going from 4 to 3 bottles

[Belinda1000]

hi everyone just wondering if anyone has some advice for my 8 month DD to get her from 4 to 3 feeds.
at the moment she feeds 6am, midday and 6 pm and wakes for a bottle at 1.30am. How do i get rid of this night feed. i have tried holding off her dinner bottle until 8.30pm just before she goes to bed and giving her extra solids at 6 pm instead but she rarely finishes the bedtime bottle and wakes anyway.
i give her 2-3 solid feeds a day. is this 1.30 feed a phase and she will cut it out when she doesnt need it anymore or will i be getting up at 1.30 for the rest of my life.
how did your baby cut down from 4 to 3 feeds any advice wuold be so appreciated. thanks

[Natasha Wells]

Could you try making it a smaller feed each time. So for a few days give say 150mls then every few decrease my 20-50mls. Then she will soon realise that it isn't worth waking for and stop. Either that or just ignore her and let her fall back asleep again. I hope that helps.

[rizzo]

Hi my son just turned 1 and still is having 3 bottles a day plus 3 meals and snacks.

[Mrs Little]

My understanding is that they should be having 4 bottles at this age.? I could be wrong.

My suggestion would be to make the feeds closer together during the day....they are 6 hrs apart now...why not make them 5 hours? Worth a try?

Mrs Little & Son.

[nkenward]

My son is close to 5 months old, and he has recently increased his bottles from 5 to 6 bottles. He has yet to start solids, but the increase in bottles are still during the day - he hasn't woken at night for them.

I agree with the method of making it less each night. But also agree with giving the 4 bottles during the day - don't space them out as much.

Good luck.

[Baby Girl]

Why not try having her bottles through the day closer together and maybe hten giving her a dream feed at about 10pm or somehting like that.

My nearly 9month DD has ...

8:30am bottle
Sleep until 11 ish
11:30 bottle
12:30 lunch
play
3:30 ish bottle
4ish sleep
6:30 dinner
7pm bath
7:30 bottle
8 - 8:30 bed

So she has 4 bottles and 2 solid meals (she has 3 if she stays awake in the mornings) but not very far apart all day long.

I used to give her a fifth bottle before I went to bed at night, while she was asleep. I would stand at her cot and hold it, she usually guzzled it down pretty quick but didn't wake up, when she started fussing with it and it was more disturbing for her than just having a top up - I stopped it and she has been on 4 bottles ever since - that happened around 6 months.

[Belinda1000]

thanks everyone for your suggestions. DD has never been a big eater and if i give her bottles more often she doesnt get a chance to be hungry and barely drinks anything as it is i am lucky if she drinks 500mls a day. I dont think this is enough but i cant get any more down her and dr says she is a good weight although i think she is tiny at 7.5 kg.

[Natasha Wells]

Belinda i was like you worrying about how many bottle and quantities my DD use to take as she has never taken the recommended amount it says on the tin. But i have stopped worrying she gets between 600-700mls a day including what goes on her cereal and is happy and heathly and putting on lots of weight
They say between 6-12 months 3-4 bottle of 600-800mls is fine.

[Baby Girl]

Belinda,

If it makes you feel any better my DD1 is perfectly healthy and didn't hit 8 kgs until after she was one (she is 3 now and only just 12kgs). DD2 is also happy and healthy and has only just reached the 8kg mark (a week before 9 months). Don't be concerned about her weight, as long as she is settled, happy, content and growing steadily she is getting enough. I spent soooo many hours worrying about weight with DD1 that I was a wreck and then one day I was watching her and it occured to me that she was smart, happy, slept well and was growing (albeit slowly) consistently and a bundle of endless energy and so I stopped worrying. It was like a huge weight had been lifted.