not drinking milk because of solids...

OK here's our schedule:

7:20am bottle followed by fruit/veggie
11:20am bottle
3:20pm bottle followed by cereal
7:20pm bottle
11:30pm dreamfeed

The 7:20pm bottle they are only eating a little.

I could swap so that they have cereal in the morning and fruit/veggie
at 3:20pm.

Should I give them less cereal?
Should I give them less milk in the bottle?
Should I give them cereal at 11:20am instead of a bottle??
And no cereal the rest of the day?

Frustrated that they are drinking less milk than when they
were 4 months old!! (Cereal is 30ml/1 oz mixed with rice cereal,
fruit/veggie is half a small jar each)

Am I feeding too much cereal>??

 

Can you drop the dreamfeed bottle, and see if they will eat more during the day for you? I would try that first.

 

QUOTE(becky5 @ Apr 23 2007, 09:38 AM) [snapback]230709[/snapback]
Can you drop the dreamfeed bottle, and see if they will eat more during the day for you? I would try that first.

:good: I agree with Becky on dropping the nightfeed first. How much formula are they taking through out the day, oz wise? Also don't forget to count the formula you are using to make the cereal.

 

How much formula are they drinking total per day? They may be ready to drop the dreamfeed and drink more during the day. From 6 months on, my girls were drinking 6-8 ozs 4x a day (no dreamfeed).

Sometimes my girls don't finish their bottles (especially in the morning) and when this happens, I put the bottle in the fridge and offer it again an hour later. They'll usually drink more of it, and then I toss anything that's left. I asked the doctor and she said they have little stomachs and get full easily, so I should offer formula between feedings if they haven't eaten enough. This seems to be working. Another thing I do is offer formula after eating solids. They are usually thirsty after eating solids, which makes sense, since we drink liquids with our meals too, and this is another way to get formula into them.

I don't think the amount of solids, or the timing is a problem. They should still be able to drink enough formula per day and eat solids too. It doesn't sound like you're feeding too much solids. I wouldn't do cereal at 11:30pm. That just seems kinda late to get them all messy - I'm sure you wouldn't want to do that.

I hope this helps.

 

When they eat well, they eat around 5 oz, when they dont eat well, they eat around 1 to 2 oz (over a 40 minute period).
They eat 4 oz EBM at dreamfeed.

Hmmm so should drop dream feed? It's my favourite feed!! LOL They are not fidgeting and just drinking. Also not sure where to substitute the EBM as it's the only bottle a day that they get of it....

IS IT NORMAL FOR THEM TO FIDGET WHILST DRINKING FROM THEIR BOTTLE?

 

QUOTE(christineinhk @ Apr 23 2007, 09:54 AM) [snapback]230739[/snapback]
IS IT NORMAL FOR THEM TO FIDGET WHILST DRINKING FROM THEIR BOTTLE?


Meaning that they don't really just want to sit there? OH YEAH! Now that they are getting older and want to explore more, it has been a task for us here too! I started putting them in their bouncy seats to help with that, this way they could look around and not just stare at boring ol' mom! They still have times they can't take time out from their busy schedules to eat!

 

Well wish me luck! Am dropping the dream feed tonight and wondering if it will make them drink more tomorrow - hope they dont wake up demanding food! Thanks again!

 

They get way more nutrients from formula or/and breastmilk than they do from real food. I would lower the food before giving up a bottle. If you look at suggested food guides for babies they say the first year the baby should get most of its nutrients from milk. I'd think twice before dropping the bottle. Plus some babies aren't even started on food until after 6 months so that's another thing to consider.

 

well they didn't wake up demanding their milk during the night and slept through (i woke up blinking in surprise!) but they didn't seem to be eating much more during the day! I'll monitor the situation for the next couple of days and see whether they get hungrier. Their cereal is mixed with breastmilk or formula (30ml/1 oz per baby) so they are getting some nutrients from it but it's only that small amount....

 

Well it's good that they slept through....hope they start eating more for you!

 

thanks Becky! That's exactly what I think!!

 

my pedi said they should be getting at least 24 ounces of formula or BM every day. As long as they are getting that, go to town with the food. If they are not geting that much, you're better off dropping some of the food first.