7 Month old snacker and solid food advice needed

[jenlynnshatz]

I am not sure if I should post this under bottlefeeding/ breastfeeding or solids so please redirect me if this the wrong place. At 6 months my pediatrician had me start supplementing formula b/c my baby had fallen low on the weight charts after 6 months of breastfeeding. I started solids at 5 1/2 months. Turned out my milk supply was low. I did some things to increase and now i am doing 1/2 formula 1/2 breastmilk and i am fine with that. I am pumping a lot to track her consumption.
 
She still wakes ~4am every night for milk ~4 oz and I can't seem to fill her up enough during the day. I feel if i feed her too frequently she snacks and if not often enough she is short on calories. At first I thought the middle of the night feeding was the only issue but now I realize she is not having large feedings during the day. Currently she has breakfast and dinner but is not a big eater. Here is her routine:
4am - nurses/bottle ~4 oz goes back to sleep
7/7:30am - nurses (Seem like a larger feeding but I BF so i am not sure how much maybe 6 oz?)
8:30 1 TB cereal w/ 2 tsp fruit ( not very hungry)
9am naps ~1 hr 15 min
10:30/11am milk ~4 oz (shouldn't she want more milk than this?)
1pm - usually naps althought today had ~4 oz milk (maybe b/c no lu nch)
3:30/4 pm ~4 oz
5:30pm dinner 2 TB cereal w/ 2 oz formula and 3 tsp fruit (more hungry than breakfast)
7pm BF and supplement w/ formula if needed
 
I know that this is too many times per day to nurse/bottle but I think I was so by the book by trying to space her feedings out to 4 per day and she never consumes more. At first I thought it was my low milk supply but now I realize she is not consuming a lot at once. How much milk should she have My pediatrician suggests holding off on lunch since she needs the milk to gain more weight. She seems to be gaining nicely I just feel like she is feeding often for this age.
 
I tried so many times to do the 4 hrs EASY but it's just not fulfilling what she needs for eating. She weighs ~16 lbs at 7 months but at 6 months she was only 14 lb, 4 oz and now is catching up. She was 8 lb 7 oz at birth.
 
Any advice?
 
Thanks

[Vikki ~ Dylan's mommy]

Hi!

Your ped is right about holding off on lunch - milk (whether formula or breastmilk) has far more calories/fat/nutrients than any solid food and is definitely better to help gain weight.  And it seems like what you're doing is working!  Your dd gained more than 1.5pounds in only 1 month!  And I wouldn't worry about the night feed, it's normal for breastfed babies to still need a feed at this age.  So try not to stress too much, you're clearly on the right track   Keep that in mind when you read the rest of this!

As far as her taking small quantities of milk, the best solution I have for that really is moving towards a 4h EASY.  It seems counter intuitive, to feed less often but take more, but it actually does work. For example,

3h EASY               4h EASY
7am 4oz               7am 6oz
10am 4oz             11am 6oz
1pm 4oz               3pm 6oz
4pm 4oz               7pm 6oz
7pm 4oz
Total 20oz            Total 24oz

When you say that you've tried many times to go to the 4h EASY, how have you gone about it?  Have you jumped right to 4h intervals, or do you try to make the change gradually?  How long did you try 4h intervals before going back to feeding more frequently?  I ask because when you make the change more gradually, it allows her time to get used to taking larger amounts less frequently.  She won't jump from 4oz to 6oz per feed right away, but if you change gradually and keep it up for a few days to a week then her consumption will likely increase.

Here are the guidelines for milk consumption:  "How much formula milk does my baby need?" (even though the title says formula, it applies to the total milk consumed, including breast.  And don't forget that all milk added to solids counts towards total milk intake too!)

hth!

[jenlynnshatz]

Thanks. I think I did it too fast at about 5 months. I am going to try to gradually stretch it one feeding at time. . I guess I will start with the morning feeding and go from there. How will I know if she is ready for lunch? I remember my first baby was just screaming one day at 1pm and I fed her lunch and just knew. She was all breastfed so I have no idea how much she consumed.

[jenlynnshatz]

Last question. At what age to I try to hold her off at night. After 3 meals per day? Sometimes I wonder if it's just a habit or if she is hungry. She is eating 4 oz so I guess it's hunger?

[anna*]

Re night feeds, I would say 'when solids are well established'. To me that means, when she's eating 3 meals a day, veggies, fruits, proteins and grains, and you've stopped counting how many spoonfuls at each meal.

[Vikki ~ Dylan's mommy]

How will I know if she is ready for lunch?

TBH, I think that all you can really do is offer it to her!  If she eats it, and it doesn't really affect her milk intake at the next feed, then you're good to go   I would wait and see if you can't gradually extend the time between those milk feeds, as as you get to the afternoon feeds you can introduce it and see what happens.  If I remember correctly, when Dylan first got lunch his routine looked like (give or take):
7am bf
8ish solids
11am bf
1230ish solids
3pm bf
530 solids
7pm bf and bed

At what age to I try to hold her off at night.

To be very, very honest, I never tried to hold Dylan off at night.  But I also never fed him *just* because he woke up...  If he woke due to teething pain, I would medicate and shh/pat to help him back to sleep, for example.  I am of the mind set that STTN is a milestone that will be reached when lo is ready (just like sitting up, crawling, walking).  There are things you can do to encourage it, like teaching independent sleep, ensuring sufficient calories during the day, etc., but that's really all I did.  Dylan dropped his last night feed on his own just before he was 1yo.
Having said that, here is a link with ideas on how you can gently discourage night feeds that you might find helpful to help get you there more quickly:  http://www.kellymom.com/bf/weaning/weaning-night.html

hth!

[jenlynnshatz]

Thanks for all of the advice. I pumped last night for my husband to give a bottle and she only had 4 oz! so she is having ~ these feedings:

3/4am 4 oz
7am 4 oz
8am breakfast
11am 6-7 oz
3pm 6 oz
5pm dinner
7pm 4 oz.

2 questions:
how can i increase her milk intake for her 7am and 7pm feeding that I BF.
Also today she was crying at 1pm b/c she was hungry. very often she is not hungry for breakfast like this mornign so i gave her a few oz BF but should I  try lunch? I am so confused on balancing solids and milk. I am sure i will need to give more milk after her 1:30pm nap since she only took a little before her nap

[Grants]

Hi there!

I'm just jumping in to say that my DS used to be a big snacker like yours .He used to have so many milk feeds (breast feed and bottles) but all small snacks and not a whole bottle as he should. I just wanted to add that 4 hour EASY really works!! It is worth the effrort to do the transition slowly as Tracy explains in her books. It took me about 1 month to get my DS in to a EASY routine but in the end he got it!!

[Vikki ~ Dylan's mommy]

You can certainly try lunch!  I would just monitor her milk intake to make sure that it doesn't decrease   Start by just offering a tablespoon or two and go from there.

As for increasing her bedtime bf, I wonder if you could offer her dinner a bit earlier?  I don't know how your feeding routine works around her naps, but if you could offer dinner at 430pm instead of 5pm, that extra half hour between solids and her bedtime feed might help her take more milk at bedtime.  If that doesn't help, you could always reduce the amount a bit.  Also, since our milk supplies are at their lowest in the evening, have you thought of offering a couple oz in a bottle as a top up after the bedtime bf?  I don't know if she would take it, but it might be worth a try.

What do you think?