Solids - Timing schedule

Need advice!


Just started my LO on solids. Going ok - just giving one solid once a day (whenever I can gage she would be interested to take it! - not following any schedule - ie always at lunch).


Im thinking about introducing a 2nd solid meal but since she isnt a big milk drinker I dont want to jeodarise her milk in take.


Couple of questions:

1. Books say - Breast or bottle upon waking, then breakfast at 8, then breast again at noon.


How do you do this? My LO wakes around 5:30-6 - I feed her and then she wants to sleep again within 2 hrs. How/when do I give breakfast? If I wait til she wakes how do I then give her the noon (or thereabouts) feed? Seems a bit close together for her to be interested.


2. Whats the best time to introduce the 2nd meal? Should do this at the feed before bed or sometime in the afternoon - say 4?


3. Do I always have to give solids with a milk feed? Can I breastfeed and then wait say 1 hr and give solids then? Will this have a knockon effect to the next feed?


4. How many feeds are you currently giving your 6month old? Read that it should be around 5 but I give 7-8 (mostly just trying my luck to get her to take more milk! - which she does (extra 5 mins a time) - she just doesnt seem to want to take big feeds so I have to give little and often. Anyone experiencing this? How does this fair with giving solids?


Lots of question I know! But I just cant get my head around how Im going to give solids when the milk feedings are so erratic/numerous/short!!


Thanks!

hi asking,


my baby (super small milk drinker) will be 7 months old on 10th Oct. He now does:

7am: Morning milk (about 120ml) and brekkie (fruit and oat porridge mixed with more milk)

Lunch 11am-noon (depending on how cranky he is for afternoon nap): Milk (about 90ml) and 6 cubes of vegetables

2.30pm: Milk (about 120ml)

Dinner 5pm: Just started last week so he takes 3 cubes of vegetables currently.

6.15pm: Bedtime milk (about 210ml, don't ask me why but this is the only time he can really drink)

10.30pm: Dream feed about 60-120ml.

he goes to bed between 6.30pm to 7pm (depending how tired he is) and when we go in at 7am, he is awake...


2) I think every book tells you differently. most recommend you introduce the 1st meal at the mid-morning milk. i did that but instead of introducing dinner next as gina ford recommended (i have her book), i chose to do brekkie instead. this is because he drinks very little milk and i was concerned that he would not drink enough at bedtime if i give him too much dinner. and i found that he got very very hungry if he only had milk 1st thing in the morning...he starts crying for food before 11am.


3) i currently still do the milk feed at lunch because he drinks little so i cannot reduce intake. but i might when i introduce protein later on.


4) Mine is still on 5 feeds a day, he drinks between 500-700ml (on a v good day, usually more like 550-600ml), which is why we haven't dropped the dream feed.

We started with our first solid meal after the mid-morning breast feed. This was about 10am.


We always bf before solids, and in the beginning, we would also offer breast after solids too - but now at 8 months that is no longer needed.


When we started second meal, we made it after the late afternoon (5pm) breast feed.


We liked this schedule as we would go out in the day and be home by 5.


But when we started third meal - after early afternoon (1.30) feed, then we started feeding out more too.


We did not start the 'breakfast' (8am) feed until 8 months, when we completely revamped the entire daily pattern and now do a 'breakfast' at 8am. So it is bf at wake up (6.30) and another short bf about 1.5 hours later followed by breakfast.


Hope that helps.

Daughter now almost 8 months old.


at six months, beginning weaning, she was only on one meal a day, small amounts so I just made it breakfast. 15 minutes after breastfeed (around 8:00) a couple of teaspoons of rice or veggie or whatever. she always finished it.


Then I added dinner at around 6.5 months (5:00) (and kept breakfast which is different from what Gina Ford suggests) and it was BEFORE her milk. AT 6:15 she has milk and then knocks out for the night. NO dream feeds here.


I didn't add lunch until she was almost 7 months old. So for almost a month now it's been Breakfast at 8, lunch at 11:15 (today we stretched it to 11:30) and dinner at 5:00. I'm breastfeeding so I haven't really noticed a reduction in any feeds except for her late afternoon feed. She feeds the BEST in the morning - usually a long feed of over 15 minutes and the rest of her feeds are closer to under 10 minutes.


When I'm working and my helper gives her a bottle of expressed milk, I noticed that she can still take down 210-240 ml. I was surprised - even with all that food the bottle is empty.


She hasn't put on a gross amount of weight (was sort of hoping) and even after a month of solids, she only put on 550 grams. The nurse (not my doctor) said, "Oh she only put on so little." My doctor said she's fine. I'll have another appointment in mid october - and hopefully then she will be over 8 kg.

Thanks Wheelymate

How do you get the sleeps in? what time during the day does your LO take naps?

Mine is so unpredictable that most times she wants to sleep either when a feed is due or right after. This mean I wouldnt be able to give solids then.


Mine feeds for approx 5 mins each time during the day until 5pm ish when she has long feeds (not sure if she just does it for comfort or whether she is really getting alot to drink since my boobs feel really soft and I often wonder how much she really gets).

after almost 7 months, we finally have a pattern. my ex-catnapper currently does:


1) Morning nap for 1 hour, anytime between 8.30am-10am

2) Lunchtime nap for about 1.5 hours, anytime between 12-2pm


He is in the process of dropping his 4.30pm nap, hasn't had it in a week but gets very tired by early evening so the bedtime feed he usually starts nodding off...

Wheelymate

What time does he wake in the morning? How long are his 'awake times?

Hi asking,


Officially his day starts at 7am, that's when I got to his room and get him ready for the day - first feed and all.


But he is usually awake before that and there are some days when I hear him pretty early (maybe even 5.30-6am) but I don't go to him as he usually settles back to sleep. I am realistic about how much he sleeps so while I feed him only at 7am, if he wakes up anytime after 6.30am, that's fine as he is happy to play on his own. I think Crj and HKCC's kids do the same too...wake up slightly early before 1st feed but happy to play on their own until we go get them.


His bedtime is 7pm, sometimes even earlier like 6.30pm if he is extra tired.

Once solids have started, your milk will still be the *primary* source of calories, fats, vitamins, minerals, and hydration for your baby. Solids are meant to *complement* his breast milk intake in the first year. Breastfeeding first before offering solids will help to ensure that your milk supply continues to be adequate and that baby gets the milk that he needs for optimum development as he learns to eat other foods. You can confidently follow your baby's cues as to "when" and "how much" nutritious solid food he would like to eat in a day, and your body will regulate its production of milk dependent upon baby's new demands (again, so long as you nurse first, offer solids second).



You say that your baby isn’t taking big feeds. This is very common as babies grow older and get more efficient at feeding. Some babies finish a feed in five minute feeds by the time they were six months old. It doesn’t matter how long the feeds are so long as your baby’s weight gain is normal for age.


You might be interested in the following web page:

http://www.lalecheleague.org/NB/NBsolids.html



Well Baby Clinic 852-2849 1500

Matilda International Hospital

Hong Kong

http://www.matilda.org