My daughters 5 month old weaning/feeding routine.

[Staciiemummyof2]

Hi ladies.

I just was curious what all your weaning/feeding routines were for your babies (5 months or near enough) if I'm giving enough or too much as she seems to waking @ night @ the same time.

This is my daughters:

5:00 - Bottle Feed 7'oz's
5:30/6:00 - Goes back down for a nap
7:30 - Wakes from nap and has some porridge (This is the same with having the porridge pretty much each morning!)
8:00 till 9:00/9:15ish Plays in jumperoo, playmat or just has a roll about!
9:15/9:30ish - Nap for 2 hours roughly!
11:30 - Wakes from nap.
12:00 - Bottle Feed 7'ozs
12:45/1:00 - I give her a fruit purée pot.
1:00 till 2:30ish - Plays again.
2:30 - Naps for 3 hours roughly!
5:30ish - Wakes from nap & feeds her a jar or pouch of something!
6:00 - Bath time & play!
6:30/6:45ish - Bed time bottle feed 7oz's.
7:00/7:15ish - Bed (Goes in cot awake but sleepy and settles herself!)

But for the last few nights now, I don't know why but she's been waking up roughly around 2:45/3:00ish and just chatting then moaning and won't settle till I go in to her! I pat and shhh her, put her on her side and she sucks her thrumb and holds her comfort. I leave her for a while which I then think she is asleep but no.
Like last night she did this, then settle for about an hour and then was doing the same again so in the end I gave her a feed! And she drunk the lot!

I've also tried giving her milk when she wakes from the early morning nap @ 7:30 but nope she doesn't want it and rather the porridge, suppose because she is so used to having then she wants that!
Was thinking g maybe water when she wakes in the night?

Would love to know your routines and maybe thoughts on anything else I can try?!

Thanks :)

That's a lot of daytime sleep. How many weeks is she?

I also think that's a lot of sleep. Surely 3 hours is far more than a nap?

Also I am clueless about bottles so not sure about that. But mine certainly never went more than 4 hours without milk. I thought it was still nhs advice that milk was sufficient til 6 months?
I find it hard to believe she is sitting up and able to handle her own food as everything you mention is spoon fed...maybe it's all a bit soon?
I don't know. What is the benefit to her eating food at this point? Maybe she needs to do more activities than centre her day round sleeping and eating which sounds very young?

21weeks old - 5 months

It used to be she have a nap in the morning like she is now (2hours) then again about 1 till 3 then again like 5 till 6 which I would have to wake her but she's now falling into the routine as above!
I tried her with more milk but she just doesn't want it but when she does she has the whole 7oz's each time... the reason I give already am giving her the food is because yes she is going a long time between milk feeds so I feel if she doesn't want the milk she must need something else, otherwise she isn't having nothing if that makes sense?
She is near enough sitting up (hard to believe but she is).
Think that's due to having a 19 month son also and she literally wat he's and tries to copy him.

Babies sleep isn't linear.

They go through periods of waking at night, and then not.

If when she wakes, she is hungry. Then feed her.

It really doesn't have to be any more complicated than that.

Gosh that is a lot of sleep! She needs roughly 10-12 hours at night and 2-3 in the day.

It sounds as though she is hungry. I'd be waking her so she sleeps less and offer more milkm

Weaning before 6 months should only be done under the supervision of a medical professional.

My 5 mo the old's routine was therefore a repetitive mix of milk and sleep throughout the day.

Hope that helps.

Have you mentioned to your HV how much sleep she has?

You don't need to feed her three meals a day from the very start. When I first started weaning I gave them one purée a day, progressing to three much later.

I have tried a couple of times to keep her up longer in the day so she does seep less but she just crys then gets in a right state because she is over tired then I have to try and calm her down and settle her to sleep as that's what she wants to do... 🙁 I don't feel her sleep is an issue for her @ all though, she only can stay awake the mac of 2 hours each time then gets like what I just mentioned if leave it any longer!

She seems to like the food and not the milk more even if I try her with more milk like I said before she doesn't want it and just moves her head to side each time and gets frustrated!

So what are any of your babies routines then please?

I still say she's sleeping far too much and is probably so sleepy because shes not eating enough.

dc3 wakes up at 5ish,has milk. Breakfast at 6.30, bed at 7.30 for 1 hour Milk at 10, nap at 11 for 1 hour, lunch at 12.30, milk at 2, sleep at 3 for 45 mins. Dinner at 5, milk and bed at 6.30. He is 6 months old but his naps have been the same since 4 months.

That first nap isn't a nap, it's her catching up with her night sleep.

And it's too early to wean unless medically advised.

I don't think it's too much sleep though personally, all babies are different - my DS would happily sleep 4-5 hours in the day til he was a year old.

What is her weight like with that amount of milk?

At that age his maximum awake time was 1.5 hours.

Most babies don't get enough day sleep.

Of course all babies are different, but excessive sleep can be a sign of underlying issues such as diabetes etc so should be monitored. Typically, post newborn stage 13-15 hours per day is plenty.

Not sure about the sleeping thing.

She doesn't need to be eating any food at 5 months, it's too early.

Once she is able to eat food she doesn't need purees/jars/baby porridge etc. Just normal food will be best.

My DD is 6 months and she has 4 x 8oz a day and a purée at teatime in between her two last feeds. She has a maximum of 2 hours sleep a day and she sleeps from 8:30pm to 7:30am. I don't think 21oz daily is enough for her and the advice is to reduce food intake and up the milk ante as the milk should still be her main source of nutrients at this age. Three meals of purée a day is too much to begin with, especially as she is still only 5 months.

Okay thank you all for your opinions (some seem a little harsh but maybe I might of mis read them)

But she is having 7oz's each time and drinks the lot but won't have any more if I give it to her... so when do I try and give her more?

She had 7o'zs of milk @ 4 this morning then normally she won't have anymore till 11ish then last one @ gone 6! When I read this back yes it seems like she isn't getting enough hence why I try the purée/porridge which she eats, as she just won't have the milk!

The calories etc in purée or porridge is tiny compared to what she would get from a bottle, can I ask why you started weaning her early? Lack of calories could well be the reason for increased sleepiness but that would be quite extreme and she would likely have very minimal weight gain hence asking about her weight. It's also to be expected that a baby her age wakes overnight really!

My son has always slept quite a bit, I never woke him or changed his routine until I thought it was affecting his night time sleep. I'm going to go against the grain here and say that I don't think the naps are excessive, however if you think those naps are affecting your babies night time sleep then try and cut one of them down. I've just don't a quick Google and this came up ...

Ideally, 4- and 5-month-old babies should nap for 90 minutes or longer for two of the three naps (the third one can be shorter).

If I was you I'd try and cut down the latest nap and see if that changes anything.

I really wouldn't be concerned about having a set routine, my 3rd dc is 18 weeks and I allow him to sleep/feed whenever he feels like. He does tend to sleep a lot in the day too but I don't see it as a problem, he also still wakes once in the night, anytime between 2 & 4am for a feed. At this age they are still so small with tiny stomachs and as long as your health visitor is happy with your baby's weight gain just continue to feed your baby whenever they are hungry and allow them as much sleep as they need. You know your baby best x

why are you weaning her?

babies should have milk and only milk until 6 months, and then you introduce meals one per day slowly, so it would be at least 7 month before you get to the feeding rountine you are on.

If she doesn't want the milk, then she isn't hungry. Giving her porridge instead isn't the answer

I think I'm going to have to try and maybe reduce the milk each time say 6oz's but try and give her another bottle or 2 somewhere in the day so she is having 4/5 bottles instead of 3 and only give her one purée meal with the milk instead of 3... Then see how we go!

The reason I started her so early with food is because she wasn't having the milk and I thought she needs something more then just 21oz's she is only wanting of milk!
Also my son started early but if I remember he was still having 4x 8oz bottles though, he was a bigger baby when he was her age, all babies are different

Have you tried a dream feed as you go to bed?

I would try missing out the porridge and feeding her more milk at around 9am as 5am to 12pm seems too long to go without milk for a 5 month old. Then another 7oz at about 1pm, then another 7oz at 5pm. Maybe a top up before going down for bed and maybe squeeze in a purée meal in between her two last feeds.

My DS is 27 weeks and goes like this:

7am wakes and has 8oz feed, drifts back off
8am up for the day, has approx 2 tsp of porridge and gets dressed
Until 10am plays
10am 8oz feed and settles for nap
12noon wakes from nap and plays on his tummy awhile
1pm 8oz feed
2pm afternoon walk, sometimes buggy, sometimes sling, 2x per week this is to baby group.
Will often nap from 3-5pm
4pm 8oz feed if not already napping then nap
5pm 8oz feed upon waking
6pm approx 3tsp puree of whatever veg we're having with dinner
Followed by active and interactive play (nursery rhymes with actions etc to burn energy)
7:30pm bath time and PJs
8/8:30pm 8oz feed and bedtime.

So 10/11hrs night sleep, 4hrs nap, 2 "meals" and 5 8oz feeds.

That's working well for us but every baby is different and some will just continue to wake through the night.