Dropping a bottle?

mhamik

I am curious what kind of schedule your LOs are on. 

Evelyn will be 10 months at the end of November, she is in the 68th percentile for height and weight and at this point doesn't stop moving. She is at daycare from 7 am to about 430 pm each day. Up until just recently her schedule was something like this:

630 am wake up =  eat a 6-8 oz bottle 

8 am = breakfast (jar food, working on table food)

915 to 1015 = nap (this has been a fight for a month an hour is lucky!) 

11 = 8 oz bottle (doesn't always drink all) 

12:30ish = lunch (jar food and table food) 

130-245 pm = nap (still lucky to get an hour)

3 pm = bottle

530-6 pm = dinner

7-730 pm = bottle, usually close to 8 oz 

this is just a rough outline, we still follow her cues more than a strict schedule but she keeps herself to it pretty closely. Pretty much 4 hours between bottles and two naps. 

She went through a huge growth spurt at the beginning of this month where she ate between 30-34 oz as well as 2-3 jar foods. We've had a hard time finding a new normal after that.

I guess what I'm mainly asking is have any of your LOs began dropping bottles? She has very little interest in her first one of the day and will only really finish maybe 2 of the 4 offered a day. She loves solids and is a very busy baby. She does a great job with the sippy and enjoys drinking water so I'm not so concerned with dehydration mainly just getting the proper nutrients as we near the 12 month mark. 


Apologies for the rambling, just looking for some guidance and what is "normal" at this stage!

Mamabeagle

My son hasn't started dropping them, but he won't necessarily finish them all. Maybe he drops one if he has a good nap day...

JanuarysBaby1

My LO doesn't finish her 8oz bottle either. She'll only drink 5-6oz out of an 8oz bottle at least twice a day. The other times she will finish her whole bottle. I'm thinking that she's gonna a drop a bottle pretty soon. 

cali1710

We've been on 3 bottles for about a month or so. So we do a lunch, breakfast, dinner thing. 8oz each. If she doesn't finish her bottle in a sitting we try and get her to finish it within the hour which she usually does. That being said we also do normal food lunch, breakfast, dinner and usually an afternoon "snack" around 3. We would do a morning snack but her first nap is usually 2,5 hours so it goes right through that. 

fishee333

I feel like we have decreased the amount of breastfeeding per day. We have kind of an odd eating schedule right now...

6:30/7 - Wake up and nurse. Also eats cheerios while she crawls around and plays
9 - nurse and nap
12- attempt to eat solids, but usually doesnt
1 - nurse and nap
Sometime between nap and bed, attempt to give her a bottle while I'm at work, but she hasn't been into it these days. Lucky if she has 2oz
5:30 - attempt to eat solids for dinner, but usually doesnt happen 
7pm - nurse and bed
4am - nurse and go back to sleep

mhamik

@cali1710 - interesting. I think Ev would do well with that. How long does she go between waking up for the day and her first bottle/meal? She seems like it's almost routine to wake up and have a bottle but doesn't in actuality want it. 

ekscopp

When I'm with LO it's kind of whatever with breastfeeding. When I'm not with her, it's
 6am wake up and nurse
8 jar food at daycare
9 bottle then nap
11 jar food
12ish bottle then nap
3 bottle
4 jar food
6 bottle and bed 

We keep to the same food times, but she usually nurses more often, but not as long when I'm home. I worried we were feeding her too much, bc I also offer table food before jars to get her interested, although most ends up on the floor. pedi said that she will not eat if she is done, but I don't fully believe it. 

Edited to say: I hope she drops one soon, bc I can't keep up with all the milk she drinks, esp since getting my period back. ugh!

cali1710

mhamik said:

@cali1710 - interesting. I think Ev would do well with that. How long does she go between waking up for the day and her first bottle/meal? She seems like it's almost routine to wake up and have a bottle but doesn't in actuality want it. 

It depends when she wakes up. I try to hold her off on a bottle until 7. She usually wakes around 630 so we "snuggle". (Aka she crawls all over us while we lay in bed..). If she wakes up early (6am or earlier) I hold off until 630 unless she doesnt seem ready then I try and push it until 645/7. Then around 8 I make breakfast, nap is usually around 930/10 until 12/1230. She wakes and I usually give a bottle around 1230 then Lunch at 1/130 (sometimes later if I need to run errands). If we get a second nap it's usually around 330. Sometimes Ill give a snack before (or this is when lunch is if we were out) if she seems hungry. If she has a nap I'll give her some crackers or puffs after it and then dinner is around 530/6 then Bottle at 6. Bedtime routine starts at 630 bed at 7. Not sure if what I do is right but it works for us. She also has water throughout the day but not a lot. its in her sippy cup so she kinda grabs it and drinks when she wants it. All bottles are 8oz. We used to do 4x6oz bottles a day but I found it just kept clashing with naps and made it hard to get out. So a month and a half ago I decided to try 3 bottles at 8 oz and it worked for us. 

cali1710

I should also mention shes exclusively formula fed. Has been since day 1. Not sure if that makes any difference. I know it takes longer to digest then breastmilk. 

mhamik

Thanks for the replies! Over the last couple of days she has stuck to about three a day. Who knows though, I think she may be ready to be done for good!

Mamabeagle

Should I be encouraging him to drop a bottle or just decrease the amount? Mine is still having 25+ ounces and 3 meals a day with snacks at times. Everything I read about transitioning to real milk at 1 says they should at that point only be having 8-12 ounces. 

And don't worry, I'm also asking the pediatrician when we go this week.

cali1710

Mamabeagle said:

Should I be encouraging him to drop a bottle or just decrease the amount? Mine is still having 25+ ounces and 3 meals a day with snacks at times. Everything I read about transitioning to real milk at 1 says they should at that point only be having 8-12 ounces. 

And don't worry, I'm also asking the pediatrician when we go this week.

When I went to our 9 month appt I asked my dr how much she should be having and she said no less than 24 oz plus meals/snacks. So I woulsnt say yours is too much! Of course every dr is different so I'm curious as to what yours says. She said by 12 months she should be at 3 bottles (B, L, D) and shes doing that now so I'm not worries. Of course if shes hungry I'll offer more but sometimes she doesnt finish her bottle. But I also read that about milk at a year. I guess at that point its not meant to be their meal anymore just calcium intake. 

nackie

Mine has been refusing bottles entirely for the last month.  I send him to daycare with 12 oz of breastmilk and they have to give it to him in sippy cups throughout the day.  

mltarrio

My girl has been weaning herself, starting with an all out refusal of breastmilk in a bottle starting at 9 months. She will still drink from the tap morning and night, and sometimes at lunchtime on the weekends. She can use a sippy cup but will only drink water from it. I was so concerned I brought her to the doctor, but he said it was normal. I guess there is a pretty wide range of when babies are ready to start weaning. 

cali1710

@Mamabeagle have you been to your pedi yet? What did he say about quantity of milk at a year?

Mamabeagle

cali1710 said:

@Mamabeagle have you been to your pedi yet? What did he say about quantity of milk at a year?

I forgot to ask! I need to call...