Is this right?

[bankholiday]

DS is almost 30 weeks and I started weaning at 23 weeks, when he showed all signs of readiness. He has always eaten little and often. I bf-ed him until 3 months, and then fed him a combination of expressed bm and formula until 6 months. Now he is exclusively formula fed.

Before starting weaning, he would eat at about 6.30 am, 9.30-10am, 1pm, 4pm and before bed at 7pm. He is now on 3 meals a day and loves his solids, also seems dissatisfied by milk alone.

I have no idea if I'm doing this right, because he takes a max of 5oz in the morning and before bed, and about 6 oz in the night at 2-3am. He is not very interested in milk during the day, and takes about 3 - 4oz per feed. Our routine is roughly as follows:

6.30am - bottle
7.30am - breakfast
10ish - bottle
12.30pm - lunch
3 - 3.30pm - bottle
4.30-5pm - tea
6.45pm - bottle before bed, then another bottle at 2-3am

Is this about right for a 6.5 months old? I stop feeding him the moment he doesn't open his mouth anymore, and he has days when he doesn't eat too much, but generally he has a very healthy appetite and loves his solids. I am just concerned that he doesn't have enough milk (if he starts dropping feeds he would have less than 20oz per day). His solid meals are very balanced, but should I start thinking about vitamins? Should I keep his meals small and give him more milk? I tried to give him less food and he was clearly unhappy about it, so at the moment I don't measure his portion size, I just feed him until he shows he's had enough.

Also, it seems to me like I'm feeding him too often, but I can't see how I can space out the feeds. These last couple of days he vomited a bit after his 10am and 3pm bottles,it didn't bother him at all but I'm just wondering if the feeds are too frequent.

Sorry for the essay, but I'm just getting concerned that I'm getting all this weaning thing wrong. He's a very happy and healthy little boy but I don't want to deprive him of anything essential.

bump

This all looks fine to me and was similar to what DD had at the same age. With my DD I found that when she went from 4 day time feeds to 3 feeds she had more at each feed so 3 x 7oz instead of 4 x 5oz so she was still getting the right amount of milk.

DD didn't drop to 3 feeds until around 10 months and didn't drop to 2 feeds i.e. morning/night until just over a year old . If you're going to drop a bottle then it should be the 10am one but theres no rush to do so. You'll know when it's time if he stops drinking more than a few oz of this bottle.

The most important thing is to follow your baby's lead and it sounds like that is exactly what you are doing. I would continue to feed him as many solids as he wants and wouldn't bother with vitamins as long as he is eating a variety of foods.

Thanks mousesma it's reassuring to know that dropping feeds doesn't necessarily mean reducing the quantity of milk. Yesterday he only had 450 mls but had cheese with his lunch and tea, so I guess that's ok.

His meals are very varied, but I've read so much (too much) about 20 oz per day and how "food is fun until they're one", that I can't stop worrying.

I found it hard not to obsess about the 20oz a day too but all babies are different and it's a guideline not a strict rule.

My friend had twin boys the same age as DD and they were on just two 7oz bottles a day from about 6 months and preferred food to milk. They are every bit as happy and healthy as DD who had more milk.

As long as your baby is gaining weight and happy then you're not doing anything wrong :)

my baby is 7months old and having very similar amounts of solids and milk to your baby, but he's bf so not sure of exact milk amounts. i've been trying to get him to drop the night feed and take more in the day but he then won't sleep so i'm giving him another week of the night feed then going to try again to drop it. i feel like he's eating loads during the day and is screaming for more after a mid morning milk feed, then sits chewing on breadsticks/rice cakes.

natural if you are droppng the night feeds, thought you might like this link and this one.

If I were you I'd offer another feed an hour before lunch too.

thanks for the links, am doing most of the things suggested. i'm trying to get as much milk into him during the day as possible and it feels like he's having loads. he has quite a few around lunchtime and during the lunch time sleep but i'm trying to cut back on the night feed cause he's hardly having anything at 7am because he's filling up so much overnight. it's only 1 feed so not too bad but still right in the middle of the night so i feel totally wiped out!