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Original poster

When to feed food- before, after, in between?

14 replies

Catharine · 10/12/2004 06:44

Hi,

We've started to miss meals because my dd would either be napping or it would be time for her bottle by the time she wakes up.

Last evening, she woke up from her 3rd nap at 5.15, I gave her a snack and that resulted in her drinking only half her bottle at bedtime at 6.30pm because she was still full from her snack.

Today she's missed her breakfast cereal.

My schedule until recently looks like this:

7am- morning bottle
First nap
cereal
Activity
2nd nap
lunch
Activity
bottle
Activity
3rd nap
snack
Activity
bedtime bottle

I need to bring the bottle & solid feeding together because she's starting to wake up later and her naps seem to be changing from 3 to 2.

I've tried to feed her solids before her milk, but she wouldn't drink a lot, if I did it after her milk she wouldn't eat a lot even if it was after an hour. I also tried in between her bottle and she wouldn't drink the rest of her milk.

What has worked best for you and lo?

OP posts:
kinderbob · 10/12/2004 07:21

How old is she Catharine

Original poster
Catharine · 10/12/2004 07:58

She's 6 & a half months.

OP posts:
nailpolish · 10/12/2004 08:18

i used to give my dd solids then a bottle. sometimes if she was MEGA hungry i would give her a wee drop milk to take away the hunger screams and settle her, but not much, just an oz or 2.

dont worry about the amount of milk she takes, my hv says as long as they have about a pint (21 ozs) that s enough. and that includes milk used to make the solids.

hth xx

lilsmum · 10/12/2004 08:23

hi, up to my dd being about 8 mth i gave her

7.30am - 8oz bottle (some mixed with porridge)
12pm - 6oz bottle - jar of dinner with a yogurt or 2
4.30pm 6oz bottle - jar of dinner & sweet
8pm 8oz bottle (maybe some mixed with porridge

this worked for me, at your dd's age milk is important still the solids are just to get used to different textures and tastes not to fill her, only when dd got to 9/10 mth did i start to drop the daytime bottles and "fill" her on food instead, as if you feed every 2 hours i.e 7am bottle...9am cereal...11am bottle, or snacking in between they become "grazers" at my dd's age i think it is important then to get them used to 3 meals, bottle on waking and bottle before bed. also have you tried not feeding her straight away as soon as she as woke up? try leaving her 1/2 hr or so in order to get hungry!!i would also try not to let her snack, this is ok if she was still eating normal but it may be putting her off her important meals/bottles.

hth good luck xx

Original poster
Catharine · 10/12/2004 10:16

I see your point about snacking and I want to avoid that.

I will try sticking to feeding her right after her milk, but is it ok if she only wants to eat a few tsps to half a tblsp of food?

My dd drinks on average 25ounces in 24hrs. She started eating solids at 5mths, how much solids should she be having now at 6 and a half month old? Does it matter at this age?

OP posts:
nailpolish · 10/12/2004 10:51

my dd would have 2-3 ice-cubes of whatever food it was 3xday. ie carrotts apples, porridge, whatever. what is your hv like? maybe chat to her. if dd is putting on weight then dont worry, if she is happy and content to thats a good sign xxx

californiagirl · 10/12/2004 20:13

It's fine if she eats only a few spoonfuls of food; it's just practice at 6.5 months. My DD didn't start weaning until 6 months, and at 7 months, she hardly ate anything. These days at 9 months I swear she eats more than many 2 year olds, plus nurses just as much as she always has. One day she just decided solids were fun (although she's kind of on-and-off about purees, which she will not eat at nursery, only at home -- in fact, she hardly eats anything at nursery, and doesn't take much milk, whereas at home she'll eat 3-4 times as much of the same foods).

tearful · 10/12/2004 21:05

From 6 mths, with all my 3 children, I made up a pint of formula every night for the following day. They had one bottle in the morning (on waking), then b'fast, say half an hour or an hour later - and if they didnt' eat it, the amount in the bottle would decrease a bit. Then I'd put some milk in a cup, which they would use during meal/snacktimes, use some milk in their meals, and any remaining at the end of the day would go into their bedtime bottle. They were all down to two bottles by this age but got plenty of milk because I made sure I used that pint up every day.

tearful · 10/12/2004 21:10

In fact, thinking about it, mine didn't snack at this age. It was bottle, breakfast, nap, activity, lunch (about 11.30), nap, activity, nap, tea (around 4.30 or 5), bath at 6 then bottle and bed. I think. Years ago now, but it all went pretty flowingly with all of them. Can't remember when they dropped the afternoon bottle but that was around 3pm so after lunchtime nap.

kbaby · 14/12/2004 21:01

Hi My dd is 6 1/2 months and we do.
8.30 6oz milk followed by porridge
12-13.00 4 ice cubes of dinner and yougurt or 3 cubes of fruit. then 4oz milk
14.30-15.00 - 7oz milk
18.30 - 4 cubes of veg, pasta,lentils or rice plus 3 cubes of fruit or yougurt.
19.30 - 5-6 ozs milk.
This totals 23 ozs plus a bf at night/early morning

zsooz · 14/12/2004 21:36

My DS is now 6.5 months and was a terrible drinker, I just don't think he was interested in milk at all. The first time I gave him solids I didn't want him to have baby rice or pear and gave him paw paw instead and I will never forget the look on his face, it was sheer ecstacy Ironicaly since his solid feeding has developed he now loves his bottle.

Now his feeding schedule is:
7.30am - 7ozs milk + jar sized portion of some kind of starch e.g. rice/porridge/cereal/oats mixed with fruit compote of some sort
12.00pm 1.5 jars of a savoury protein dish so fish pie or chicken/lentils and vegetables and 1.5 jars of fruit compote
2.30pm 7ozs milk
5pm - vegetables/fish or half an avocado/mashed fruit followed by a rusk
7.15pm 7 ozs bottle

It took us a while to get there but he's thriving on it. the 12pm feed he was taking less and less milk so I just stopped it and replaced it with warm water from a beaker.

Original poster
Catharine · 15/12/2004 08:16

How do you get them to eat more?

My dd just doesn't seem interested after a few teaspoons, and I'm feeding her an hour after her milk. She's also lost interest in drinking from her sippy cup, just bites down on it.

She used to like pumpkin, sweet potato and pears, now we're down to pears.

Does she just not like the food, is she bored with the food? Should I introduce more new food?

OP posts:
nailpolish · 15/12/2004 08:20

just a few spoonfuls is enough at 6 mths i think. do you mix the food with a wee drop of her milk? sometimes that can get them more interested cos they recognise it, imo.

zsooz · 15/12/2004 21:30

I would just keep at it and try new foods. Initially I got some really good quality organic jars of food so that I could gauge the kind of foods he'd like and then I would buy and batch cook/freeze his grub. Keep at it though, there was loads of stuff he hated especially peas it was the only thing he spat out but now he would eat a bowl of them mashed up and cry for more???

Your DD may be teething which is what my DS used to do on his tipee cup thingy, he's only started taking water from it sucessfully this week and I think it's because his food is getting stodgier and drier. Keep going. BTW he also only has 2 naps now. 1st about 9.30am then the next about 12.30-1pm ish

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