Too much milk too few feeds

[Risette]

some advice needed please.

My dd is 6.5 months and now on formula after 6 months of breastfeeding.

My doctor has now told me that I need to give her 3 8oz bottles a day, but I'm finding this might be too much at once as although she always finishes her bottle she if often bringing up a bit of milk not long after her feed.

She also doesn't want much more than a few spoonfuls of her 12pm lunch.

Currently the routine is

7am. Bottle 8oz
10am. Small breakfast...I.e. Half mashed banana
12pm. Meat and veg purred meal
2pm. Bottle 8oz
5pm. Pureed veg plus yoghurt
7pm. bottle 8oz

Would it be better to give say four smaller milk feeds? I'm finding it hard to manage timings.

I'd not be fussed at her only having a few spoons at lunch. The milk is more important at this stage. It's not unusual for a bit of milk to come back up.

Agree with Mad, its more important that she has the milk than the food at this age and also some spitting up is normal. You are right not to make her finish her bottle, she will know when she's had enough and if you make her finish it you still won't be sure how much she's had if she only spits it up later.

its good too that you have a gap between bottles and food. Have had a look at your routine, have you tried offering breakfast at 8ish instead? This might make her more hungry for her lunch and later bottles.

Also, have you tried just giving her the banana or some other finger food for her breakfast? She may find it more interesting and just might eat some more. There are some good suggestions for finger food breakfasts here. My DD particularly liked eggy bread and strawberries

Had a quick look for you and she should be having around 600ml(20oz) of milk a day. However this is a rough guide and don't forget that you can add milk to cooking like giving ready brek with fruit, yoghurts, cheese, custard etc, it doesn't all have to be in bottles.

Here's a similar thread you might find interesting.

Thank you for the responses.

I would like to try the finger foods for breakfast, I've been a bit paranoid about the whole process that I've not given her any finger foods really.

at that age ds still had 5 milk feeds (4 day feeds and 1 night feed). He dropped to 4 feeds at 8 months when he gave up the night feed. Our timings were:

7am - milk
8am - breakfast
11am - milk
12pm - lunch
2.30pm - milk
5pm - dinner
7pm- milk

If its the choking you are paranoid about Risotto I really wouldn't worry. The only babies I've ever seen choke were all on purees. Have you had a look at the BLW site. Its not an all or nothing process either, our DD did a bit of both.

Do you think trying Seona's routine might help too?

How much milk was your baby taking per feed Seona?

Will try some finger foods with tea tonight.....probably some broccoli florets as these were going to be pureed.

I think ds took 6 or 7oz per feed at that age

My DD is just 8mo and still has 4 bottles per day and 3 meals. Timings are approx:

7am - 6-7 oz bottle
8am - breakfast
11am - 5 oz bottle
12pm - lunch
3pm - 5oz bottle
4.30pm - tea
6.30pm - 6-7oz bottle

This works for us and she is hungry for her solids this way but still getting plenty of milk.

Sorry for calling you Risotto, was lunchtime and had food on my mind

Broccolli is great to try as a finger food. Comes with an easy to hold handle

Did she like the Brocollii?

DD is 6 months and we look like this:
7am milk 4-5 oz
8 am breakfast ( toast, porridge or weetabix with fruit purée)
11am milk 6-7oz
1pm lunch finger foods with veg purée plus yoghurt or fruit
4pm 6-7oz milk
530pm dinner of some sort of purée with some finger food on tray
645 milk 5-7oz
7pm bed

Thanks everyone, I've introduced a mid-morning bottle and this seems to be better....well I feel a bit more comfortable now.

Also, yes did try the broccoli and it was successful. Only tiny florets, but she did seem to like the idea. I feel a bit more confident to try other things.

Don't worry about the risotto, I'm in France, so risette is what we call a baby's giggle. However, on the iPad it always wants to write risotto!

That's such a lovely meaning behind your name, sorry again for getting it wrong.

Glad the mid-morning bottle and the broccolli worked.