How much should I be feeding an 8 month old?

[LolaLadybird]

This is long - sorry - but pls bear with me ..

DS is 8 mo and a big lad - weighs approx 27 lbs and at top of weight charts. I saw the HV about 2 mths ago who told me not to worry as doing all the right things re food/diet etc but it does make me conscious about not over-feeding him. However, at the same time I guess it means he needs a fair bit of sustenance. Anyway, his routine is this:

7.30 am - half weetabix with milk followed by 7oz formula

12 noon - lunch of either 4 ice cubes or sometimes half a 190g Hipp Organic jar, some yoghurt or fruit to follow

2.30/3 - 8oz formula

5.00 - dinner, same quantities as lunch

6.45 - 8oz formula

The thing is, lately DS has been getting increasinly grumpy/high maintenance close to mealtimes and it can be hard to make him last to the next feed. He usually sleeps through but tonight he woke at about 9.45 pm and the only thing that would settle him was 4oz of formula which he wolfed. I'm wondering if I'm feeding him enough - or maybe being a little mean on portion sizes. He seems satisfied at the time (doesn't scream when I finish feeding him) but it doesn't seem to keep him going.

Believe it or not, I have done all this before with DD (now 3) but she was a dainty thing who just wasn't as hungry so I never had to stress about how much I was giving her.

I'd be grateful for any pearls of wisdom regarding feeding a hungry baby and portion sizes ....

[Sanguine]

My 8mo eats a little more than that, although not a huge amount more. He's a good size, but not huge, sort of 75th centile I think. He goes through hungry and less hungry phases, I try to just follow his appetite, although it's very perplexing when he goes from picking daintily to troughing vast quantities in the space of 24 hours. I usually give him steamed veggies, rice cakes or breadsticks as finger food in addition to his mashed or pureed stuff. that way he can eat however much he wants and you don't have to worry about over-doing it. I also give him water after solid food, and then give his milk feeds at the midway points between his meals, I just found this worked better for us.

One thing I try to do is make his meals balanced in the same sort of way I would eat. So I try to get protein, dairy, carbohydrate and fruit/veg in sort of "normal" proportions, with a little bias towards dairy (eg pasta & veg with cheese followed by fromage frais for lunch and mince and sweet potato & veg followed by fruit puree for tea). I've found this tends to keep him satisfied for longer, and I feel happy that he's had the things he needs.

[Jbck]

DD2 is 8 months & around 17lbs, she has roughly the same formula as your DS, maybe a little more but split up differently throughout the day. She usually has a 7oz in morning & bedtime but 3x4oz during the day.

She also eats a bit more too but not much & we've started doing little snacks now as well, she always lets me know when she's fed up or full and I take food away so I don't think I'm overfeeding her at all.

Snacks tend to be a few raisins or a little rice cake, veggie cracker maybe twice a day.

DD1 had a voracious appetite, still does and she's almost 7 but weighs less than 3 stone.

I'd say you're doing fine & maybe the little extra milk is all he needs right now. Maybe try a snack an hour or so before meal times to see if it makes a difference or up his bedtime milk a bit.

I feel like I've forgotten so much since DD1 and the guidelines have changed a lot too it's hard to think you know your baby best sometimes

[Pheebe]

Agree with other posters, doesn't sound like you're too far off the mark. I would perhaps offer him a full weetabix for brekkie and then the snacks in between meals also and see how he does. Perhaps a fruity rice pudding (I used to do baby rice mixed with formula milk and home made puree as its lighter than the jar/tin rice puddings) or fruit and natural youghurt before bed?

He's storing it all up for when he gets really mobile so don't worry about over feeding him at this stage so long as he's getting a healthy balanced diet thats fine.

Has his weight gain been steady in terms of following a nice curve?

[LolaLadybird]

Hi. Thanks all of you for your posts and advice - I have been increasing his portion sizes a little over the last few days. As a friend pointed out, you're hardly going to overfeed them on fruit and veggies. I've increased the weetabix to a whole one which he happily hoovered. I will definitely start giving him some little finger food snacks in between meals as well - don't know why I haven't thought of this myself!

Pheebe - his weight gain has been rapid and steady right from the word go. Not a huge baby at birth (7lb 14) but has just been climbing ever since. HV says every time that he'll start to level out soon but until the last visit there wasn't much evidence of it! Having said that, he is long as well as wide so a v big lad all over. Sensibly, I know it will all drop off when he gets moving (I've seen it in friends' children) but it's hard not to get hung up on it when strangers/other mums at toddler group constantly comment on his size. I should just get a thicker skin because it seems a bit mean to restrict DS to smaller portions just because of others' opinions!