How many hours between feeds?

Hi ladies,

So far we've been feeding them every 3 hours for the most part. I just read in some book that we should be spacing out to four hours by now. DS will not have any of that. He is starving and gets fussy and attacks the bottle. He is getting HEAVY :laughing: DD usually wants to eat somewhere between 3-4 hours. I am totally just doing what is best for my kids and understand that books are just that. I just wanted to see what everyone else is/has done.

Also, my kids seem to love solids. Veggies more than cereals. I give them their solids once a day in between the midmorning bottle and lunch time. I made the mistake of feeding them solids first today and :laughing: I thought they were going to eat me. So far we're doing one food at a time. Ie. we've left cereals for veggies.

Anyhoo, just wanted to see what everyone was doing re: feeds and at what point you start increasing the intake of solids to several times a time and mixing cereals and veggies and fruits etc.

Thanks... don't you feel as though these buggers should come with a manual? I know they are healthy and happy but sometimes i'm just making things up...

TIA,
Anna

 

hi smiley - Ours are about the same age as yours. I started solids at about 17 weeks, they are 21 weeks now. For the first two weeks, we did 1x day, mid morning as you are doing. It was really all for practice. Once they got the hang of it, we did 2x a day and have now moved to 3x a day. They will take abou 1.5 to 2 oz of oatmeal mixed with pears and a bit of prune juice in the mornings. THey love it. If I don't mix it with pears and prune juice it makes them constipated. Then I usually do other veg for the other 2 feeds. The other feeds they usually only take about 1 to 1.5 oz each.

We've tried several different ones, introducing 1 every 3 days or so. Bananas make them totally constipated, so I've stopped them all together, which is a shame cause they are so easy to do and keep fresh on hand.

We are making our own baby food and I'm finding this web site helpful (even if you don't want to make your own, their is tons of good info on it http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/stage1_homemade_baby_food_recipes.htm ).

I am now feeding a bottle each, then feeding them solids. This way the whole feeding process is wrapped up in about 30-40 mins. We use the same spoon, bowl for each just to make it easier. They are still taking 4 bottles during the day, they like to eat every 3 1/2 to 3 3/4 hours apart. For some reason, 4 just seems to be too much for them. They are still taking a small bottle btwn. 3 and 5 am.

I would say it sounds like you are good to go with increasing the solids. For one of my girls, she was totally ready to go up to 3x a day, I think our other one would have been fine on 2x a day for atleast a few more weeks, But I figured she could still use the practice, so I don't really stress if she doesn't want a lot. I always feed their bottles first, this way I'm certain they are getting the most important part.

 

At that age, I think my two were still getting a bottle every 3 hours and solids just once a day. We didn't increase solids to more than once a day until around 7 or 8 months, then 3 times a day around 9 months. I think it sounds like they are doing great!

 

At 5 months, both of mine were still on a bottle 3x a day and getting solids 2x a day (about 1 tbsp of cereal in the morning) and a container of veggies at lunch that they shared. I think your babies are doing great, Momma!

 

At five months, we were still on four bottles a day, solids once a day. I did cereal from four months to six months(roughly), then I added veggies. Once we did veggies, I added fruits. And once they had the said solid for three or so days, I added that in the rotation with other food they had. We didn't hit three meals a day until nine months. I was never very good at scheduling the various meal times! Sounds like you are doing a great job!

 

At 9 months we are still on a bottle up to 4x a day. I think we were on a 4 hour schedule with a bottle up until 7 or 8 months. sounds like its all normal your way!

 

My girls took bottles every 3 hours for the whole first year. I would do solids about 90 minutes after bottles. I don't think we started baby food at all until 6 months old (other than the cereal.) Mine were never big baby food eaters though.

 

i'm trying to remember, but i don't think we went to every 4 hours until somewhere between 7 and 9 months. don't let the books pressure you! :acute:

every child will have different weights, metabolisms, nutritional needs, etc. number of ounces and feeding schedules can be okay guidelines, but guidelines can't accommodate all of the specific needs of an individual.

 

Every 3 hours. 8 month old twins. I guess I should start thinking about the 4 bottles a day too, huh? Just seems naturally when they are hungry, so I go with it.

 

Hmm. Mine are nearing 8 months. We nurse every two hours still, and have gone to 3 meals a day, starting about a month ago.

Started cereals at about 5 months, added in veggies & fruits at about 6. We were still doing only one a day then, and then one day early in the morning, it seemed like they wanted more so we did breakfast and dinner that day. Lol.

Mine eat a ton, though. Probably more than they should at this age. We also make our own, but since they eat so much, we don't use the cube method, and just freeze it all in ball freezer jars - this gives us two meals in a container and they stack really well.