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feeding routines
Hi ladies,
My DD is an end of junie, and will be 7 months old next week. I have had her weighed today and the health visitor has put me in a pickle about weaning! She is breastfed and we started weaning her at about 18 weeks, she loves her food.
Our rough routine is this
7 am wakes, good breastfeed
9 am breakfast- porridge/weetabix/ baby museli
11am-ish smaller breastfeed and a nap (if she'll have one!)
1pm lunch homemade or a jar/ pouch. She has a full HIPP baby jar followed by pureed fruit.Water to drink
between 3-4 ish Small breastfeed
17:30 tea again meal & pudding or a meal and some finger food. Water to drink (amount of food is again a jar full/ 3/4 pouch of Ellas kitchen)
19:00 breastfeed before bed
I thought this was fine but the HV tells me I should always give her a breastfeed after food rather than staggering the 2 as she 'is snacking all day' She also advised that the volume of food should be 'a few teaspoons' My DD would be sat waiting for the rest!
Instinct tells me this is fine. DD is between the 25 and 50th centile, following her growth line. today she weighed 15lb 15 oz at 29 weeks. But that said I would hate to cause her harm by ignoring advice.
how does it sound to you? and please would you share your LOs routines.
Thank-you
SS x x
My DD is an end of junie, and will be 7 months old next week. I have had her weighed today and the health visitor has put me in a pickle about weaning! She is breastfed and we started weaning her at about 18 weeks, she loves her food.
Our rough routine is this
7 am wakes, good breastfeed
9 am breakfast- porridge/weetabix/ baby museli
11am-ish smaller breastfeed and a nap (if she'll have one!)
1pm lunch homemade or a jar/ pouch. She has a full HIPP baby jar followed by pureed fruit.Water to drink
between 3-4 ish Small breastfeed
17:30 tea again meal & pudding or a meal and some finger food. Water to drink (amount of food is again a jar full/ 3/4 pouch of Ellas kitchen)
19:00 breastfeed before bed
I thought this was fine but the HV tells me I should always give her a breastfeed after food rather than staggering the 2 as she 'is snacking all day' She also advised that the volume of food should be 'a few teaspoons' My DD would be sat waiting for the rest!
Instinct tells me this is fine. DD is between the 25 and 50th centile, following her growth line. today she weighed 15lb 15 oz at 29 weeks. But that said I would hate to cause her harm by ignoring advice.
how does it sound to you? and please would you share your LOs routines.
Thank-you
SS x x
0
Replies
7.30 - bottle about 4-5oz
8-8.30 - porrige, weetabix or an ella kitchen brekie pouch, toast as finger food or a banana. Juice
10.30-11am - offer a snack, usually a couple iof rice cakes and juice (will only have a few sips)
11.30-12pm - lunch homemade pot (around the size of a jar) and a yoghurt. Will offer finger foods, usually veg. Juice
2-2.30pm - offer a bottle abolut 3-4 oz (does not always take this if doesn't take will offer juice)
4.30-5pm - tea, homemade meal of occasionally an ella kithcne pouch about 3/4 and a fruit pot or mashed pear. Juice. Again finger foods.
6.30-7pm - bottle 4-7oz
Like I say his bottles have decerased abit sonce he's been ill so hopnig he icreases them again. Did your health visitor expplain why your lo shoul only be having a few spoonfuls? Maybe I'm giving too much and he's dropping his bottles too early becasue of it?? Olly has always been fussy with his bottles though and refused them even before I started weaning!
My HV said my little ones are on track and they eat a similar amount to yours.
She also gave me a table to follow which is defo more like what you said than 1-2 tea spoons!
Our routine is pretty much:
8.00 Breastfeed
8.20 Breakfast - weetabix or porridge
10.30 ish - very small snack if getting 'restless' eg piece of banana or organix biscuit or rice cake
12.30 - lunch - about 6 cubesworth of homemade food, some finger foods (most of which goes on the floor), fruit puree and yoghurt.
3ish - breastfeed
5-6 - similar to lunch, usually with meat
7.30 - breastfeed.
As for the quantity, my fab HV when ds was little said to start with a couple of teaspoons and gradually offer more, if you've been weaning since 18 weeks I should think you've progressed well past a few teaspoons by now! My dd certainly has more than that, if she has an Ella's pouch she eats it all and looks for more - in fact I mentioned to my HV that I'm sure she eats more than her brother sometimes and she said that's quite possible and absolutely fine. my dd's weight gain was poor for a while before Christmas, so I'm probably a bit more relaxed about her eating a lot now, but I'm following her lead as I'm sure you are.
Mine's an end of June baby too
At the moment she has
9am weetabix/porridge
11.30 lunch usually a sandwich, finger food and yogurt
2pm 6-9oz bottle
4.30-5pm tea usually a whole pouch ella's kitchen or homemade same size and a jelly or dessert pouch 1/2 or sometimes all of that
6.30-7pm 9oz bottle
She is about 18 1/2lb now at 32weeks and between the 75th-91st centiles and weaned from 17 weeks.
If your only meant to be giving her a few teaspoons then why do the jars get bigger for 7 months+
I'm sure there is nothing wrong with what you are doing and from experince most health visitors talk rubbish and think every baby should be the same xx
the few spoonfuls at each meal (or one bigger meal only maybe 2) would be right at just under 7 months provided you had waited until the recommended 6 months/26 weeks to start weaning - most people dont and as you started at 18 weeks clearly you will have progressed and your lo will be eating more as you are doing...main thing is they are happy and content (and you too) and that they are gaining weight steadily follwing their centile lines
we started at 23 weeks and by 26 weeks were on 3 meals as my dd took to it really well and we were also doing finger foods. i did mashed foods (about 1/2 then up to one then 1.5 to 2 small weaning pots - just the ones you buy in asda) i've never given jars/pouches but i measured and 2 of those was equivelant to a stage 1 jar and she was eating that amount pretty quickly.
The thing with 'snacking' all day again is something people have different attitudes to. we are bottle fed and i want my dd off of these by 1 year so aim to cut them down which is different to breastfeeding but even then the food should increase and the amount of milk/feeds your lo wants should decrease which is why its often food then a feed straight after which is recommended but isnt for everyone and you have to do what suits your lo....
i did staggered feeds like that (felt like she was constantly feeding) until she dropped a bottle herself and i switched it round gradually one meal at a time so she was having food then her bottle rather than the previous way where i fitted food in between (but after) her bottles if that makes sense?
she is now eating loads!!! She did well at first but then wentthrough a phase of refusing a spoon and so we have to give her mainly finger foods although now she seems to accept cereal and yoghurt again from the spoon (woo) but most other things are a no no!!! (she is an independent wee madam lol and she is 31 weeks)
our routine now goes like this (give or take half an hour each way dependent on our groups and also when she wakes up eyc)
9am breakfast: weetabix or 2-3 spoonfuls of ready break (with 2-3oz milk added) she'll have 1-3oz of water usually and then bottle afterwards (usually about 10am by the time we eat and get cleaned up) normally about 4 or 5oz (today and yesterday though only taken 2oz so think she is starting to get ready to drop another one) she will have a piece of toast and usually some fruit either some stawberries or grapes or raspberries and some will go on the floor (she can also take the organix cereal bars which say from 12 months lol)
1pm lunch - this can be sandwiches like today or boiled/scrambled egg sometimes toast or veg like and chicken (cut into strips) or fish and she will also take home made meatballs and spaghetti (not so keen on pasta she plays with that more)or toasties (its hard as she wants to do it all herself) i also give omelette or french toast and she'll have things like potato wedges she loves cherry tomatos and slices of cucumber and cheese and she'll eat spinach as well so lunch is usually a bit mix match from those things depending on how organised i am lol. she'll have some more fruit eg banana or melon as well usually. She also eats the wee organix rice cakes, ellas kitchen crackers or the wee corn crisps (those are only 'baby' foods i buy) and also breadsticks - some days it seems like she just eats and eatsd lol and if its soemthing she isnt as keen on she wont eat so much. again she'll have 1-3oz of water. again or bottle is about an hr later at 2pm and she'll take similar anounts 4-5oz (again today less she took 3oz)
5pm dinner: same as lunch lol.
7.15 we start bath and jammies on and then 7.45pm bottle and shes in bed by 8pm normally-8.15 and usually sleeps straight away but its hit or miss now with teething she'll sleep through (again dependent on teething as it now wakes her up sometimes a few times a night) and thats her til 8am usually (sometimes 8.30)
sorry v long post i dont give snacks (i dont tend to snack in between meals unless out) unless out and about and thats when she'll have some of the organix things i mentioned as i keep those in the changing bag lol.
only things i would say do differently are push lumpier foods eg mashed over next few months and offer plently of yoghurts and cheese so when milk feeds so lessen the dairy is topped up and just your lo as a guide to how much they want to eat.
Lx
Our routine is:
Wake up time (varies) - I give her an 8 oz bottle but normally drinks around 6oz - shes not bothered with breakfast, tried porridge, wheetabix etc but wont eat it so give her some toast which she'll chew on but most ends up on the floor
12.00 - Homemade pureed veg and either a yoghurt or pureed fruit then followed by 5oz milk which will normally set her up for a nice big nap around 1.00
4.00 - Again 8oz bottle but will have between 5-7 oz
6.00 - Homemade veg and a pudding with some finger foods
8.00 - 8oz bottle
I thought she was having too much but her weight gain has really slowed down and HV vistor said she was doing really well so not worried, every baby is different and so long as she is gaining weight and you are both happy then try not to worry to much
I really wouldn't worry about what one health visitor says. Do you have any others at your weigh in centre that you could ask for a second opinion? I've got one that seems to give conflicting advice to all the others so I try to avoid her now. Like Lauz says, sometimes one HV can give all the others a bad name x
Sorry I haven't been on here for a few days. Thank-you all so much for taking the time to reply, you have really reassured me. I was worried about the quality of the breastfeeds she was having during the day and pushing 4, she might do better on 3 good feeds rather than the 2 broken daytime ones she has now, its reassuring to know many of your lo's have 3 milk feeds a day (your routine sounds fine glimmer), I was worried about her dropping them, but will try to chill! We are giving plenty of dairy- she has natural yoghurt daily, milk on cereal etc.
Once again many thanks
S x x