bit of milk and then try food because the baby wants milk that much. I think that way is much harder so sounds like you are in a good place!

 

[BethK]

Btw when we go out I either stop in a cafe and buy something that me and LO can share, she's been baby led so will eat solids, or I do a packed lunch with a toasted sandwich, yoghurt, fruit and a couple of ricecakes, or I have jars of food for emergencies if I have no bread, like today!

Today I'm off out, in her lunchbox I have -

Beaker
Bib
Spoon
Pre-made bottle with a formula powder pot
Small snack pot containing 2 organix carrot puffs, 2 ricecakes
1 yoghurt Little Yeo
1 jar of veg, chicken & rice. Normally this would be a small container with toast or sandwich or veg.

The secret is not to give solids within an hour of the bottle

 

[BethK]

I must admit I prefer my LO to have her bottles. Food is fun till one!

She gets most of her nutrients from her milk and food is an experiment for her, she learns about the smell, taste and texture. I'm not cutting out her bottles in favour of solids until around 1 years old or until she wants to lead the way and cut them back herself.

You can listen to some who say food is more important and some who say milk is. Just go with what you think is right for your LO.

 

[scaredmum2be]

My LO is 7 months old.
I tend to do it like this i also think it depends on what time they wake and for the time they go to bed.
Example of what i try to do but i do feel like im constantly feeding lol.
Hes on 3 solid meals well sometimes foor including the feed. He has stage 1 for his 8oclock breakfast feed and then around 9 he will have some baby musli but then about 11 i have to give him about 2oz of stage 3 follow on milk as hes on less proper milk in the day thats why i have to make it up on the follow on milk as for a drink for him.
he will nap after his breakfast.
Dinner: around half 11 a jar- because he cant go 4 hours without a solid and then about half an hour when his belly settled id give him a yogurt or something an then he will go sleep for bout half an hour and then around 3pm i will give him 5oz of stage 1 milk to make sure hes had enough drink down him (also i think this feed makes him sleep through) if he didnt have this he wud wake in the night its only thing i didnt put into his diet and he wudnt sleep thru lol.
then around 6 or 7 id give him few rusks mushed up or something. Then he would sleep for the rest of the night but only wakes up out of habit so just put dummy in an hes gone for the rest of the night.
I found it hard to get it all in at one point its difficult but youll soon get used to it although i do find it hard when people come round an wana hold him an i no that he needs feeding cos it kinda messes it up for me with the routine im tryin to give him.
I think i should lock me doors haha x

 

[EmmaM2]

I weaned early (just before 5 months) due to reflux and poor weight gain so i felt it important that he kept up all his milk feeds. I always give my lo his bottle first and then solids during the day but the other way around at night. our day goes like this pretty much:
7am milk
8am breakfast (one cube fruit puree)
11-11:30ish bottle followed by lunch (4-5 cubes of veg puree)
2:30 bottle
5-5:30ish tea (5 teaspoons of baby rice and 2 cubes of fruit)
6:30ish bottle

he hasn't refused solids yet and loves to eat (so i feel confident he is ready)and has only just started to cut back on his 11am bottle some days - i'm waiting for him to do it on his own pretty much. I built all of this up very gradually though starting with just a tiny amount once a day.
he still has one night feeds most nights but we have cut that back to about 100mls and will keep cutting every few days until it is gone.
I loosly follow a well known baby authors plan for weaning as it gives me more confidence (not for everyone) as it helps me know which foods to introduce when roughly as some are more difficult to digest and cause babies to cut back to rapidly on their milk. Its a personal choice but it works for us! Good luck!

 

[lili24]

Our routine is:

8am- 7oz bottle
9am- Breakfast
12pm- Lunch
3pm- 7oz bottle
5pm- Dinner
7pm- 7oz bottle

xx

 

[kerrie24]

I think your meant to give the bottle first,as the milk is main nutrition,then offer the food.If she doesnt eat much thats fine.Also she doesnt need to be on 3 meals a day at only 6 months,my son is still only on lunch and dinner and he was weaned early.

 

[scaredmum2be]

also forgot tristan was weaned at 3 months by my mum was guna do it at 5 months but he seemed hungry so i carried it on cos he seemed to enjoy the food lol x

 

[xolily]

at your LO's age Laila would have:
8/9am: 6oz bottle and porridge
12pm: 6oz bottle
1pm: Small meal
3/4pm: Fruit/yoghurt
5pm:6oz bottle and small meal
7/8pm: Yoghurt and 6oz bottle

xx

 

[OmarsMum]

HI hun, she only needs 18-21 oz of formula once she's eating 3 solid meals (around 3 bottles with 3 solids). At 6+ months it's fine if she starts dropping some milk feeds. We started weaning at 6.5 months. Omar was only taking 3 bottles (15-18oz) + 1 solid. He was on 3 solids & 3 milk feeds at 8-8.5 months. Until now he doesnt eat big meals, he only eats one proper meal with 1-2 snack meals + 2 milk feeds. Follow your LO's lead hun. As long as her weight gain is steady, there is nothing to worry about. Babies are different. xx

 

[katy1310]

I was just like you until last week! Sophie was on 4 x 7oz bottles as well as 3 meals, then all of a sudden last Tuesday, she only had half of her lunchtime and teatime bottles, then from Wednesday I started to give her a bit more in the way of solids - I have started giving her fruit or a yoghurt for pudding after her main course, and she's completely dropped her lunchtime and teatime bottles herself. We were ages on 3 meals and 4 bottles and she just suddenly did it herself. I feel a lot more confident now with giving her a bit more and giving her different things. xx

 

[dinkiedoo]

I weaned early (just before 5 months) due to reflux and poor weight gain so i felt it important that he kept up all his milk feeds. I always give my lo his bottle first and then solids during the day but the other way around at night. our day goes like this pretty much:
7am milk
8am breakfast (one cube fruit puree)
11-11:30ish bottle followed by lunch (4-5 cubes of veg puree)
2:30 bottle
5-5:30ish tea (5 teaspoons of baby rice and 2 cubes of fruit)
6:30ish bottle

he hasn't refused solids yet and loves to eat (so i feel confident he is ready)and has only just started to cut back on his 11am bottle some days - i'm waiting for him to do it on his own pretty much. I built all of this up very gradually though starting with just a tiny amount once a day.
he still has one night feeds most nights but we have cut that back to about 100mls and will keep cutting every few days until it is gone.
I loosly follow a well known baby authors plan for weaning as it gives me more confidence (not for everyone) as it helps me know which foods to introduce when roughly as some are more difficult to digest and cause babies to cut back to rapidly on their milk. Its a personal choice but it works for us! Good luck!

Emma hi I see your lo has reflux which milk are is he on, we have the same problem with our lo. Also which fruit/veg puree as they say reflux babies are sensitive to certain fruit/veg any help would be appreciated as I'm just starting the weaning process. x

 

[mariew]

We started weaning at around 5 months and from about 7 months onwards this was/is roughly our routine:

7am - 180ml bottle
9am - breakfast - porridge/toast
9.30 - nap
12 - lunch
2pm - 180ml bottle and then nap
5.30 - dinner
7.30 - 180ml bottle and then bed

He doesn't ever finish the morning bottle and rarely finishes the afternoon bottle, but he does always have porridge made with his milk, so is still getting enough milk. When he turns 1 we are supposed to reduce the milk to 2 bottles, but not sure which one to cut out? Any ideas anyone?

 

[Natnee]

Belle dropped a bottle a few weeks ago, there was just not enough time to fit it all in. We go something like this (give or take half an hour each way)
7 - bottle
9 - porridge
11:30 - bottle
1 - lunch
5 - tea
7 - bottle

 

[NG09]

My LO was on 3 meals but started to drop his milk intake drastically so I reduced to 2. His hunger has now picked up again so we're back to 3 meals, our routine is;

8.30am - 6oz & half an oatibix
12pm - 5oz & rice with fruit
4pm - 4oz & dinner (pureed veg)
7.30pm - 7oz

All in all 3 meals and around 22oz of milk per day. He was gong through a growth spurt there so taking another 6oz at 11.30pm but he doesn't seem to want it anymore.

He is happy now to have his milk first the solids right after but before he used to have his solids in between milk feeds.

I make all of his food so I use little food pots and take them out with me along with a bowl and spoon.

Hope this helps x

 

[Seity]

I always give bottle/boob before food and for the first few months we only offered one meal a day. Eventually we increased to 2 meals and now we're on 3 a day.

 

[emsiee]

Our routine is:

7.30am 7oz bottle
9am breakfast
10.45am 7oz bottle
12.30 Lunch
2.30 7oz bottle
4.30 Dinner
5.45 7oz bottle
6pm bed