Formula/MOTN ?

LuvSD

I have been a major lurker here lately. Sorry. I hope you ladies can help me out. My LO's formula feeding schedule is totally turned around and I don't know how to fix it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Here is what she is currently doing. It isn't fun.

Two 4oz bottles (if we are lucky) of formula while she is at daycare (M-F 7:30-5:30). Often times she will refuse and will maybe have 4 oz the whole day.

One 6oz bottle before bed (6:30-7pm)

Then she wakes up at 11:30pm AND 2:30am to have 6 oz bottles both times. She drinks them so fast that I really think she is hungry and it isn't a habit.

Any ideas on how to get her to drink more during the day so that she doesn't need to drink so much at night?

TIA! 

linzeek44

What solids is she taking in during the day? I wonder if the spacing of solids and bottles during the day is making her not so hungry, and she's making up for it at night. 

(Feel free to ignore me. E doesn't take bottles or formula, so I'm not an expert. Just thinking out loud here.)

BPer

Okay, so it may be a bit of a process weaning off the MOTN feedings.  I'm sure that she IS hungry, but it's because she isn't consuming enough during the day to get her through the night. 

Start with the first nighttime bottle, and reduce it by 1/2oz-1oz every 3rd night.  When we did this with DD, usually by the time we had reduced it by 2oz, she stopped waking up for it all together.  Once she has stopped waking for that bottle, do the same with her second MOTN bottle.

While you're doing this, increase the amount of her daytime bottles.  Maybe offer 4, 6oz bottles, every 4 hours plus solids in between? If she doesn't take the whole 6oz at once, give her 15-20 minutes, and try offering the rest. Are you using the fast flow nipples?  This could be a factor as well.

hmp1

I was going to say the same as Linzeek. How much solids is she getting and when is she being offered formula? Leo has dropped his formula intake this week but he is getting 3 meals and 2 snacks of solids every day. How does she do with sippy/straw cups? If doing ok, offer formula with each meal and snack. Or a real cup. Leo loves drinking out of a real cup, even if he is refusing a bottle he will drink from a real cup.

BeebopandBuddy

I like what PP said.  I was also going to ask if you have tried sippies at all.  DS sometimes fights drinking a whole bunch of formula at once, like in a bottle, but when we switched to sippies and just leave it where he can access it, he crawls back and forth and drinks a little at a time while he's playing.  Soon enough, it's gone.

LuvSD

Sorry for the post and run. Damn work got in the way. She is eating a fruit or yogurt in the morning. A veggie and fruit around 11am and dinner around 6pm, which is usually a veggie and fruit. She has a snack at daycare around 3pm.

We have been trying to push a sippy cup but she still doesn't have the hang of it. Do you think I should have daycare push more formula? I am not sure how hard they are trying to get her to drink. I will probably have to talk with them to make sure they try several times with each bottle to try to up her intake.

hmp1

Are you feeding her solids until she stops eating? I would focus on dinner first to make sure she is eating enough, maybe add in some oatmeal and/or meats too. With 2 wake ups to down a bottle, I would talk to daycare about upping her formula and food intake during the day.

LuvSD

hmp1 said:

Are you feeding her solids until she stops eating? I would focus on dinner first to make sure she is eating enough, maybe add in some oatmeal and/or meats too. With 2 wake ups to down a bottle, I would talk to daycare about upping her formula and food intake during the day.

I guess I haven't been feeding her until she stops. She goes to bed shortly after eating dinner. Will she be too full to drink her bedtime bottle?

hmp1

LuvSD said:

hmp1 said:

Are you feeding her solids until she stops eating? I would focus on dinner first to make sure she is eating enough, maybe add in some oatmeal and/or meats too. With 2 wake ups to down a bottle, I would talk to daycare about upping her formula and food intake during the day.

I guess I haven't been feeding her until she stops. She goes to bed shortly after eating dinner. Will she be too full to drink her bedtime bottle?

Leo never is. We do dinner, bath, book/bottle, bed. When he turns 11 months I am going to start dropping an oz every few days from his bedtime bottle. That is what I did for James to get him off his bedtime bottle by one.

LuvSD

@hmp1 - thanks for all of the suggestions. If you don't mind what does Leo eat during the day? I feel really clueless on what to feed my LO, how much to feed her, and how to find the time to prepare it when I get home from work. She is mostly on purees but I know I will probably have to get her off of those relatively soon.

BeebopandBuddy

I would add meat or grain too, like @hmp1 said. We do toast, crackers, pasta, things like that which are a little more filling. Meats are ground beef, chicken, turkey, etc. She may not be full enough. Mine eats then still takes the bottle.

Flamingemu

LuvSD said:

@hmp1 - thanks for all of the suggestions. If you don't mind what does Leo eat during the day? I feel really clueless on what to feed my LO, how much to feed her, and how to find the time to prepare it when I get home from work. She is mostly on purees but I know I will probably have to get her off of those relatively soon.

It is time to start some solids. Try banana, avocado, and other mushy foods - peas, blueberries, and small popable foods. Your kid is obviously hungry and is making up for it overnight. If she can bulk up a little more on solids, she will naturally cut back on those bottles. 

Do you know what DC has tried to get her to drink? How often do they try? Where? When? 

If you can get DC to try offering more often or under different circumstances and up her solids, she should be good. GL!

LuvSD

Thanks ladies. We gave LO spaghetti tonight, as well as a veggie and some yogurt. We will see how tonight goes .

I am going to talk to daycare tomorrow about pushing more formula and maybe give an extra serving of oatmeal as a snack.

Thanks again for all of the suggestions!

hmp1

LuvSD said:

@hmp1 - thanks for all of the suggestions. If you don't mind what does Leo eat during the day? I feel really clueless on what to feed my LO, how much to feed her, and how to find the time to prepare it when I get home from work. She is mostly on purees but I know I will probably have to get her off of those relatively soon.

I pack him 2 purees and he gets the schools breakfast, morning snack, and lunch. They let you circle whatever you want the baby to try and they prepare a plate for him. I am good with him trying anything now and just ask them to make sure it is cut/torn into small bites because he still won't pick up a food and bite off a bite, he stuffs it all in his mouth lol.

Does your daycare prepare food for the older kids? I would ask if they can start giving some to LO too. If they transition to the toddler room at a year, they are probably getting ready to start prepping her for that transition anyway.

LuvSD

They just moved her to the toddler room about a week or so ago. I know they provide food for the toddlers, I am just not sure when they start. I will have to ask them but that is a good idea. Thanks.

She did better last night. Woke up once at 2:30 to have a 6 oz bottle and then woke again at 4:30 but I only changed her diaper and rocked her for a few minutes and she went back down without eating.

I talked to daycare this morning and for some reason the new teachers were only making her 4oz bottles. When they wrote down that she has been drinking 4 oz, I thought she was refusing the last 2oz. It must have been a miscommunication between the infant teachers and the toddler room teachers. The transition happened pretty quick so hopefully things will get back to normal.

I am having them make 6oz bottles and to give an additional fruit or veggie and snack time.