Mealtimes and bf /ff on demand

[jasperc163]

Following on from my thread about 7.5 month old showing little interest in food (blw), I am wondering if I am giving her too much milk (she is on 91-98th centile and is mix fed, slightly more bf than formula and feeds quite frequently) and trying to introduce food when she is not hungry enough?

Just wondering for those of you who feed on demand, do you find your LO eats better if not had a feed for quite a while? I dont really want to cut down milk (which is of course what HV told me to do!) but at the same time I would like to encourage slightly more interest.

Another problem i think we have is that she isnt a good napper and so is frequently tired at mealtimes (if I try to feed her when the rest of us eat).

any advice? thanks alot

Bumping for you as I've been wondering the same about DS's mealtimes - although he had fallen to the 9th centile at last weigh in so definitely want to keep up the milk feeds. He is also 7.5m and not really interested in eating solid food (throwing, squidging, tasting, smearing, yes - but not eating!).

Breakfast is ok but I can't seem to find good times for lunch or tea... he's either too hungry for milk, too full of milk or too tired. I can't seem to get it right at the moment. Looking forward to someone coming along with some good advice!

DD(7mo) has BF on waking, then I offer brekfast when we have it (8.30ish). She then has her next BF before her nap, so that all depends on what time she woke that day (anytime from 5am - 7am!) mid morning, then I offer her lunch with me and DS around 12.00 -1.00, then she has another BF mid afternoon and I offer her tea again with us around 5.30 - 5.45. The only meal she eats reliably at the moment is lunch, throws most of her tea on the floor, sometimes eats a bit of breakfast, sometimes not if BF was fairly close to it.

I think in the first couple of months of weaning, it tends to be a pattern of feeding every 2 hours or so - e.g. BF/FF 6.30am, brek 8.30am, BF/FF 10.30 - 11am, lunch 12.30pm - 1pm, etc. and they tend to gradually cut down milk naturally as they start taking in more solids - IIRC with DS the first milk feed to go was the mid morning one, as the first feed then brekfast will start to keep them going a bit longer, so that you can bring lunch forward to be a bit earlier in order to cut the milk feed down.

Having said all that, DD isn't the best eater yet and is still clinging on to BF too, so whether you can find anything useful in what I've said when I'm in a similar position to you both, I don't know .

jasper, to answer your specific questions, which I atually haven't done, despite whittering on for a while, yes DD eats better if she has had a gap after her BF. Can you try and concentrate on just one meal for now and for the other 2 just give bits of finger food that you know she will probably play with and not much more? brek or lunch are probably better, as altho' you'll want her to eat with you, if she's tired, or not hungry, at least then you can probably save something you can offer her later? - DD is also a crap napper, so I can't give up the BF yet as she relies on them to fall asleep!

Thanks katechristie - what kinds of things is your dd eating? I do get the impression DD2 is frustrated with not being able to eat things properly ? Then other times - i get the feeling she just isn't bothered. I really dont want to give in and start the purees as I have one very fussy eater due to reflux, and I am not sure she would be that much keener anyway!

She is now nearly 8 months...

hi, brekfast i offer whatever we're having, so ready brek, weetabix, toast etc. - she'll have a munch if its toast, but generally hasn't long had a feed, so doesn't eat much of the cereal yet. lunch, I offer whatever me and DS are having, or if it's beans or spagetti on toast then I'll offer her a jar of hipp stage 2 with the toast - she actually wolfs down the jars of food much better than any of my lovingly home cooked food . tea time she's done quite well on potato wedges, and various veg sticks. She has enjoyed some yogurt and custard - I've realised she'll do very well on being spoon fed if she's hungry but not starving and def not too tired, so this week I'm going to try spoon stuff at one meal and finger food at the other, as she does loves feeding herself. Tea time is so hit and miss depending on how tired she is, so I'm considering giving her something 3.30ish when DS has a little snack, as teatime for her is mainly playing with the food, chewing, dropping etc!

today, she happily munched on some garlic bread and pasta when we ate out, then wolfed down half a jar of food 5ish - she is a law unto herself . I've had to get over myself with the jars - I just figure now, if we're having something out of a tin, then a couple of jars a week for her is ok too. (especially as she eats them so well!!!)

Jasper, our dd has been eating solids (mix of finger foods and purees) for about 4 weeks now and yes, she is much more interested when it's been a while since her last milk feed. Contrary to what most books seem to recommend I don't do solids and milk feeds at the same time - although sometimes a meal of solids is followed fairly quickly by milk. I'm finding that she is gradually getting used to the idea of extra mealtimes and is now (for example) interested in her solids breakfast more quickly after her first-thing breastfeed than she was at first. And, now she's actually eating quite a bit, she's dropped a milk feed from her previous routine.

It's tricky isn't it - I am still struggling with establishing vaguely set mealtimes for solids, especially since the times they follow at nursery seem impossible to replicate at home!