8-month-old feeding schedule

CrazyMary77

My LO just turned 8 months today. She's exclusively formula fed. What is the feeding schedule for your 8-month-old?

To add to this, yesterday I took LO to the doctor. She's 29.5 inches and 23 pounds, slightly overweight but nothing that the doctor was overly concerned about. A nurse gave me a piece of paper with information for 9-month-olds that says they should be fed 3 meals and 2-3 snacks per day, in addition to their formula or BM. That sounded like a lot to me, especially since my LO has been slow to get into solids and at the moment is eating 2 small meals per day if she feels like it, with a little snacking in between here and there. My LO is not as into solids as people might think given her size. But I'm trying to increase her solids and decrease her formula a little. She's been drinking around 34oz of formula per day. So I want to get an idea of the feeding schedule of other 8 month olds to see what would work for us. TIA!

dkny155

My dd is 7 1/2 months old and she has anywere from 20-26 ounces of formula a day. Usually (4) 5oz bottles and (1) 6oz bottle before bed, but sometimes she skips one of the 5oz bottles. I think she is going to be stopping one of the 5 ounce bottles all together soon. My dr said by 8 months she may take as little as 18-24 ounces of formula a day. She has 2 tablespoons of oatmeal mixed with 2-3 cubes (i make my own food) of fruit, Lunch is about 2 cubes of fruit or veg but i am changing that to yogurt next week, and dinner is the same as breakfast but with a veg not fruit. She also just started to get into puffs but i break them up and she only has a few after lunch. Hope this helps

dkny155

Also she is about 19lbs

Crequito

DD will be 8 mo on Sunday: I try to do 3 solid meals a day and then offer a bottle (DD is exclusively FF too) about an hour after each meal.  There's usually a fourth smaller bottle somewhere in the day too.  We don't do snacks - I don't think DD would be into them.  I feed her until she pushes the spoon away or clamps her mouth shut.  I also put the bottle down once she pushes it away.  She's gotten really good at telling me when she's done and I respect it - if I have to throw out some formula or puree so be it.

It surprises me that at 29.5 inches and 23 pounds your pedi said LO was overweight.  At our 6 mo appt DD was 28.75 inches and just about 21 pounds and was 95th percentile for height and weight.  I asked the pedi if that was ok and he said she was height/weight proportionate so she was fine.  She's just taller/bigger for her age than others.

VPGIRL06

Right now Los schedule is

7/730-bottle (6-8 oz)

8/830-breakfast (today it was 1/4 cup of fruit with an egg yolk. yesterday it was half of of my yogurt/berry smoothie)

1130/12-bottle (6-8 oz)

1230/1-lunch (today it was 1 oz of chicken shredded up with some squishy peas on the side)

4/430-small bottle (2-4 oz)

5/530-dinner (probably tonight it will be some chicken and sweet potatoes-which is what my husband and I are eating)

7-bedtime bottle, usually 8 oz.

so she's getting 24-26 oz of formula and bites of whatever we are eating. if I'm out and about i give her puffs for a snack or some homemade pancake i make, or even some samples if we are at costco/trader joes. i feed her food until she refuses to eat anymore.

Angela814

We don't really have a schedule. DD3 nurses every 3 hours or so during the day. She usually gets something to eat when we sit down for meals, so anywhere from 1-3 solid meals. We're doing BLW, so she eats as much as she wants. Sometimes she'll eat a whole banana and a handful of Cheerios. Sometimes she'll take a couple bites of broccoli and be done. ETA: She gets 4-5oz bottles every 3 hours on days I work. She's somewhere around 16 lbs and 28".

LisaLisa1980

Slightly overweight??? I don't thinks so. My DS is 7 months & a healthy 22 lbs. Dr is NOT concerned.

Your baby's main source of nutrition is still formula so I would not worry about 3 meals & snacks. We weren't even told about snacks - just 1-2 solids per day.

HML5382

DD2 is almost 8 months old, and she's an eater so I don't know how helpful we'll be. She jumped right in with purees at 4.5 months and then started with finger food around 6 months. Anyway, here's our eating schedule
7:30 - Nurse
8:00 - Breakfast - usually toast or pancakes, some kind of fruit, and Greek yogurt
10:00 - 4oz Bottle
12:00 - Lunch - usually leftovers from dinner or something like diced rotisserie chicken & fruit
1:00 - 6oz Bottle
4:00 - 4 oz Bottle
6:00 - Family Dinner - she eats whatever we eat just diced and sometimes rinsed if it's saucy/spicy
7:00 - 6oz Bottle
Like pp said, I usually feed her till she doesn't want any more to eat. She gets 20oz of formula and whatever she gets from me nursing in the morning, probably 4oz or so. She's definitely chunky but I don't think she's overweight. She's really active too so I think she just works up an apatite crawling around trying to keep up with her sister

kmornelas29

10:30: breakfast- oatmeal, or berries, or Cheerios, or bagels, etc

12:30 to 1:00: lunch- fruit, veggies, cheese, etc

3:00: Snack- puffs, yogurt, etc.

6:30 or 7:00- Dinner- veggies, protein, egg yolk, meat, etc.

We also nurse 5-6 times per day.

She eats a lot more than what is listed above, but those are the items that came to mind first.

Sometimes she eats a lot, other times she will take a bit and be done, never force it. They will eat when they want.

GL

BigPoppa22

LO turns 8 months on Wednesday.  He is also exclusively formula fed and eats about 21-23 oz every day, but of 27 calorie formula (so equivalent of probably 28-30 oz regular formula).  He eats 2-3 oz of Earth's Best for lunch (fruits) and another 2 oz for dinner (meats) and a few times per week he has been having 2 oz of yogurt for breakfast.  Hasn't taken to puffs or mum-mums yet, he throws up every time we try.  He is about 28.25 inches and 18.2 lbs, and has pretty much always been about 50-60th percentile height and 30-35th weight.  Not an overly enthusiastic eater, possibly because he spent his first month on a feeding tube.

Pearls+Oysters

I have a food lover on my hands, so I don't how much this will help you, but we have come from 40oz of formula a day plus cereals at 6 months, to this at 8 months:

06:30 8oz milk

09:30 3oz cereal mixed with 2oz fruits + 4oz milk

12:30 2oz vegetables, 1oz meat and 2oz fruits + 4oz milk

03:30 4oz milk, snack if interested (puffs or rice rusks)

06:30 2oz vegetables and 2oz fruits + 4oz milk

09:30 8oz milk

He has a variety of fruits and vegetables, and we won't start dairy products until at leats 9.5 months.Some days he wakes up at 09:30 and completely skips his 6:30 bottle, so instead of 8+4oz he gets 8oz of formula total plus his cereals. 

As far as the "slightly overweight comment"... Meh. I don't think babies can be overweight. It all balances out by the time they start walking, if they have a regular "diet" - diverse and healthy foods.

Ljd425

Wow I am shocked..my daughter eats LIKE A BIRD!! She really hasn't gotten into solids yet and is only eating a little bit at a time.  I make my own and use EB jars and she has yet to get through a whole jar of food..I usually mix it with oatmeal.  She is ebf and hasn't been drinking as much as she used to lately..too distracted maybe. But yeah, I definitely wouldn't worry about 3 meals a day and snacks..thats so weird.  Food before 1 is just for fun!

Ljd425

Oh and she is 8 months in a couple days..I also give her one breastmilk bottle a day and has never taken more than 4 ounces at a time!

PipSqueak0313

My LO, emphasis on little, is almost 9 mo and is a little over 14lbs.

he nurses from the time he wakes up until I get up (usually between 4am - 6am) and sometimes to go to sleep after the 9pm bottle.

He has a 4oz bottle around 9am, noon, 330pm, 6pm, and 9pm - some are bm and some are formula.

I try feeding him purees around 11.  He is just starting to get the idea of chewing Cheerios and bits of crackers that I put in his mouth but he doesn't understand the concepts of biting off pieces or putting food in his mouth.  I've been trying to feed him smashed bits of our foods (potatoes, carrots, pea soup) at supper but he's been having problems with maneuvering the food on his tongue so it usually gets pushed out of his mouth right away.

 

Mommymorticia

It does seem like a lot doesn't it? We just now started giving him a third meal all of the time and adding snacks. Most days he really only eats well at one meal. I cannot imagine getting him to eat 3 snacks a day.

hatroopes

My DD goes to daycare during the week, so a typical schedule looks like this:

9 am - dad drops her off at daycare and she is fed her first bottle (6oz breastmilk)

10:30 - snack of veggie/fruit puree 3oz (homemade)

Noon - 6oz bottle of breastmilk

2pm - 6oz bottle of breastmilk

3:30pm - 6oz bottle of breastmilk

4:30 - oatmeal cereal mixed with water

6 - nurse

8:30 - nurse right before bedtime

sms04j

My LOis 7 1/2 months old. He is 29 in long and 22 lbs 11 oz. our ped does not seem concerned by his weight. He drinks a 6 oz bottle of formula every 3-4 hrs and eats 3 meals a day that is approx 4-5 oz. He goes to daycare during the week.....his typical schedule looks like this. 6 am 6 oz bottle 7:45 dropped at daycare 8 am breakfast. 1-2 mini pancakes or 1 mini waffle with approx 4 oz yogurt Ora fruit/cereal mix 9:30-10 am 6 oz bottle 12 pm lunch typically a veggie mixed w rice cereal 1-2ish 6 oz bottle 4-5ish 6 oz bottle 5:30-6ish dinner. We usually give him some of what we are eating or a earths best stage 2 meat mix like turkey squash dinner. 6:30-7ish 4-5 oz bottle 7:30 pm bed time. Occasionally, he will have a MOTN feeding, but it is usually only when he is sick or having a growth spurt. We just started giving him finger foods recently like mum mums, whole grain Cheeto like snacks, puffs, and yogurt drops. I usually give him this right after I pick him up 3:30 pm or right before he eats dinner like an appetizer. I definitely feel like he is going to be wanting more snacks. Going from 12-4 pm on only a bottle won't last with my guy much longer our ped recc 3 full meals and 2 snacks by age 9 months. Since he's almost 8 mos, I will probable add a snack after school of a fruit/veggie plus the finger food.

June18Bride05

My DD is 7.5 months.  We were doing only 2 meals a day, but today we have tried 3 and will keep doing so.  So I will give you both our 2 and 3 meal schedules. 

Generally we have 4 nursing sessions in a day and I also add a 3 oz of formula after her bedtime nursing session since my supply has taken a hit.  

With 2 meals, I was giving cereal at lunch time and then dinner she would eat a whole jar fruit/jar of veggie and cereal!!  Since she was eating so much at dinner, I decided we would try and do 3 meals now. SO today we tried

Meal one:  Cereal 3ish tablespoons

Meal two:  Jar of fruit

Meal three:  Jar of veggies and cereal.  

diana.filipi

My babies do BLW but even with them feeding themselves they aren't usually up to 3 whole meals as well as snacks in addition to breast or bottle.  My 6 month old eats breakfast and dinner with us and occasionally sits on my lap to eat a banana mid day.  His meals are table food.

GRJC

My son is 7 months and this is what we do:

7:30a Wake up
7:40a Breakfast 10-12 Tablespoons solids 6-8oz bottle
10:30ish 8ish oz bottle
12:30-1ish Lunch 10-12T solids 5-6oz bottle
3:30ish 7-8oz bottle
5:30-6ish Dinner 10-12T solids No bottle if content
7:30 Night bottle 7-8oz
Sleeps 'till the morning

Hope that helps!

sidey1

DS is in daycare during the week, he's gettings 3 bottles that vary between 6-7 oz during the day and about 1/2 a cup of puree at lunchtime. Then we do another 1/2 a cup of puree at dinner withand I usually try to give him something from our plates. He will brush it against his mouth or stick it in his mouth but hasn't actually eaten any table food yet. He has zero interest in puffs. Then 8oz bottle at bedtime. I actually think during the day he could do 7-8oz feedings but so far daycare hasn't been agreeing with me on that lol..He's always been on the low weight side, its just normal for him. He's 18lbs and about 29inches. Our Pedi said at this point it's still all about the formula and then just introducing different foods for him to experiment with. 

HarleyKins

We received a mailer from Gerber about feeding, we tend to follow that, and have for the last two months. 4 oz bottles ( we are formula but it is he same for BM) for a total of 24oz a day Meals B,L,D Snacks mid am are Cheerios, puffs, yogurt bites Snack mid afternoon is fruit and Gerber harvest juice. It's hard to stick to it as naps happen 2x a day so we might skip one of the meals/snacks and make up for it with extra ounces in the bottle at night. LO will be 8 mo on Saturday and has bee sleeping through the night since 5 months.