transition to 3 bottles, but how old???

[kirstym]

hi my DS has just turned 8 months and is on a 4 hour EASY just wondering what age do you normally make the transition to 3 bottles, and how?

[* Paula *]

Some babies make the transition early, and some do it later.  My DS transitioned at 6 months, but my DD transitioned at around 8 months.

It all depends on your lo.  You would start the transition when your lo starts loosing interest in the mid morning feed or the afternoon feed.  The first feed you would look at dropping is the mid morning feed (the 11ish one).

You would drop this one, and perhaps move lunch earlier to say 11:30 ish, so that your lo does not get too hungry.  You can then move the afternoon feed up to around 2:00 / 2:30ish.

Our routine looked something like this:-

7:00 - Bottle
8:00ish - Cereal
11:15ish - Lunch
2:00 / 2:30ish depending on nap - bottle
4:30 - dinner
7:00 - bottle and then straight to bed.

Hope this helps.

[traceyj]

I was wondering the same thing.  My DS turns 8 months tomorrow and is really not interested in his 11am and 3pm bottle so was thinking of loosing one.  Do I need to get rid of dream feed first?  We had started df wean but then DS got sick, just begun it again this week.  Am I best off getting rid of that first and then seeing how his feeds go or dropping his 11am and hoping he picks up his formula amount for the other two?

[* Paula *]

Traceyj, I would definitley work on getting rid of the DF first.  Once that has been weaned, if your lo is still not showing interest in the middle of the day bottles you can look at dropping a bottle.

[TDR'smom]

DD will be 8 months in a few days.  WAAAAHHHHH!!!

Anyways, this has been her routine for the past few weeks

7AM-wake 8oz bottle
8:30AM-Breakfast (Cereal with Fruit)
10AM-Nap
noon-lunch (veg and fruit)
2pm-4 oz bottle then nap
4pm-yogurt
5:30pm-dinner (veg and cereal and fruit)
6:30pm-8oz bottle and bed

She is only drinking about 20 oz of formula in bottles, but get close to another 8 oz in her cereal.

HTH!

Judy

[Mashi]

Just wondering, do you think it is best when combining the 11am and 3pm bottles, to put this "new" bottle before or after the afternoon nap?  Any experience with one over the other?

We are now at
wake 600 and play while mommy pretends to sleep another hour....
bottle 700, breakfast 745
nap 845 - 945
bottle 1100, lunch 1145
nap 1245 - 230
bottle 300, dinner 400
bath
bottle 600 and right to bed for 630

So, if i am going to combing my 11 and 3 bottles, i will move lunch up to 1130ish, and then what is best for the bottle - to do it at 1230 right before his nap so he goes to bed with a full tummy, or wait until 230, so that it's spread a bit more evenly through the day?  and, will i have to offer a snack or something somewhere in the day to make up for a missed feed?
thanks!

[TDR'smom]

Hey Mashimaro!  I give DD her afternoon bottle right before her nap.  It is a smaller bottle than the morning and night time one.  Usually just 4 oz.  After nap time, I give her a yogurt to tide her over to dinner!!

HTH!

Judy

[* Paula *]

You could do it either way, or you could do like some mums do and split it to half before nap and half after nap.

It is what ever works for your lo.

Good luck and keep us posted on how you get on.

[Mashi]

I'm going to give it a go tomorrow!  Instead of just fruit for breakfast I am going to give DS some ReadyBrek as well (a bit nervous as I was hoping to stay off gluten until 12 mos, but am going to give it a shot....). I'll add an extra 2 or 3 ounces of milk to that as well.  Then I'll do 1130 lunch, 1230 bottle, 230 snack (only fruit as DS is milk allergic so no yogurt or cheese or anything...) and then 400 dinner and regular bedtime bottle.  I'll let you know how it goes!

[* Paula *]

Good luck with the cereal hun, keep us posted on how you get on.