milk or food? which is it??

[kateandfelicity]

ok, totally confused let alone frustrated. DD is 5 1/2 mths old, is eating breakfast, lunch and dinner (cereal / vegies / rice and fruit) but I find she does not eat bottle at nursery really, she has little bits of bottle 5 times a day... just don't know because formula tub says she's supposed to have 5 feeds of 7 oz a day... but at nursery she only has something like 4 oz from 8 am till 5pm....
do i drop one of the bottles? is it because she's relying on the food now that shes just not needing milk anymore? If i should drop, which one do i drop? she feeds at 7 / 11.30 / 2.30 / 6.00 / 10.pm
I'm just worried... which is more imp, milk or food? am worried she's not getting enough of what she needs. aarrgh. what do i focus on more... milk... or food? am totally confused.

please help

Kate the confused

Once solids are established you should drop the middle feed. Milk is definitely more important at that age and she should still be having at least 1 pint per day. You may need to reduce her solids if she's refusing her milk or try giving her the milk first.

How much does she drink at her 7am and 10pm feeds?

BTW - my dd - 7 months only has 5 6oz bottles per day and doesn't drink the whole bottle when she has her solids (breakfast and lunch)

Yeah was thinking of dropping maybe the 11 am one... i just don't know if i should reduce the food because isn't she supposed to be moving onto that?
with bottles it varies, she usually eats the whole bottle at 7am and bedtime... at 10pm about 3 or 4 oz... but recently she's only been having 3.4 oz at 7am and also at bedtime and 10pm.... huh?

Do you think she could be teething as this can affect their appetite.

Also found that when mine were teething with the front teeth they didn't like the teat presed against the emerging teeth.

hmm, teeth have no idea... she has an 'eruptive cyst' on her gum at the side of her mouth which has since gone, yet no tooth.. still no teeth. at least if theres a tooth, theres something i can look at

Poor little thing. Hope she didn't suffer too much with it.

I had a thought that you might want to call the Cow and Gate helpline to get them to send you their weaning guide (they'll also send you some coupons if you ask). It gives you a good idea on how much food/milk to give and when. I don't know how good they are but they have experienced mums manning the helpline so they might be able to give you some more advice. See www.cowandgate.co.uk for the number.