Feed / sleep schedule - 7 months

[Abouttimemum]

Hello!

My 7 month old has been on solids for a few weeks now (we started slightly late as he was premature and wasn’t quite developmentally ready). Anyway it’s going well and at the moment he has 3 tastes a day (not full meals yet I would say)
However he still wants all of his milk so I feel like I’m feeding him every five minutes, well Every hour pretty much.
I’d like to ask for your weaning / nap schedules - even generally - for 6 / 7 months that you are using/ have used.
We’re still on 4 naps a day because he still needs to sleep every 2 hours and only naps for 30 mins at a time.

So basically (in general although it varies)
Wakes 6.30ish - bottle 8oz
7.30 - porridge or weetabix
8 - nap for half an hour
9.30 - 8oz bottle
10.30 - nap for half an hour
12 - vegetable portion
12.30 - bottle (used to be 8oz but I offer him 6 instead)
1pm - naps for half an hour
3.30pm - bottle (used to be 8oz but I offer him 6oz)
4 - naps for half an hour
4.30 - fruit portion
5.45 - bedtime bottle - 8oz but how much he takes varies.
6.30pm - asleep.
Sleeps through.

So he used to have 5 8oz bottles about 3 hours apart and we were told to keep offering him them until he was on 3 meals a day but I honestly feel like he’s having so much to eat now. Like I know if he didn’t want it he wouldn’t take it but I don’t know whether to try for 4 bottles now. He still cries for his milk so I’d have to go cold turkey or rearrange times so there were no big gaps in eating. I’m torn between if he wants it give him it and sorting a more practical feeding schedule that would be better for him. I know he goes 13 hours without eating usually so he needs plenty during daytime hours.

I’d be grateful for any advice / examples.

My DS is 9 months now but at 7 months this was his normal day.

Wake ups in night and breastfeed 11pm, 2am, 4am

7.30am wake up
8am porridge and fruit made with breastmilk or formula
10am breastfeed and nap (45 mins)
12pm lunch - veg puree
2pm breastfeed and nap (1 hour)
5pm dinner - blended proper meal and bits to hold
7pm breastfeed
8pm sleep

He's a horrible sleeper to be honest so not sure we should be a blue print but his day naps and eating has always been really good!

Good luck!

Thank you! Yes I do think I need to separate out his milk and solids better through the day.

It depends how much they eat I think.... If your little one starts to eat a fair amount it gets easier. Also it perhaps doesn't encourage them to eat the food of they know they get mill after! But it's tricky to know!!

You don't want to be dropping milk feeds until 3 months after the start of weaning. At first it just acts as a supplement to the milk, kind of like how you go up in oz every few weeks when they are younger. Obviously don't force him to drink though and if he takes less, no problem.

Ok that makes sense thank you. I just feel like I’m packing the poor boy out, but he’s taking it!

I don’t think you should be cutting his milk yet. 2oz of milk is approx 60 calories. Do you think he’s getting that from his vegetables at lunch? Or his fruit at dinner? A carrot has 25 calories, would you say he is eating more than 2 carrots at lunch?! Remember fruit/veg is what adults go to when they are trying to lose weight! Milk is where the majority of their calories and nutrition come from at this stage, they are just learning how to eat and he may not actually have worked out yet that food can fill his tummy.

Our schedule at that age was:
7am - wake, 7oz bottle
8am - breakfast, usually something like porridge or scrambled egg
9.30am - 1 hour nap
11.30am - lunch, usually a purée followed by unsweetened natural yoghurt
1pm - 2 hour nap
3pm - 7oz bottle on waking
5pm - dinner, usually a purée
7pm - 7oz bottle and bed (slept through)

She took to weaning really well and dropped bottles early so we had to supplement with a vitamin as recommended by the paediatrician because we could not get her to take enough formula. Your schedule looks great to me! Don’t worry about dropping bottles so soon.

My LB is 6 months and this is our schedule

7:30/7am wake up
8am - 7oz bottle
8:30 - breakfast (porridge / weetabix)
9:30 - 30 min nap
11am 5/6oz bottle (used to take 7oz before weaning)
12pm - lunch (protein)
12:30 - 2-3 hour nap
3-3:30 - 5/6oz bottle (again used to take more before weaning)
6:15 - bedtime bottle, around 7oz
6:30 - dinner (carb) and pudding (yoghurt / fruit)
6:45 - bath
7pm - story and bed (sleeps through)

Honestly I wouldn’t worry about him taking too much milk, if he’s hungry and he’s sleeping well and generally happy then he’s obviously getting what he needs. They need a minimum of 500/600ml milk at his age still. Remember “food before one is just for fun!”

God I feel so depressed at all these sleeps through comments. I can't imagine such a glorious thing!!!

Thank you for the advice and examples - we’re not much different, just with the extra bottle I guess. I’ll keep it how it is and I’m sure he’ll let me know when he’s ready.
I’m also jealous of other people’s naps - I can only dream of two hours 😭

He’s not always perfect @onetimeonlyy - took more than an hour to get him to sleep tonight because of these damn teeth! But yes definitely can’t complain. I’m sure it’ll happen for you!

An hour would be a dream.... My little boy is sleep averse at night... It takes hours to get him off 😰

Ugh it is exhausting I know. My little lad does seem to be in the minority in the classes I go to, not like that’ll make you feel any better! He is hard work during the day mind but the sleep does help me cope better with him I guess.
You’re doing an amazing job breastfeeding through and they all do it in their own time 😘

*though

Thanks lovely, you sound like a fab mum ❤️