When to drop a feed?

[bubbles28]

Hi, my DS is almost 10mths old. He is on one BF in the morning and 3 bottles a day. He has them at 7am, 11am, 3pm and 7pm.
When should he be dropping a feed or does he continue with 4 feeds untill he is 1?
If so, which feed is the best one to drop?
He also is on 3 solid meals a day.
Thanks

[reAllytee]

My bubs started dropping his 4th feed when hit started hitting 6mths as he was having his 3 meals but then we still have a day here or there where he wants the 4th back & im quite happy giving it to him.
His standard day is:
6/7am - Bottle
8/9am - Brekky
( Sometimes he also has a banana for morning tea round 10am )
12pm - Lunch ( He sometimes demands milk with lunch otherwise he has water )
2/3pm - Bottle
5pm - Dinner
7pm - Bottle & Bed for the nite.

I would say drop the 11am but thats me. I would go with what your feeling your bubs wants but then maybe you need to add to whats being given for meals (?) to fill him up some more that way he wont want the extra bottle. I was worried about bubs when he was refusing the 4th bottle & spoke with my CHN & she said it was fine as he is getting more out of his meals now so thats why he is happy to cut it out. And i do feel this is right plus they also tend to let us know if they want more whether its because they are hot & thirsty or just plain hungry for more !

[Shelz]

Hi Bubbles 28,
My bubs is 8 months and is having 3 BF a day now. I have just dropped the 11 am feed as she is having three meals a day and wasn't having much when I went to feed her at 11am. I give her her breakfast 7.30 am(BF and cereal) then lunch 11.45 am (protein and veges and fruit) and BF at 2.30 and then dinner (carbos) at 5.30pm with another BF at 6.30 before she goes to bed for the night. She sleeps all night so must be getting enough.
She seems happy on this but if she seems to want another top up I give it to her, she usually is grizzly and put her hands in her mouth.

[Chickadee]

We only dropped to 3 feeds when Chloe dropped her morning nap, since she was used to getting a bottle at waking and then one before every sleep. But sometimes at daycare she'd still end up with 4 bottles a day up until she was around 18 months I think (tho she wouldn't finish them), since her carer kept giving her an extra bottle as snack. I only put my foot down about the extra bottle when it become apparent that it was filling her up and stopping her from eatting her solid meals. The guideline of 3 feeds a day at a certain age is just that, a guideline, so really it's up to you to judge his intake and need for milk versus solids.

[rynosmum]

Hmmm..... my DS has just turned 18 months (happy birthday and a half to Ry !).

He still has 4 bottles each day - 220ML each. 6am, 9:30am (before 2 hr nap), 2:30pm (before 1 hr nap) and 6:30pm just before bed. He still eats 3 good solid meals a day plus morning and afternoon tea.

I'm moving him off the bottle and to a sippy cup for milk over Xmas so I expect he will cut back on the milk a bit then. He's a big boy for his age 85cms and 14.5 kgs but certainly not overweight. But he loves his food and "MiMi" (milk). :D

[Ky]

If he is not finishing all of his bottles or is mucking around during a feed it is a pretty good time to drop one. I would suggest, like the others, that the afternoon feed be the one to go ... maybe replace it with some finger food and a drink if he seems a little hungry.

I was a demand feeder when it came to bottles, so there really wasn't a particular schedule that we followed, but remebering back to when my two were about this age, they were more interested in solids so only had two bottles ... one after breakfast and one before bed. Neither of them wanted bottles after 12 months old - they just refused them!

As has been said ... guidelines are guidelines and wach child is different ... some need bottles several times a day well past what the guidelines say and some cut back and are almost completely on solids well before the guidelines!

Just go with your gut feeling ... if you decide to cut a feed, go with the new regime for a few days to get him settled and if that isn't happening, put the feed back into the schedule and try again later ... he probably wasn't ready to drop it.

As long as he is eating plenty of solids and not relying on bottles, he is ok! He does sound like he is doing very well with solids and it sounds like you are a great Mum ... keep up the awesome work!

[Bronwyn]

Hi

I've got a 14 month old girl and for memory I think we dropped to 3 bottles at about 8 months.

I actually dropped the morning one and upped her breakfast (2 weetbix instead of 1)

Her routine now is

7.30 - brekkie (cereal or toast)

9.30 - milk and then sleep for 2 hours

12/1 - lunch (sandwich, fruit and drink of water)

2.30 - milk and sleep for 1 1/2 hours

4ish - afternoon tea (fruit or cheese)

5.30 - dinner

6.30 - last milk and bed at 7pm

Of course this doesn't work everyday (wish, wish, wish)

Lots of play and cuddles in between food and milk too.

[funnyfarm]

My daughter is 18 months old and only dropped down from 4 to 3 bottles about 3 weeks ago. She dropped the 10am one on the morning. Though, the last couple of mornings, she has had them because she is sick at the moment and not eating much.

I used to worry about this and the CHN said at this age she should only be having two bottles a day, but i would rather her have 3-4 bottles and be relatively happy or two bottles and be miserable all day. The only reason i would cut them down is if she was filling up on them and not eating much solids.

Janet.

[bubbles28]

Hi everyone, thankyou so much . Everyone gave such useful info.
I have decided to stick with the 4 feeds as my DS had some weight issues when he was 6mths, he lost a bit of weight.
Although he has been gaining weight since he is still very small for his age. When I took him to the CHN for his 8mth checkup he was on the 10 percentil for weight, height and head size. I am taking him back next tuesday for another checkup so it will be interesting to see how much he has caught up. I will let u know.
Also another reason I've decided to keep the fourth feed is that I think he really wants it as he is finishing every last drop at all feeds.
Thanks again everyone for your help and support.
Tina :)

[bubbles28]

Your exactly right kevinbudgie

[meshan]

My son was waking up several times a night (6months) and I really wanted to drop a night feed. I read an artical describing how feeding a child low-GI food for dinner stops them getting a sugar drop around 2am and therefore avoids the need for that feed.

Well it has worked wonders! Dinner is now somthing like sweet potateo, corn and chicken (not potateo or fruit) and he sleeps through to around 4am

[bubbles28]

I took my DS to theHN yesterday for a 10mth checkup.
He weighs 8.955kg and his length is 69.8cm.
I was very pleased because he has gained 1.315kg in 2mths. I think this is because he is on a special prescribed infant formula for babies with allergies and apparently it makes them put on a lot of weight too.
I don't like the growth charts they use to measure bubs. My DS is on the 30 percentile for his weight and the 10 percentile for his height, however he looks so healthy. These charts can make mothers worry that their children are behind for nothing.