Should I increase formula again

[gnu]

DD (nearly 7 months) has taken to solid food very well and over the last 8 weeks or so has progressed onto 3 meals a day - some banana or somesuch for breakfast; vegetable, rice and now often chicken at around 11.30; and rice and fruit for tea at around 5.15. Given this we have gradually reduced her milk intake over the last month or so from her original 31 oz per day over 6 bottles (7, 11, 3, 5.30, 7 and 10.30), to around 20 oz over 3 bottles (at 7, 3 and 7).

However in the last few days she has been waking around 5.30 and won't resettle. She's not totally inconsolable but is clearly displeased with life - shouting and crying interspersed with quieter moments. She's a lot better after her 7am bottle so I guess this might well be a sign that we have reduced her milk intake too much or too quickly. Her last milk reduction was to lose her 3 or 4 oz at 11am once we started giving her protein (chicken) at that meal.

Anyway, to cut to the chase, if I should give her some more milk again how should I do this best. Increase her bedtime feed perhaps, or add a little to each feed, or reintroduce one of the feeds she has cut out? I don't really want to re-introduce the dream feed as she let go of this without a fuss. Any ideas?

I'd increase the bedtime one - 7-7 is a long time to go through on a small feed.

Could you maybe give a cup/bottle of milk with or after lunch? Going from 7am to 3pm is a long time IMO. I can't remember how I cut down milk with ds, he is now 21 months.
I do remember that it did put him out of his routine a little though. I wouldn't reintroduce a dream feed, not if she is settling. Could she be teething? This could be another cause.

Yes, I think that would be our first option. The only problem is that she has never had more than 7oz in one sitting and sometimes even regurgitates some of that, so I can't imagine this will get more than 1oz extra into her. This is despite her being a 10 kilo biffa . Would the next option be to boost the 3pm feed by the same amount, rather than re-introducing a milk feed at any other time?

Oh yes, she's definitely teething . But I suspect that this isn't her early morning problem as she's much happier after her breakfast milk.

There are lots of threads on here about early morning waking - which our ds does - there doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason to it from what I have read. I agree with the suggestion that you try to increase the last feed, if possible. Re: the dreamfeed, we tried re-introducing a bottle at 22h and it made very little difference. We just cope with the early morning waking and wait for the day when he will sleep past 6 regularly...

Indeed. Of course, ours will be waking at 4.30 in a couple of weeks when the clocks change

Does she have much other fluids in the day? She could be thirsty, another cause?
When she wakes at 5.30, do you give her a bottle, or do you wait until 7am? (Or does she have both?) Ds went through a phase of early waking, I think they all do. We would give him his bottle in his cot and go back to bed!

agree that 3 bottles is not enough, could you not give a late morning feed?
Youu said that you reduced her bottles, did she refuse them or did you cut them out?