help me with feeding routine - i'm being a numpty

[Moomin]

i can't remember how i got dd1 onto solids but she was very very easy and dd2 is proving not so! i think i ought to be on more of a routine with her feeding but can't seem to get it going. i know i'm being a bit thick and rubbish but would appreciate some advice.

dd2 is 6m next week. she's been on a little bit of solids for last week or so (i did try her at 19wks but she wasn't very keen so i stopped and then started again last week). she hasn't got a very big appetite and will only take about 6oz (tops) of formula: therefore she's only ever gone about 3 hours between feeds unless she sleeps through a feed and then has it later.

at the moment she has a very diluted bottle of 2-3oz formula in the small hours (on advice from HV trying to cut out night-time feed).
she then has about 6oz at about 7.30am followed by a small amount of porridge at 8.30.
she's hungry by about 11-11.30 so has a bottle, then another one at about 2-3pm.
i give her a small evening meal with us at around 5-6pm then she has another bottle at 7.30 and goes to bed.

it's no good offering her any more in quantity than she has already as she won't take it. do i cut down the size of the bottles yet? when to introduce lunch? I want to give finger food for lunch as she's quite keen on chewing toast, rice cakes, etc.

any advice gratefully received. again apols for being thick

same routine as my son but he has lunch at 1pm and i breast feed
7-730 breast feed
8-830 breakfast fruit and porridge
11 ish breastfeed
1pm lunch veg and a protien followed by fruit purree
3pm breastfeed but today took bottle 4oz for first time
5-5.30pm dinner usually veg followed by fruit purree with greek yog
6.45 breastfeed

I know what you mean about forgetting dd is 3.5 and im sure i found it much easier with her
ds has not mastered finger food yet but holds spoon, he just had mashed banana and avocardo for tea and he loves that

continue with the milk feeds as they are. Roughly 4 hourly and same amount - dont decrease them yet. Milk feeds are the staple up to one year.

Offer foods halfway between each feed - so basically you are offering something every 2 hours or so.

It is not a case of being thick Moomin!

I have 22 months in between the middle one and baby (7m) and I can't remember a THING!

The following is an adaption from GF's book I have to say:

At 6m my baby was having
7am - 8ozs milk
7.30am - rice and pureed fruit
10.30am - 6ozs milk
11.30am - veg and rice
2pm - 7oxs milk
4.30pm - fruit and rice cake
6.30pm - 8ozs milk

Now 6 weeks later she has dropped the morning feed and has:

7am - 8ozs milk and breakfast (weetabix and fruit)
11.45am - meat or fish with veg and carbs, fruit or yoghurt
2.30pm - 7ozs milk
5.15pm - fish or veg with carbs, rice cake or yoghurt
7pm - 8ozs

She doesn't have the recommended 600ml of milk a day but I have tried to reduce the actual food and it just makes her unhappy. I make sure I cook with milk and add cheese for the calcium etc.

I know that today it is rather controversial to mention but I have been flicking through Gina Ford's book over the last couple of months. I personally did not follow the sleeping etc but I found the weaning bit was v good. I'm not sure either if it is Gina Ford or Annabel Karmel (another v good one for recipes/ideas/tricks and tips), but one of them said that if you introduce solids at a later stage (ie after 4 months) babies can miss out the puree stage. So feeding your baby on rice cakes, toast is fine.

I think TBH your baby will tell you what, how much and when.

Hope this may be of some use.....