Feel bad about lack of routine

[coochicoo]

My dd is almost 7 months and I've been weaning her (kind of!) for about 3 weeks. I'm doing a mixture of finger food and puree but I'm not in any kind of routine at all. I offer her breakfast when ds has his, but the rest of the day is a bit random. Sometimes I'll get her dinner ready but then she gets cranky and sleeps instead of eating it. I then usually offer her something a bit later.

She's nowhere near 3 meals a day and she doesn't eat huge amounts. She's still bf on demand.

Is it really bad that we're so unregimented? Is a routine very important? I find it difficult because nothing, apart from bedtime, is routine. She always slept when she's tired and fed when she's hungry rather than fed at certain times and napped at certain times.

I keep chanting 'food is for fun until they're one' but is it really true? She certainly has fun with it!

Dear coochicoo, could have written your email myself, other than I have a ds. Will chant with you, it may sound more convincing!

No routine is for parents, not babies. IME (4 children) it's much better for children to get used to 'going with the flow'. If she's bfed on demand then she's getting what she needs - she doesn't need solid food to be a major part of her diet for months yet.

Coochi my ds was also bfed on demand. At 7m he was still feeding around every 3hrs, so timing bfs with "real" meals was a nightmare - but only for us! Ds was busy having a great time with blw. He grew into a routine and now at 22m impresses everyone with how well he eats. It'll work out for you, too - don't sweat it

coochi, DD3 is 29wks so about the same age and there are some days she doesn't have solids and most days its all over the place

as far as I'm concerned at this stage she gets what she needs from BFing and is just getting used to the notion of food/mealtimes by being around us

anything going in is just a bonus and thats with a mix of purees and BLW too

Until DS showed an interest in regular meals, we did the same thing. At 10mo he was eating 2-3 meals a day (sometimes not interested in breakfast) and at a year he eats 3 meals plus snacks plus several BFs a day

Your DCs will let you know when they're bothered by the lack of routine, but for the meantime, I reckon its the same as it always was for them, except sometimes its solids instead of milk!

Most of my friends who have weaned say that their babies showed them the routine they wanted - they found it difficult to feed them at any time of day except the right time.

That makes no sense. I think I mean, your baby will get herself into a rough routine which you can then make more rigid if you want to.

Thank you, oh wise ones of mn. I knew I'd get the reassurance I needed. I feel quite happy about the way things are going, but in front of others I feel like I'm being a bit slack and lazy.

Thanks for your responses.