At 6months,how often/much should they be eating?

[atlasthebrute]

6mo ds has been on solids since 4mo. Am trying to wean him onto formula instead of b'feeding so that he stops waking up in the night. He also seems happier if he's had a bottle feed in the day rather than a breast feed. Has anyone got a good solids/bottle routine going that they can share with me? I need find something & stick to it QUICK!!!

But in answer to Q... ds has milk at 7.30ish, breakfast of fruit and baby rice at 8, milk and lunch at 12, milk and tea at 4 and milk at 6.45 before bed. Then he irritatingly wakes up for more milk at 4ish most nights.

hello everyone!
I actually never got on with breastfeeding properly as dd was v premature and tiny, and when i tried to feed her in hospital it was sooooo difficult as she had needles and tubes hanging off her arms and i was so afraid of hurting her so getting into position was extremely difficult, plus her mouth was so tiny and my nipples were flat... i tried to persist with cup feeding her whilst we learnt to bf but in the end i gave up and started to express into a bottle for her, which she immediately loved, and it's been like that since. it was easy in that i knew exactly how much she drank, but therein lies the pitfalls too. it was also a pain because i had to feed her, settle her to sleep, then go back downstairs and start pumping, then sterilising... will get an hour's sleep and she would be up again! needless to say i gave up bf quite soon after i returned to work...

shoppingbagsundereyes, i have suitcases under mine! i am trying to train her to sleep at night without milk, and so for the past week i have been turning up at work like a zombie... she just can't believe i won't give her milk (i do give her some water if she is hysterical), so she wakes every hour just to check if i'm serious... it's a competition of wills at the moment! any similar experience out there? when will i see the light at the other end??

and yes enid, her appetite has now increased. i think i may try lumpier stuff soon too. disgusting question: since they don't know how to deal with the lumpy stuff to start with, does it come out the other end whole as well, and is that bad?!

i have a question that is completely unrelated, i hope you don't mind answering: I am actually malaysian chinese and dh is english. We used to live in UK but have now moved back to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We will be going back to in law's for xmas as usual but this will be dd's first time... so! aside from all my other worries there is the diaper issue! we use a local brand here called Mamy Poko which is brilliant but i doubt they will have it there... so, what is a good brand?! Mamy Poko ones have a very soft breathable material (almost like sanitary pad material) and nice velcro like tabs (i don't like the Pampers ones which is an adhesive tape tab, and the material feels quite hard and plasticky...)

mil needs to know so she can buy some to stock up! thanks very much!

DOHH! just found the 'product review section' on this site, so please ignore earlier question on diapers! it's the sleep deprivation. today i said to my colleague that i needed to 'sleep out her sort' instead of 'sort out her sleep'... it's a wonder they still hire me.

Hi atlas

I had similar probs with my ds waking 2-3 x in the night and wanted to try the formula route. But he actually wouldn't take a bottle till 10.5 months, by which time, he had dropped the night feeding of his own accord (or just one in the early morning). Anyway, he seemed to just grow out of it, so maybe just to be patient with that one.

Something to watch out for when weaning: My ds had a great appetite but seemed to drop off his milk drinking as a result. When he went on bottles I could see how much he was drinking - and it wasn't much (he was a low weight too). Since upping the formula, he has put on more weight, and still eats well as well. Has been a slow process over a couple of months.

In answer to the lumpy stuff, sasha, ds has whole peas in his poo!! He loves peas but is obv not v good at chewing them.

Hi Ladies

Poor you Sashasmama - you must be exhausted. Can't really offer any advice re the waking and expecting milk instead of 'boring old water', but I'd persevere for another week though if you can face it. If she's getting hungrier during the day then that's a good sign!

As for my past few days, DS has been waking around 4.30am for a BF. He goes back to sleep 'til 8or9am then will have some yummy porridge followed by a short BF. Finger food snack mid-morning and then loads of veggie/chicken/fruity mush at 11.30am (found that pushing his lunch forward by half an hour suited him better). Then has a 4oz bottle followed by a sleep (still only around 30-40 mins, but he does go to bed around 6pm). BF sometimes when he wakes up then loads more mush (loves cauliflower cheese) at 4.30pm. He's started having yoghurt and cheese now, and so far he seems ok with them. BF then bath then bed at 6pm. Wakes at 8ish for a bottle then back to bed with a couple of wakes in the night (mostly ignored but can sometimes be hungry).
ps we use Nature Baby nappies and find them to be quite soft. can get them from Boots and some Sainsburys

hi everyone and it's a good HOT morning in Kuala Lumpur! I have decided not to log dd's night wakings daily now as it's too frustrating. i will log again in a week's time to compare, thanks, ellie, atlas, for your encouragement. She is going thru another developmental spurt, that is she is trying to crawl - i wonder, that sometimes leads to more night wakings, doesn't it?

i tried lumpy mashed cooked banana + fruits on saturday. she didn't know what to do with it at first and spat it out, but after a few attempts decided it was too yummy to stop... will be interesting to see what comes out the other end!!!

i also tried to give her some rusks (made from wheat) for the first time but she seemed to have a lot of wind and a bloated tum after that...

question on cheese: what do you use, as most cheeses are quite salty - is that ok?

and atlasthebrute, cauli-cheese sounds good - how do you cook it?

does anyone know when it is ok to add onion and garlic and ginger in baby food?? we have a lot of it in asian food!

sorry for the endless questions... it's scary feeding food into a 'virgin' tummy!!

ginger is soothing to the tummy, so i can't see a hint of it being a problem. I'm hoping to introduce DS to spices etc in a month or two, as we like to cook with them.