Help!! how many times a day should ds be eating?

[LynseyM]

I know this sounds crazy but ds is all overthe place with his eating at the mo. He is teething as well.
Should I be giving him 3 meals a day with a bottle in the morning and evening (which he is currently refusing)When I do give him solids he cries through it but does open his mouth as if he wants it!! confused.
He just seems to be really off his food (milk and solids) but hv said he is thriving.

[starlover]

how old is he?

[LynseyM]

he is 27 weeks. sorry i missed that out. oops

[starlover]

if he isn't that interested in the solids then don't push it... but could it be that he is getting too hungry before you offer it?
he should be having more than 2 bottles of milk either way.

my ds still cries when he is hungry and he is 1!! he cries until his initial hunger has worn off and i have to spoon stuff in between wails! lol So I find I have to make sure he gets his food before getting too hungry

[WigWamBam]

How long have you been weaning for? The usual advice is to start slowly with little tastes of food that you build up until he's having three small meals a day - but that can take months. Until he's a year old his main source of food should still be milk, so perhaps you've cut down on his milk a bit too soon?

[LynseyM]

He started on one solid feed a day at 5 months and then started refusing milk. I thought it was because he wanted more food and hv said to give him weetabix for breakie but he isnt all that interested in milk or weatabix. i just feel he has lost his appetite totally. He definately isnt taking enough milk during the day. Hehasonly had 5 oz since 4 am this morning and I Know its going to be a stuggle to get him to eat after his bath. I will leave out the snack before bath tonight and see if he takes it any better. He also has a dream feed at 11 of about 4 ozbut wakes at 3am for a bottle.
I thnk I have just got it wrong with him totally poor wee soul. but my mum was like "all three of my kids were on 3 meals a day by 6 months" I startedto worry. Also he wont cry for food (well apart from 3 in the morning) Great!!!

[LynseyM]

Just thought I better say he was taking between 6 and 8 oz 5 times a day until about 6 months.

[WigWamBam]

Do you think it might be worth trying him with a spouted beaker for his milk, rather than a bottle? The novelty value might be enough to get him interested again.

[lahdeedah]

this may be to do with teething - when my DD was around that age we had a couple of weeks or so when she went off her food, and then lo and behold two more teeth appeared. After that her appetite returned with a vengeance. I think as long as he is thriving, don't worry too much - just keep offering him food and he'll eat it when he's ready. Ignore your mum - there's no rush to get him on 3 square meals a day. Make sure you're still offering plenty of milk - I reckon at least 4 times a day at that age? (I breastfed, so not sure exactly how it works with formula)

HTH

[mumfor1standfinaltime]

At this age ds was only eating 2 'meals' a day.

I would give him a 8oz bottle when he woke up, then 1 or 2 weetabix about an hour later.

For 'lunch' ds would have another bottle about 7oz and some finger foods, ie toast, biscuit,banana etc.

For tea he would have some veg or baby food etc and possibly yoghurt etc.

After his bath (around half 6) he would have his 8 oz bottle milk then go to bed.

He would then sleep through until around 6am. He is now 14 months and his routine is pretty much the same, except from I have just cut out the morning bottle, and he has a 'proper' lunch with a cup of milk. He still has his night time bottle, which is our next task!

[Holymoly321]

mumfor1standlasttime - you say that your lo was on three meals a day by 27 weeks - I'm very interesting in mixing the purees with finger foods as you mentioned. How long had you been weaning him before you got up to the three meals a day and what sort of timings were you doing them?

[mumfor1standfinaltime]

Hi, cant remember exactly when he was on 3 'meals' a day think it was around 8 months. I would do things week by week.

I would say to myself 'this week I will tackle this or I will try this'


As I said at around 26/7 weeks he was having as listed below. At around 8 months he would have;

Breakfast-
6am ish 8oz bottle
7am ish weetabix with formula mixed in

Lunch around 1pm (after a nap)

finger foods such as cheese on toast, cheese sarnie, biscuit, sliced banana,with a cup of milk - say around 4 oz (he dropped this feed himself at his own rate) or some mashed up veg (mashed with a fork, not blender, dont believe in blenders!) Basically lunch was his time to 'play' with his food and experiment.

Tea, around 5pm

Whatever we ate if possible, or mashed potato with veg and cheese, home made sheperds pie etc. Cup of water, no milk.

Bath at 6pm, bottle at 6.30, bed at 6.45/7pm