To ask you your baby's daily food intake

[ivfbabymomma1]

Hi all

My baby is 7 months old, and weights 23lbs if that's relevant?

And so far he has:
7am - bottle 9oz
10am - weetabix or porridge with fruit
1pm - bottle 8oz
3/4pm - dinner & yoghurt
6:30pm - bottle 9oz

I know 9oz seems a lot and sometimes he will leave half an oz but he was draining 8oz bottles and the HV said when he does that to offer an extra oz

And then nothing through the night, he seems to be okay on this but I was wondering if that seems ok? Or do people give their babies 3 meals? Or should I be giving more bottles? Just looking for advice/suggestions really!

Thank you!!!!

I don't have any opinions on your baby's daily intake, my baby is 5 1/2 months but was 7 weeks premature so we're no where near weaning.

However... I've never bought into the idea that you give them more milk just because they're draining the bottle. At this age you know if a baby is still hungry, or if they're getting hungry before their next feed. You also know if they're losing weight / not putting on enough.

My baby has been on 5 x 6oz bottles every day for over 9 wees now. Always drains the bottle, but he never asks for more milk or cries between feeds. I tried dropping him to 5oz for a few feeds cause I felt we were over feeding him and then I had tears at the end of bottles or him crying for a feed before his usual feed time.

In terms of weaning there are lots and lots of meal plans / guides online which should help give you more ideas.

*for over 9 weeks

Thank you!! I've had a look but they seem to vary but then every baby is different so it's hard! I weaned him at 6 months as per the guidelines but I feel he was ready before but I'll speak to my HV again!

I followed the HV advice to offer more if they drain it, with expressed milk, DS drank so much he threw up and he wasn't a sicky baby. He's 14 months now and has been having cow's milk since he was just over one, even from a cup he'll down whatever I give him. He eats a wide diet of healthy home made food, lots of veg, fruit, protein etc and definitely isn't hungry. Nine ounces at a time seems a lot

I remember panicking about the same thing when DS was just starting food, and recalling the advice that food at this age is about exploring, playing and trying tastes rather than getting full meals in. As long as baby is being offered and taking milk or formula and water when and if they fancy it - and most importantly not losing weight - chill.
Some days DS would try bread, bits of veg, purées, etc the norm but honestly just a spoonful or two and often refuse completely. He's now 2 and sometimes doesn't stop eating- think man size bowls of pasta, veg, snacks, fruit, and like today he's had half a bit of bread and 6 Heinz sausages without the spaghetti. He drinks water and has milk.
You'll have plenty of ups and downs in the food journey- just remember, baby will eat if they're hungry x

We started weaning at 5 months and 2 weeks, my daughter is 95th centile and I’m pretty sure she was on three meals a day by seven months. She still has a lot of milk now at 11 months although we have been cutting it down, some of the health visitors still give me a hard time about how much she has. Our day looks like this usually

7.30 - 8oz bottle
8 - porridge & fruit
11 - snack, usually a bit of cheese & a couple of rice cakes
12.30 - lunch - generally something like baked potato/omelette/sandwich or other normal lunch type food with a yoghurt or fruit
3.30-5ish 6oz bottle (this is being reduced week by week and timing depends on her nap)
5.30 - dinner- either what we’re having or a baby tray meal or pasta & sauce or similar with yoghurt or fruit
6.30 - 8oz bottle

She’s now at a point where she’ll have water with each meal but she was very resistant for a long time

Thank you!!!! It's so hard isn't it!!! I've tried reading up on it and doing some research but there's so many different views out there it's overwhelming!! X

Thank you @skigal86 that's really helpful!!!

My LO started to have a small solid lunch before his milk (around 11.30 for food) before his midday nap a few months into weaning. He stopped having midday milk around 9 months, still has one first thing and one before bed.
One thing i read when trying to work on sleeping through the night was to give protein only at lunchtime as opposed to dinner (until about 10 months) as it can be difficult for them to digest causing interruptions to sleep. So when you add lunch solids then might be something to consider.
Obviously if your LO is sleeping well on a night with what you are doing then ignore that, but it was something I found useful!

@grumpos that's great thank you!!! I might switch his afternoon bottle and "tea" round and then he's got a longer gap between solids and bed!! Thank you!!

My DS is 10 months and has:

On waking - 6oz bottle - this was 8oz until he realised he was getting something nicer after!
Porridge or weetabix with fruit about half an hour later
12ish lunch - he prefers for it to be shovelled in so this is usually whatever me and DH had for tea the night before. Yoghurt after.
4.30 - tea - a batch cooked meal - at the moment we’re alternating lamb broth, beef chilli and chicken curry. DH usually batch cooks a couple of things on a weekend for the week. He had fruit after, or fruit mixed with custard powder and milk (no sugar)
8oz bottle at bed time.

He usually has some bread based finger foods, and will eat fruit himself but he’s not keen on feeding himself generally. He doesn’t really snack but eats big portions.
He got to about 8 months and dropped his daytime feeds himself.
When I first started weaning he was having 5 8oz bottles a day still, and I had to drop one of them as he was eating so much!! The other two daytime ones just gradually reduced to a couple of ounces and then I took them out altogether.

It’s a minefield!!!

Mine is 6 months. Bottle 7am. Porridge and pear at 7.45am. Bottle at 10.30 am lunch at 11.30am (potato veg meat). Bottle at 2.30pm. Yogurt at 3.30. Dinner at 5 (similar to lunch). Bottle at 6pm. We also do dream feed at 11.30pm but will stop soon as she isn't actually taking much

Forgot to add she also has liga biscuit or rice wafer things during the day as well

Thank you both for taking the time to reply!! Really helpful! Your right it really is a minefield!!! Where that baby instruction book?! 😂