Dropping milk feeds

[SwivelHips]

DS is 7 months and we're doing BLW. Some things go down as his poo is now more solid, but the majority gets spat out.
With the milk feeds I'm confused. DS doesn't really give me any hunger signs until he screams for it so I'm usually on a 3 hr cycle unless out and about. Until now I've been offering him milk at the usual time, sometimes he takes the full bottle other times less than half. Should I be pushing out the time when offer milk or give it at the usual time and just see how much he takes?
I find the whole feeding/sleeping cycle pretty tight, I dont think I've ever managed to give him 3 solid meals yet, just never seem to have enough time.

[FredFredGeorge]

Afraid I don't know about bottles, but we were just led by baby on all food, milk included, when hungry DD would let us know and be offered a breastfeed or expressed milk from me (or other food).

So I guess the similar would be to just offer it whenever you think DS is hungry and let him drink when he wants, we never had a cycle/routine though so it may be completely different.

[lizzywig]

What's his routine at the moment? My DD at that age was also bottle fed and would nap for 4.5hrs during the day but i managed to figure out the following:
7am 7oz milk
8am breakfast
9am - 11am nap
11.15am lunch
12.30 7oz milk
1pm - 330pm nap
4pm 7oz milk
5.15 dinner
7pm 7oz milk

It felt constant and i was worried she was having too much but she stayed on and still is the 75th centile so that eased my worries. I think they do eat loads around that age...stocking up ready for the fussy eating of 14mo!

[Djembe]

I don't understand why you don't have time to give your baby 3 meals if you're doing BLW they just eat when you eat?

Re dropping milk feeds - how many bottles does he currently have? My DS went fairly quickly from 5 to 4, I dropped one when he was taking less than half of the 2 middle ones. It's taken a long time to drop another one though, he wanted the two middle ones (11amish and 3pmish) for ages for comfort). I went straight in to three meals a day, and started offering mid morning and afternoon snacks from about 10mo. He's now 12mo and has one morning and evening, and a half bottle before his long midday nap. He sometimes seems to need the comfort of a half bottle in the afternoon too but I'm trying to cut that one completely. No point rushing it though, BLW is great and don't listen to HVs who often suggest cutting milk feeds as a way of forcing babies to eat more solids.

[SwivelHips]

I'm so sleep deprived these days its all a bit of a guddle. I think I struggle with the 3 meals because of leaving the 1hr between milk feeds and solids, although sometimes I do give him a quick bf to take the edge off if nec (he's mixed fed) for his evening meal. He usually has 4 bottle feeds and a bf

Our routine is something like this:
8am wake up (I don't feed him when he gets up as he's been feeding off me all night or so it seems)
8:45 breakfast
9:15 8oz
10am nap (45 mins)
12:15 7oz or less
13:00 nap (45 mins)
15:15 7oz or less
15:45 nap (45 mins but this nap doesn't always happen)
I usually give him a bf feed at some point in the afternoon.
18:00 dinner
19:30 8oz milk

Because he's such a bad sleeper I'm really focussed on getting him down for naps, the lunch is kind of secondary. I'm just wondering if we should start the day at 7 and everything would run smoother.

[lizzywig]

I would, you could try it for a few days and see how it goes but try at least 4 days of getting up at 7. Maybe if you offer a bf on waking too despite the all night feeding? Maybe then everything will settle a bit.

[hamiltondog]

Hi, hope you don't mind me suggestion, but if your lo is a bad sleeper and you need more time in the day to feed I'd suggest getting up earlier. So start the day at 6.30am and give your first feed at 7am. This will give time for him to digest milk so you can do solids at 8.15.
Then put down for nap at 9am to 10am.
Then milk when he wakes.
Then time to digest and so solids an hour and half afterwards, which makes it lunchtime (12.30pm)
Then he's full for an afternoon nap at 1pm....to get him to sleep longer push him in pram so he's moving, you can either do a two hour walk or just push in living room (as I do) push to send him to sleep, stop when sleep, put your feet up, then at 40 mins in start gently pushing again, from the sofa and keep this up for twenty min to get him through the sleep/wake transition. Then hopefully you get to 3pm.
So, then do a milk feed on wake up. The an hour and half later (4.30pm) do dinner for him...then keep him awake till bed time.
Get him in bath at 6.15 or 6.30 and ready for bed at 7pm or 6.45 and give a milk feed.

I don't feed my lo in the night anymore as I had enough of the wakings and I'm tough! She still wakes but gets a dummy. She gets a dream feed at 10pm. Thus she's hungry enough in the day.

Hope it helps xx

[Keznel]

Swivelhips I am wondering the same about dropping milk feeds! My DD is 81/2 months has 3 solid meals a day and is bottle fed her routine looks like this-
7am wake up eats ready brek
7.15 6oz bottle
9-10 in cot for nap (sleep varies from none to 30 mins to an hour!)
10am 6oz bottle (usually takes 4-5, snack offered)
1pm lunch savoury & dessert
1.30-2 6oz bottle ( takes anywhere from 2-5oz)
2.30-4 nap (sleep time varies DD not a great sleeper)
4 6oz bottle
5.30 dinner savoury & dessert
6.15 bath
6.45 8oz bottle
7 bed

Sorry that was a bit long winded, I was maybe gonna try a few days without the lunchtime bottle as she sometimes takes very little of it and maybe offer her the formula in a cup instead? It's hard to know what to do for the best, so am just going with the flow! I guess you just have to try things and if they don't work revert back. I've been told she should have around 21oz of milk a day until she's a year anyway so not stressing too much about getting rid of bottles yet.......

[hamiltondog]

Kez, does seem like you could drop the lunch time bottle as she gets a bottle at 4 anyway. Worth a try xx

[Keznel]

Yeah hamiltondog I think I might, just take me a few days to build up the courage

[SwivelHips]

Thanks ladies, I will aim to start the day earlier (6:30am Hamilton, really? must I?), i've been trying to do 7am. Thing is with DS being such a bad sleeper I'm still completely shattered at that time but I know its the right thing to do. Short term pain for some long term gain....gah here's hoping.
Hamilton that's such an early dinner for us, we usually eat with DS between 6/630pm, i've been saying to DH its too late cos directly after his bath he is cranky then gets very hyperactive. It would mean feeding DS on his own...will need to give it a bit more thought. Defo need to bring his whole day forward. today he slept for 1.5 hours for lunchtime nap - unheard of.

[HannahBerry]

Hamilton that is almost exactly our routine but we start at 7am and don't have the dream feed. My son is 7.5 months. If he wakes at night, I offer him water and a cuddle.

I did BLW for 6 weeks but TBH got so fed up of it because of the timing issues. Since moving to spoon feeding and the same routine as Hamilton my son is sleeping much better for naps and at night and he loves his food now. But he is also crawling so that might contribute too.

[hamiltondog]

I really think starting the day earlier will help, rubbish being tired but hopefully he will sleep better as he's had a full day. Well done on the long nap.
I do spoon feeding as I know she's actually gets food in side her.
I'm dropping the dream feed too so that's easier for me as I can go to bed early.
Regarding eating early dinner, he could eat separately at 5pm and you still have a snack, we have our adult dinner after she's gone to bed xx