3 meals per day?

coffee bean

Following on to mwilson's post...

When did you move to 3 meals per day?  I was planning to wait until they hit 9 months (mostly out of laziness on my part)....

jd0614

I started yesterday, at 7.5 months!  I was going to wait as well, but the boys were RAVENOUS - wanting to eat every 2 hours or so, so I caved.  For lunch, though, they only get 1/2 yobaby yogurt b/c we were having stomach issues for a bit.

twolittlemoose

Can't wait to see the responses.  We just added a second meal for our 8 month olds.  They were fine without it, but I knew it was beyond time to add it.  How do most of you do it?  A meal and then top them off with a bottle?  I thought about the every 2 hour schedule, alternating bottles and solids, but how do you manage to get out of the house with that type of schedule?

Cassie42

They had been on a breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack routine since about 8 and a half months.  Now they get breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus a morning and afternoon snack.  The morning snack they usually just share a cereal bar, and the afternoon snack they have a bottle and some crackers or dry cereal.  They get a bottle with breakfast and dinner too, and they get water with morning snack and lunch.

jd0614

We started doing cereal followed by a bottle, but they weren't wanting the cereal, they just wanted bottle..  My daycare suggested feeding meals when they weren't starving - we tried that, and its working!

Bottle at 6am

Breakfast - cereal and fruit - 8:30am

Bottle at 10am

1/2 yogurt at 12:45 followed by a bottle

Bottle at 4pm

Dinner -cereal and veggie at 5:30pm

Bottle at 7pm - bed

beefsbride

Our pedi wanted them at 3 meals a day at 6 mo (!!!!), but we didn't really start introducing a "lunch" until around 7 - 8 months.  But honestly, some days they would still only get 2 meals b/c I am lazy, too!    The one bonus to adding that 3rd meal, for us, was that we could cut out the 5th bottle and feed them 4 bottles every 4 hours (we still pretty much kept up the same amount of oz they were getting in each bottle). 

At first I thought all the food stuff was a PITA, but really it isn't that much of a difference.  Esp. now that they prefer to feed themselves (although I'm a bad mommy and still only really give them puffs & cherios . . . I need to get over my fear of choking!). 

MNheidi

As you may recall, we need to pull the trigger on this too but they're doing so well w/ the current routine - okay, so am I and I'm not sure when to fit in the 3rd meal since they're still taking 3 naps a day most of the time.

coffee bean

Ugh - I thought it was time to go to three.  Especially after yesterday, when they literally seemed to be STARVING when I sat them down for dinner.  I swear, I couldn't shovel the food in fast enough and they had had a bottle not too long before....

LilSurferGirl

We added the 3rd meal at about 8.5 months.  We do the every 2 hours schedule, alternating bottles and solids and at first it was a pain, but now that we're used to it it's really not bad.  They have a bottle and breakfast before their first nap. When they get up they have their 2nd bottle, and most days we'll pack lunch to do at the park/mall/wherever.  If we go out later we'll pack a bottle and a snack and feed them from whatever we're having for dinner.  If we're eating out, I try to order something I know I can easily give them part of or just order a sides of chicken, mashed potatoes, etc.

FL_Katie

I'm with you on the laziness.  We just started solids a couple weeks ago so I can't tell you when we moved to 3 feedings I'm sure I would have held off on that a litle longer if they were STTN.  I feel like I am feeding babies 90% of my day

 

Leah5185

We still are on 2 meals. It's hard bc we work full time and so I'm not sure when to add the 3rd meal. they eat a bottle every 3 hrs and the 2nd bottle of the day they get veggies or fruit and then the last bottle of the day they get veggies or something. I feel like we have no clue what to add and when, Gracie still hates all of it so we are slow moving.