6mos Old Food Habit- any suggestions welcome

PeeVee · Feb 26, 2010

I dont know what title would be good for this thread..DS behaves different each day:-(..He wakes up every 2 hr at night most of the days and sometimes, after the first 2 sessions, starts to wake up every 1 hr.. even if i try to make sleep back, he would cry until I feed him..when i start to feed he latches just for 2-3 mins and goes back to sleep..so what i meant to say is, even with 3-4 feeding sessions at night, hardly he must be conuming 2-3 oz of milk..he might be taking around 2-3oz (I am estimating with the time he latches) at 7.Now a days he wakes up around 7. Some days he drinks 3oz around 9 and have soilds at around 10.30 to 11 and I feed him around 12.15-12.30. He doesnt latch too long for my lunch break..he might not be hungry after he had the solid session..but i guess he drinks at least 2 oz..then i pump around 3-4oz and he takes that only around 1.45 or 2..and another 3-4oz at around 4..I BF again around 5.30 ..semi solids again at 6.30-7..give prune juice around 8 and BF again at 9..but most of the days he skips any one of these fluid sessions..yday, he refused to take milk at 4 and when he started sleeping i tried with bottle and he took just 2oz..then I BF him around 6..tried to give him solids around 7.30 and again at 8..he didnt..he just keep his mouth tightly closed..this morning after I BF around 6.45, he didnt take the bottle until 9.30 and finally skipped that session to feed solids..I am really worried about his milk intake..he hardly drinks 18-20oz a day..i dont know why he is this adamant at this age!

can someone share with me your baby's schedule with the quantity and timings?? or can you suggest me a better pattern to follow.. I am really going crazy with his sleeping pattern and food habit..I wonder when others say their babies take about 4-5oz in a single feeding..

geethabm · Feb 27, 2010

Hi..

After reading your post, i feel that u r relying more on milk as the food for baby.. and u r looking worried for your baby's quantity of intake of milk..
Let me tell u, now that ur baby is 6 months old and big enough to take solids... dont worry abt milk... some babies doesnot like drinking milk too many times.. by forcing them to drink, may lead them to lose interest on milk for good...
First and fore most thing in infants fooding is the timings..
without a correct time, it's impossible to understand their hunger and requirement of food..
I suggest u to follow one particular timetable for your baby .
I started giving raagi malt to both of my children, right from their 4th month.. this is the healthiest and easiest food for infants and can be continued till their first year or even more if they eat...
U can try following this time table ..it may be difficult initially but believe me it's so comfortable for both baby and u ..
The night meal should be little heavy because if they eat well, they will start reducing the number of times they wake up in the night..
* As soon as the baby wakes up, give him a warm bottle of milk.. If u r BF him... reduce the frequency right now.. give thru bottle.. because this is the age they recognize evrythng n wont leave BF .. give a gap of 1 hr.. mean while , u can bathe him if possible.. give him breakfast like idli, cereal, or fruit or whatever.... and make him sleep if he want to..because babies tend to sleep if their belly is full with food...
Give him a solid lunch around 11.30 or 12 noon... U can make upma without seasoning or chillies.. just rawa fried and boiled with little salt..
cereal should be more easy... fruit pulps... anything u r comfy with.
* He should be having a long nap.. and once he wakes up.. give him warm milk and let him play for some time.. and can give a snack... and give him a good heavy dinner.. because he has to sleep for a long time... If u give gap between meals.. he would definitely start eating or drinking properly.. he should digest and feel hungry to have the next meal...if the quantity is not enough, he keeps crying or waking up in the sleep..
They will get used to the timings very soon.. may be little tough initially.. but .. u can also be so comfortble if u know the timings... can plan your other things as per his timings..
Once he turns 9 months or so, u can start giving egg.. (if u eat in your house.)can start giving rice based food...
:thumbsup

PeeVee · Feb 27, 2010

Thanks geetha for your reply..DS is not on BF all the time as I am a working mom..He is used to bottle from the beginning and I BF him only in the evenings..he still prefers BFing over bottle..i never used to foce him to eat or drink..but yday when he went without anything for a long gap, i forced him a little bit..he refused the bottle first, but when i pushed it in and when he tasted the milk, he started drinking..and just swallowed the whole! i dont know why he refuses if he is so hungry..i was giving him ragi and after a week, he is not eating raagi..then switched to oatmeal..now i think again time to switch to ragi..anyways, as you said i should stop worrying about his milk intake..