feeding schedule - how strict? (5-6 mos)

DandT1206

Hi - just wondering how strict you are with feeding schedules at about 5-6 months old.  My twins wake anywhere from 5:30am to 7am most days and are asleep by 7pm each night.  They get bottles (formula) around 6:30a, 10:30a, 2:30p, and 6:30p, oatmeal/fruit around 8:30a and rice cereal/veggie around 4:30p.  If one is napping do you still wake them to eat?  Sometimes they aren't asleep for very long before it's time to eat.  But I know if I mess with the schedule they will be so cranky come 7pm that they barely want to drink their last bottle. Or I wind up trying to cram their food and bottles into a shorter period of time.  How do/did you guys handle this when you first started out with solids.  I can't even get out of the house to take them for a walk today because they have either fallen asleep or it's almost time for a feeding.  TIA!

Rynleigh

Our boys are the same age as your LOs. I'm not strict with them at all with bottles at this point, but their solids are on a pretty regular schedule. They get a veg right around 8A, and then oatmeal mixed with a veg around 6P. That way they're eating their solids just a couple of hours after they've woken up in the morning, and a couple of hours before they go to sleep at night. Bottles and naps are more "as needed" for both of them, but their schedules seem to be really regular. We practiced one-up-both-up for the first couple of months, and they've just both sort of kept up with that on their own as far as sleep cycles go - but milk/formula is much more on demand, whenever whomever is hungry. I never let naps and feedings interrupt whatever we need to do. If I have to get the shopping done or take a walk or take the girls somewhere, the boys are coming along no matter whether they're tired or hungry - they can sleep in their seats/stroller, and I bring bottles/formula everywhere. We do what we gotta do. Seems to work out OK for us. 

brookemcalland

 I could help you with a suggestion. I advise a start-up that developed an app for parents to help them with their baby's feeding schedule. If you find it interesting,(here is the link with the details on the app https://earlystart.me/) they'll give you access to download the app if you request an invite (in maximum 24 hours).

They provide the app to a limited number of moms.

Blessings!

DandT1206

Thanks! @Rynleigh do you know how many oz per day they are getting using your method?  My dr said now that we introduced solids it should be 20-24 oz including whatever I mix in with the oatmeal/rice.  I'm just worried that if I let them make their own schedule they will be so off from each other and that they may go to bed without that last bottle and then wake up during the night (they STTN).  I'm at the point where I might try what you do so I feel like we can carry on with our lives without feedings getting in the way. 

raraavis28

I'm lucky that my 6 mos are pretty in sync with each other for the most part. They wake up around 6 or 6:30 each day and have bottles around 7, 11, 3, and then 7 (plus or minus half an hour). At 7 they have oatmeal and fruit and at 3 they have a fruit and veggie or oatmeal and veggie. I feed them solids right after a smaller bottle (6 oz) and they have 8 oz bottles at 11 and 7. They also go down for naps 1.5-2 hours after they've woken up. Like I said, they tend to get sleepy and wake up around the same time, but on the occasion that one baby wakes up earlier than his brother, I'll let the other baby sleep for about 20 minutes before I wake him up to eat. I've found that feeding and napping them at the same time helps a ton....for my own sanity if nothing else.

DandT1206

marchesa our schedules are similar except we feed the solids a little more spaced out from the bottles. We tried to give a bottle right after food once and they wanted no part of it lol. Guess we'll play around timing. They never seem that hungry when we feed them but we stick to the schedule and they usually drink/eat most or all of it. Thanks for the insight... curious if there are any others out there who do this or something different

Rynleigh

DandT1206:

Thanks! @Rynleigh do you know how many oz per day they are getting using your method?  My dr said now that we introduced solids it should be 20-24 oz including whatever I mix in with the oatmeal/rice.  I'm just worried that if I let them make their own schedule they will be so off from each other and that they may go to bed without that last bottle and then wake up during the night (they STTN).  I'm at the point where I might try what you do so I feel like we can carry on with our lives without feedings getting in the way. 

 

I am SO sorry, I forgot to "follow" this thread. If you're still reading, my boys will drink anywhere from 30-40oz in a day ON TOP of their solids. Our pedi said this is totally fine, but I don't know if your doctor has specific reasons for the limits. The boy's average formula intake is about four 8oz bottles (32oz) and then maybe a half cup of solids each per day.