Should I or should I not worry about getting dd (8months) onto 3 meals a day?....

[Ishallconquer]

Current routine is:
6:30am Bf
7:15am 1/2 Weetabix and 1/4 banana
10am 7oz bottle
2pm 7oz bottle
5:30pm dinner and pudding

I make all her food by cooking and then freezing in ice cube trays so dinner can be anything from cottage pie to chicken casserole. She usually has 3 cubes for dinner. Pudding is usually 1 cube of steamed fruit mixed into a tablespoon or two of natural yoghurt.

Dd has stared moaning at the end of dinner so may have to increase the amount I'm giving. However, as you can see she's not having "proper" lunch. Should I leave it because she's happy or should I try? But how can I as she is always hungry at 10am when she wakes up from her morning nap, so can't see how I can get her going from 7am all the way through to 12:30.....am I doing something wrong here? Also, should I be giving her mid morning and mid afternoon snacks? She occassionally has a couple of baby rice cakes or some slices of fruit but I certainly don't do it every day!

Why does this feel so confusing to me? Almost wish I'd never started weaning and just left her bf until she really needed to start solids!

Sorry, left out that she has another BF at 7pm just before bed!

maybe cut down the 10am bottle by an oz for a few days and offer a little amount of solids at 12ish, just something light that she enjoys to begin with? then if she starts taking that, slowly reduce another couple of ounces, making sure she still gets some milk in her?

i'm no expert on this myself, ds is 6.5mo, but HV told me he'll gradually wean himself to a couple of bf a day and will regulate his own intake - it's a mine field isn't it?!!
this'll bump for somebody who knows more than me hopefully!

Thanks choolie. I did actually take the bottle out of her mouth after only 6 oz the other day and no amount of distraction would make her settle so she obviously needs the full 7oz to feel full. I wonder if I should increase the amount I'm giving her for breakfast....arggggg!!! Hopefully others will be able to let me know of their experiences!

I don't really keep track of when my ds2 feeds (he's breastfed still and 8 months). He does drink a fair bit though and still a lot at night. We do BLW which I find so much easier and less hassle and stress. Plus he loves it and can eat pretty much anything. We just had baked chicken, roasted potatoes with garlic and onion, steamed brocolli, carrots and sweetcorn for dinner and he loved it all.

He eats all sorts, toast for breakfast usually but sometimes cereal, sandwiches for lunch and fruit (he eats whole bananas, peaches etc), and any dinner we have.

He loves pasta, nice ham and brocolli is his favourite. Snacks are anything from rice cakes, oatcakes, potato cakes on aitch's blog are fab and I eat them too , fruit, steamed veg, cheese etc.

I don't worry about how much he eats though, he feeds himself so eats what he wants.

why not just slot in lunch between the bottles at 10am and 2pm e.g. around 12/12.30pm? My ds had 4 day bottles and 3 small meals at that age. Dont try to cut the milk feeds, just offer a small amount of lunch when you would normally have lunch - if she takes it she takes it, if she doesnt, well thats ok too!!

at that age ds fed at roughly these times:
7am - bottle
8am-breakfast
11am-bottle
12pm-lunch
3pm - bottle
5pm -dinner
7.15pm - bottle

I didnt give snacks until ds started dropping the mid-morning and afternoon bottles i.e. the snack was instead of the bottle

My ds2 has much more than 4 breastfeeds a day, I suppose that's why I'm not bothered if he wants a snack. He feeds 4-5 times a night usually but lately is more like all night. I just go by what he wants, if it's milk he lets me know and the same with food.

i really, really wouldn't worry about it. more important to be taking a good amount of milk and enjoying her food (and you enjoying weaning her) imo.

The only thing with eating 2 meals, is the large amount she will eat at those times and the length it will take her. Otherwise it's fine.