Feeding quantities, longer waketimes and teething

[kitten2014]

HI guys, our lil miss is almost 61/2 months old and has always had 5 x 9oz bottles whereby she drank 7-9oz each time. She has been on solids for almost two months now two x per day more recently introduced a third meal. She has also started fighting naps at the 1hr 45min point so started letting her go longer and have found that 2.5hrs is her ideal waketime depending on activity and previous nap length. Well because of this I find that when she is tired she is also hungry again and with the solids now being a big part of her diet she has started taking 4-5oz out of the 9oz bottle and so naturally 1hr 45mins later she is hungry again but try as I might she won't take more tyhan 5-6oz...her total bottle quantity has reduced from 1litre to approx 700-800ml per day now which ive heard is normal after being on solids a while...I just wondered about offering the extra feed near naptime cos she only takes 2-3oz and then this messes up her feeding schedule as she will then nap an d play and go almost 2hrs again before next bottle which means her total quantity is less over the course of the day....Im not concerned if this is a phase...perhaps due to teething as she has been a bit fussy with that but also dont want to start a habit of feeding right before naptime although tbh she has never had a feed-sleep association....any ideas/suggestions? Btw she takes 3 naps per day sometimes 4, usually 25-40mins each occasionally an hr and sleeps 12hrs at night....

On a slightly different topic I have now had to accept that our lil miss likes sleeping on her tummy! Argh...couldnt sleep well last night when she went straight on belly and didnt fuss at al;l anytime she stirred and had to leave her that way and try and sleep....11hrs later still on belly...oh well if thats her comfortable position then thats fine...funny thing is she's a side sleeper for naps...weird eh?

 

[littlemonkey]

I've mentioned to you before I think about my youngest being similar in age to yours and on three meals a day. This is what our typical day is like
5/6am wakes up and has a bottle will sometimes nod off afterwards, sometimes not
7am generally woken up by my eldest if not awake already and will have breakfast with us around 8am
9/10am usually has a nap either on the way or after dropping eldest off at play group, usually sleeps between 30 to 90 mins depending on if he's at home in bed or the pram
11am will offer him a bottle before picking up my eldest, has anything from a couple of ounces to the lot
12/1pm lunch with us all
2pm ready for another nap by now, again anything between 30-90 mins, if we've been out in the morning I try to let him nap at home in the afternoon
3/4pm usually awake and if looking particularly grumpy will offer a bottle, but will usually only have a couple of ounces
5pm tea with the family
6/7pm last bottle and then to bed

I don't worry too much about quantities. He will eat equivalent to half a jar upwards of solids. He has never in his life drunk more than 7oz in one sitting. His breakfast and bedtime bottles he will always finish, his other two are probably 3-4 ounces at most but I always offer the big bottle and will keep doing it until he refuses the bottle completely. If there's some left I will use it with some baby rice to bulk up his puree at hisnext meal.

When you sstart weaning it does feel like youre feeding them constantly! I did end up having to kind of set the routine for my LO by offering him his solids at family meal times. He then adapted his milk feeds around that. Otherwise my entire day was spent feeding my kids!

 

[kitten2014]

Hi littlemonkey, thanks for that, it can feel that way - and thats with only one...with more than one child I guess it can sometimes be a logistical nightmare lol....

Im not too concerned and know she her minimum qty she needs to get through the night but like today every hr and a half she has had 5oz and dont want her getting used to that as it has taken me til now to shift from feeding milk every 2hrs to every 2.5 sometimes 3...but at the same time teething can make her cranky so dont want to deny her the comfort...it is such a guessing game sometimes lol...especially as a ftm....will see how it goes...

 

[littlemonkey]

My two have both been rubbish at taking milk feeds so I always just let them have milk when they wanted it.

 

[kitten2014]

yeah well she has some days where she gives me mixed signals...for example tonight an hr after solids feed for tea I offer her her bottle, she takes an oz, will not take anymore...very sleepy...prepare her for bed give her some teething rings and then she balls and she takes another 3oz barely 10mins later! So confusing sometimes as they seem certain they are full and then they realise they're not getting anymore and bam...the crying starts lol...she's had a day of 4-5oz every hrt and a half today but hey she has had what she needs so thats all I can hope for...

 

[kumber]

If she's reducing milk, she could be wanting bigger portions and more meals. You really do feel you're constantly feeding but it does pass, honestly! It's quite natural for humans to sleep on full stomachs, it's why newborns often feed to sleep so if she does eat just before a snooze it'll not cause any harm

From everything you've said, it sounds like perfectly normal behaviour for 6 months and weaning. I would up the amount of food, add a snack if she's still peckish between food and bottles. A reduction of milk is totally normal as she moves onto more solids, so trying to give her more milk is almost making her go backwards when she wants to go forwards, if you see what I mean?

 

[kitten2014]

thanks guys i agree with moving forward with solids and expected her milk qts to drop just not quite so drastically...she went overnight from 5 x 6-7oz feeds to 5 x 3-4oz feeds and even thats a battle...i know she can go overnight on 800ml but its the smaller bottle qts that have me confused and then if she has a short nap shes asking for more barely 1hr 30mins later...our schedule is like follows...

6.30/7am wakeup nappy/dress,
7am 1st bottle seems ravenous but pushes bottle away at 4oz,
730 brekkie - porridge and/or weetabix, fruit, toast, water, probably gets another 10-20ml milk with that mixed in...
8.30 1 st nap 30min-1hr
9.30 2nd bottle 4-5oz sometimes 6
11.30/12ish 2nd nap 30min-1hr
12ish 3rd bottle
12.30 lunch puree meat/veg combo, fruit after, crisps, carrot batons, water
2ish may do another bottle before nap if fussy (3-4oz)
3ish final nap
3.30 bottle (3-4oz)
4ish - tea, smaller qts but meat/veg plus fruit.
5.30 bottle (3-4oz)
6-6.30 - nappy free time, chillout before bed 6.30

the thing is yesterday twice I did another 3oz feed barely an hr and a half after previous feed so she actually had 6 bottles yesterday but small qts - could her stomach have shrunk? Ive heard lots of people saying always a big bottle morning and night and small during the day with solids but she takes the same qts all the time and one night she only took 30ml before bedtime until she screamed 40mins later and took another 3oz! Ive also just recently started powdered formula but this fussiness with feeds started the day before introduced powdered. Other than that been on solids almost 2.5months and in the past four days have introduced a third meal (could this be the reason for the milk qts being affected?

Now im starting on powdered the fighting the bottle then screaming for more and hr and half later messes up my timings for boiling and coolingf and is frustrating when its not ready in time...yesterday I distracted her with the jump[eroo and tv after a small feed cos I knew if I didnt she would be balling for more...

She is teething but the symptoms are very similar day to day, it doesnt appear to have gotten any worse...

 

[littlemonkey]

If she's teething then sucking on the teat can be quite painful for them. Try a little bit of teething gel on her gums before a feed perhaps.

She just sounds like she's grazing. My son is similar and still takes a while to finish a bottle. I tend to let him sit and have a break after every 2-3 ounces. It can take anything from 20 mins to an hour for him to finish a bottle.

Just also wondering if there's a growth spurt around six months? My LO has been wolfing down his milk and solids the last couple of days. He also seems particularly cranky and dribbly so looks like teeth are on the way too!

 

[kitten2014]

Hi littlemonkey, thanks for that, yes she is teething and I keep thinking todays the day the teeth'll appear but nothing yet...grazing is definately the word for it but I also think she's reducing her milk qts in favour of solids...I just have to keep testing her on how much she needs to go thru the night, used to be 1000ml but recently 700-800 and today 670- so I guess we'll see how she goes... I do give her breaks in between oz but she then fusses to be down and playing (not a keen sitter - or at least doesnt want to sit still lol) so try a few times and then give her her 10mins before letting her play...wow an hour...I wouldnt be doing anything but feeding her if she took that long but guess will try a bit later after a break but surely if you leave them a while then offer the bottle they become even more like a grazer...? she wasn't too bad today to be fair with longer breaks between feeds but no more than 5oz per feed...she's taking plenty of solids tho so not concerned...and she's certainly putting on the weight so no issue there lol...

 

[kitten2014]

ok so tested a theory out yesterday, I only gave her 4 bottles as follows

7.30am bottle, 8 - breakfast, 10.30am bottle, 12.30 lunch, 2pm bottle, 4pm tea, 5.30 bottle, 6.30 bed - in the past I would have given bottle at 4 then tea then another bottle at 5ish. Well this naturally meant less qty and aside from brekkie whereby with porridge and her bottle she took 7oz, she has 3 feeds of 3oz so only totalling 16oz total or 530ml! I thought to myself, this surely isnt enough despite the large qts of food she is eating - approx 8 teaspoons per meal plus finger food, water etc....but she went through the night, thats the lowest qty of milk she has ever had...is it enough though? yes she's putting on weight and seems happy after each feed with what she's had but I read somewhere that even when weaning established 3 x day they still need 600ml milk...is that just a guide? Im so confused as everyday I have been working to ensure she gets the right amount (trying to avoid the return of the night feed lol, guilty as charged! she currently sleeps 7pm to 6am without you see) and now the figure has almost halved in the last few weeks....