Feeding schedule, help!
hcbrowne
member
I feel like I don't know what to do/what is right. I've talked to nurses and pediatrician countless times. I've tried every possible way of scheduling my son's feeding. The main issue is that I believe no matter how I do it he is always hungry at night. Most nights lately he isn't hungry enough to fully wake up he just stirs for a minute or two, but other nights he does wake to feed...and I do feed him, for example I fed him 6 oz of formula last night. This has been going on for a long time now (at least a month), so I don't think it is tied to a growth spurt.
Our main issue is that he doesn't want the bottle after he has eaten food and vice versa. Because of this I separate the two--it has been the only way to get him to take more than 20 oz of formula (which is the bare minimum he needs in a day if we have any chance of him sleeping through the night). He seems to need much more than 20 oz (probably closer to 30)--which would be fine if I could get him to drink it!
We are still doing mostly purees but I give him puff pick ups and small pieces of mushy fruit (pear, apple, banana, etc.) for practice. He is getting better at eating with his hands but he certainly doesn't actually "eat" all that much when we do this. For example, excluding table solids, he had 14 oz of food and 26 oz of formula yesterday, and still woke at 2 am for 6 oz of formula.
We do a breakfast, lunch and dinner with solids but breakfast is usually the practice meal b/c I can't get him to actually eat solids in the AM unless I haven't given him a bottle...and then he won't take a bottle afterwards. I feed him a bottle in between the meals and it usually take a full hour to get him to finish a bottle off it he will at all.
I just don't know what to do anymore. I don't want my baby to be hungry--but as it is I am feeding him all day. I don't know what to do different! 
help!!
Re: Feeding schedule, help!
This is what is working for us:
7:30 am 6 oz. bottle (ususally finishes)
8:30 am breakfast (3-4 tbs oatmeal or 1 egg and toast or yougurt, etc.)
11:30 am 6 oz bottle (usually 4-5 oz. is all he'll take)
12:30 pm. 6 oz. jar food (may or may not eat all)
3:30 pm 6 oz bottle (usaully 4-5 oz.)
5:30 pm small snack (puffs or mum mums)
7:00 pm dinner 6 oz. jar of food and 2.5-3 oz. fruit or whatever we're eating
8:30-9 pm bedtime
He was on a schedule where he ate every 2 hours - bottle then solids, etc. but he wasn't sleeping well. The pedi had told us when he was an infant and wanted to eat small amounts every 1 hour - 2 hours that he was getting cranky at night because his stomach was constantly digesting food so I came up with this schedule and it has done wonders. He always goes to sleep on a full stomache and does really well. Try the new schedule and stick to it. It may take a few days to get used to it. Good luck!
I talked to my pedi about this at our last appointment. DS was waking up 1-2 times a night to eat (6-8 oz per night) and he said that at this age they shouldn't need a night feeding. He suggested to either CIO or else give him a bottle of water when he woke up to get him back to sleep. Obviously this will work for some people and not for others but my husband and I committed ourselves to CIO for 30 minutes and if he was not starting to show progress toward stopping to give him a bottle of water. The first night was difficult but he stopped crying and went back to sleep within 20 minutes. The next morning he went from eating no milk right at wake up to 7oz (he usually eats 4 oz during the day but nothing usually at wake-up).
The next night he woke up and cried for about 5 minutes (probably less), then went back to sleep again. When he woke the next morning at about 5 am he again ate 7oz right away then an hour later we fed him solids for breakfast (cereal and a fruit usually). Two hours later he took another 4 oz bottle, then another one two hours after that. At noon we feed him lunch a mixture of table food and puree/cereal. An hour later before his afternoon nap he gets another 4 oz bottle then when he wakes up two hours later another 4 oz bottle. He eats dinner at 6-ish (combo of table food and puree) then before bed at 7 he gets another 4 oz bottle. He's been on this schedule a week and has been doing really well and doesn't wake up anymore.
The pedi said that once he got used to not eating at night his milk in take during the day would increase (which it did). I know CIO is hard but maybe you could do some water in a bottle if you can't do full on CIO?