TTMA Feeding

[pghtruelove]

I have such a hard time keeping up with a feeding schedule here. Tell me..
1. How often are you BFing/FFing?
2. How often are you giving solids?
3. Do you have a set schedule or just kind of play it by ear?

Some days I feel like I have a great schedule but then the next day if one tiny thing goes off in our day I'm flustered. Between nursing and solids I feel like most of the day is spent feeding J!

Oh also, how to you plan on introducing whole milk? This terrifies me for some reason.

[gigi3126]

We have the same fluctuation schedule problem. During the week, daycare is really good about feeding him breakfast and lunch along with his bottles of pumped milk at regular times. But H and I eat so irregularly that it doesn't always happen that way at home. Plus, when Jude has access to the source, he's not so keen to wait until it's "time." My goal for this week is to start establishing a home eating routine so that we're a little more prepared once summer rolls around.

Eta: no clue about whole milk. I planned on asking J15 when it got closer to a year

[jessila]

1. I think we're averaging 6-7 nursing/bottles of pumped milk per day. He eats every 3ish hours during the day. Sometimes closer to 2 1/2 hours sometimes 4.
2. He gets solids 2-3 times a day. He eats lunch every day (4 oz of baby food) and dinner (2+ oz of baby food and puffs galore). My mom mentioned trying breakfast but he doesn't seem interested after nursing/bottle.
3. The only real scheduled thing that stays the same is dinner/bed. I nurse him when I get home around 5. Dinner is around 7. Bed and nursing to sleep is around 730. We'll see what DST does to this. Otherwise it depends on him.

As for cows milk...we'll cross that when we get there? I can't think that far ahead yet.

[clbehenna]

I was seriously just thinking about this! I was nursing R to sleep for his nap, and thinking about how in the 2 hours he was awake, that was nursing session 3.

DS1 was formula fed by 6 months old, so he was on a very regular schedule and sleeping 12 hours at night. I'm wondering if those 2 things are correlated. We are in no set feeding schedule and not sleeping through the night over here!


On weekdays when R is at daycare, he gets three solid meals a day, but in the weekends I'm terrible about it and yesterday he only had two.

I need to get it together.

My transition to cow's milk with DS1 was a breeze. I cut out bottles cold turkey, and just started giving him a cup of milk with his meals when he turned one. Seriously NBD. Not sure how it will go this time since R is boob-obsessed.

[mgrandy]

1. We BF every 2-3 hrs. About 6/7 times per day.

2. I do solids 3 times per day. However, DD never ate purees so she eats what I eat in combination with puffs or her mum mums.

3. We don't have a set schedule every day, we just go with the flow of her personal schedule. She doesn't wake up at exactly the same time everyday, but within about an hour and a half and that affects her naps and bedtime.

Not sure about the cows milk as we have been careful with dairy because DD doesn't tolerate it to well, but seems to be getting better. I was considering introducing goats milk around 11/11.5 months in addition to breastmilk though.

[gigi3126]

@clbhenna I read this thing the other day about how the sleep/eat/play repeat cycle doesn't really work for breastfed babies. I don't know how legit that is, but it definitely seems to apply to us. Are they full nursing sessions or "snacks"? I noticed that if I'm playing with Jude, he'll come by and nurse for a minute and then go back to playing. Maybe this is a bad habit to be starting? I don't know. He doesn't eat as often when we're out doing stuff. Only at home.
jessila we have a similar schedule with dinner. It's the only meal that is consistent. We've also started doing breakfast, but I normally wait about an hour after his wake up nursing. He seems more interested in it by then.

[clbehenna]

gigi3126 We have exactly the same situation happening over here. He wants "snacks" all day long when we are together. I usually try to redirect him, but it doesn't always work. I'm really starting to get burnt out of BF because of this!

[Deleted]

We still FF in demand. Sometimes he wants several ounces, sometimes just a sip. I can't say there is much of a schedule for it. We do solids three times a day, about an hour after he wakes up, noonish, and dinner with the family between 5-6. He also gets an afternoon snack if dinner is on the later end.

I haven't thought about milk yet, other than I'll be glad we aren't spending $80 a month on formula any more. I can't remember how i did it with DS1. I think I just put it in a sippy cup and gave it to him.

[erbear]

1. She nurses 6-8 times a day still. If I'm at work, she takes 2 bottles.

2 and 3. We've recently worked in a third, afternoon meal, but we don't have a schedule for it. Generally, she has breakfast about a half hour after she nurses/eats (around 8:30-9) and then has lunch around 1-1:30. Dinner is pretty much always at 5:30, because that's usually when we eat. I usually throw in a snack somewhere (3:30-4 ish).



Eta: I haven't really thought about cow's milk except that I don't really want to give it. I was planning on asking about almond milk for her.

[dogmama22]

Z has really been cutting back on nursing and I'm also terrible about solids at home. DC does two meals and a snack. He nurses when he wakes up around 6:30, on school days he nurses at 11 and 2 and he's been refusing at 4 so we're going to try to do without next week. He nurses when we get home around 7 and that's it. The last week or so, he's doing one session overnight, but he's started shortening that again. By the time we get home, he's too tired for dinner so I just have them do some veggies at 3:30/4. I may bulk that up a little more if he's not going to nurse at that time.
I asked about transitioning at our 9 month appt, but I'd like to continue BF after 1 year, just not during the work day. I'll start using the freezer stash in a cup around 11 months and slowly wean myself off of the day time nursing sessions. We'll still nurse before and after school and maybe on my lunch break, depending on his naps.
ETA: I plan to eventually transition to goat's milk during the day whenever we run out of BM.

[tiffbot]

1. How often are you BFing/FFing?

Formula, and about 5 times a day and a little bit overnight to help settle her especially at her midnight wakeup that's what she's looking for

2. How often are you giving solids?

3 times a day, at breakfast, lunch, and supper

3. Do you have a set schedule or just kind of play it by ear?

It's pretty set, but she kind of just integrated into DS's schedule. We've been doing BLW almost since she started solids because it's easiest when I'm already feeding him.

ETA- we'll start cows milk around a year. With DS we just switched over and he was fine..we'll see if DD takes it the same way I guess!

[periwinkledaydreams]

We fell into a really solid nap and feeding schedule for about 3ish weeks somewhere inbetween 7th and 8th month, I don't remember anything these days so I don't remember exactly when it happened, how, or how it fell apart lol. (Formula) She was having 6 oz at wake up, a nap 3ish hours later, 6 oz at wake up, a nap 3ish hours later, 6 oz at wake up, and then 6 oz at bedtime about 4 hours later. Some nights she'd wake up needing 4oz around 1 or 2 am, some not.

ALL OF A SUDDEN we fell back to chaos, and now she may or may not finish her bottle at any given time, she seems too busy/distracted by all her new skills (crawling, pulling up) and also if she even SEES a regular food item, like a banana sitting on the table while you walk across the kitchen, her stubborn ass will refuse to drink the bottle I just made. She might fall asleep an hour after she wakes up and not be hungry for 5 hours. I've dumped out more formula than I can grasp this past few weeks because she's all over the place, so I've started mixing like 2oz at a time which is annoying as hell.

Thanks for this thread! I'm hoping this phase passes soon.

[jillywilly]

We are In a similar boat of periwinkledaydreams where we had a really awesome schedule, now we don't. He used to be really consistent with 6 oz bottles when he woke early, anywhere between 5-7, then 9ish, 1ish, 4ish, and before bed at 7. About 2-3 solid meals when we ate. Then he got sick last week and barely ate anything. Now, he's KILLING the solids, but I'm lucky if he's eating 4 oz out of his bottle (formula). His cold seems to be mostly better, so we'll probably be bringing it up at his we'll visit next Friday.

[heartofglass]

1. How often are you BFing/FFing?
Nursing every 2 hours on my days off and 4oz bottles every 2-3 hours when I'm working. I normally get a 5 hour stretch for his first MOTN feed then we're up about evey 2 hours until 6.

2. How often are you giving solids?
I try to do this 2 times a day on days off, but I'm kind of slack since he doesn't want to eat anything....on work days he plays with some puffs while I'm prepping for the next day and that's it.

3. Do you have a set schedule or just kind of play it by ear?
Both I guess since we're nursing consistently every 2 hours, but there's no set breakfast/lunch/supper since I grab food when I can. I'll try to instill more of a schedule once he starts eating solids better.

I haven't even given cows milk a thought. So I have no input here. About the only food A will consistently eat is yogurt though so I'm hoping the transition goes okay. I'm still planning on BFing as long as possible and I've got a huge freezer stash for when I stop pumping at work so I'm not sure how that will play into introducing cows milk.....

ETA:gigi3126 the sleep/eat/play theory is the exact opposite for us when I'm home and nursing.

[gigi3126]

heartofglass same here. I thought I was doing something wrong for the longest time!

[mrskblack11]

We breastfeed on demand, but he nurses every 2-3 hours.

We give solids at lunch and at dinner. Sometimes he nurses right before solids, sometimes he doesn't.

I play it by ear and follow his cues.

[Deleted]

I breastfeed on demand so every 2-3 hours during the day. We bedshare at night so it's hard to keep track of the wake ups but sometimes I think she wakes up to feed only once and this week it seems she is up every hour.

I'm interested in weaning close to 1 year. So slowly transitioning to cows milk in a bottle or sippy cup starting in June then hopefully by 14 months-15 months stopping BF.

[shahoi]

We were doing 4 6oz bottles (formula) per day, but she got to where she wasn't finishing her bottles, so we are now back down to 5 oz per bottle.

We do purees 3 times per day and snacks (puffs/yogurt bites) in between.

We will start cows milk around 1 year.

She had been on Nutramigen since she was around a month old because of tummy issues, but within the next few weeks we are going to transition to Enfamil Gentlease. FX it works well!

[dogmama22]

Mar 13, 2016 19:28:53 GMT -5 shahoi said:

We were doing 4 6oz bottles (formula) per day, but she got to where she wasn't finishing her bottles, so we are now back down to 5 oz per bottle.

We do purees 3 times per day and snacks (puffs/yogurt bites) in between.

We will start cows milk around 1 year.

She had been on Nutramigen since she was around a month old because of tummy issues, but within the next few weeks we are going to transition to Enfamil Gentlease. FX it works well!

I have some Enfamil toddler transitions coupons if you want. It's good for the toddler Gentlease (9-18mos).

[shahoi]

Mar 13, 2016 19:59:38 GMT -5 dogmama22 said:

Mar 13, 2016 19:28:53 GMT -5 shahoi said:

We were doing 4 6oz bottles (formula) per day, but she got to where she wasn't finishing her bottles, so we are now back down to 5 oz per bottle.

We do purees 3 times per day and snacks (puffs/yogurt bites) in between.

We will start cows milk around 1 year.

She had been on Nutramigen since she was around a month old because of tummy issues, but within the next few weeks we are going to transition to Enfamil Gentlease. FX it works well!

I have some Enfamil toddler transitions coupons if you want. It's good for the toddler Gentlease (9-18mos).

I was just planning on using the infant kind, but I didn't even think about the toddler transition one. Do you (or anyone else) know if that is really necessary?

[dogmama22]

shahoi I'm not sure. I was surprised when I received it so early, but then looking at the sample it said their toddler version is for 9-18 months and then they have a next steps version for after that. I think this one has more protein or something?
ETA: their website explains more
www.enfamil.com/articles-and-videos/enfagrow-toddlers/about-enfagrow/how-does-enfagrow-compare

[musicfrk2002]

1. How often are you BFing/FFing?
Formula feeding, and it's 7 oz every 2.5 to 4 hours. Usually right around the 3 hour mark.
2. How often are you giving solids?
Not very often. He probably only gets one full meal (puree) a day. If we are out somewhere, he usually gets a few bites of my meal, like a French fry or pieces of bread. He has some puffs every day at daycare and sometimes has some in the morning at home.
3. Do you have a set schedule or just kind of play it by ear?
Again, depends on the day.

Oh also, how to you plan on introducing whole milk?
No clue; haven't even thought about it yet.

[carolyngrace]

Mar 13, 2016 8:46:36 GMT -5 jessila said:

1. I think we're averaging 6-7 nursing/bottles of pumped milk per day. He eats every 3ish hours during the day. Sometimes closer to 2 1/2 hours sometimes 4.
2. He gets solids 2-3 times a day. He eats lunch every day (4 oz of baby food) and dinner (2+ oz of baby food and puffs galore). My mom mentioned trying breakfast but he doesn't seem interested after nursing/bottle.
3. The only real scheduled thing that stays the same is dinner/bed. I nurse him when I get home around 5. Dinner is around 7. Bed and nursing to sleep is around 730. We'll see what DST does to this. Otherwise it depends on him.

As for cows milk...we'll cross that when we get there? I can't think that far ahead yet.

Ditto #1 & #2. Usually O is not hungry before nap one. But if I have a muffin or something hell gladly eat that.

However the amounts & type of food really fluctuate. If he sucks down a 4oz pouch and wants more he can have it. Sometimes he doesn't even finish it. Sometimes he'll eat a ton of whatever we have for dinner, sometimes only purées.

[ashbash]

We are scheduled, partially because thats how I do best and partially because he fell into DDs schedule. Ill give todays schedule since its pretty much the same every day

Wake up 6:45 ish - nurse
Breakfast 8:15 - 1 scrambled egg, 3 small banana pancakes, 6 strawberries and water in a sippy.
9:30 - nap
11ish - wake up and nurse
1:00 - lunch - handful of lentil noodles, 2 veggie meatballs and half a pear, water in a sippy
2:15 - nap and nurse (this is 50/50 these days)
Nurse 5 pm
Dinner - middle eastern chicken, roasted carrots, brown rice and quinoa, water in a sippy
8 pm nurse and bed

I plan on introing goats milk in the next week or 2 since he has trouble with dairy. Probably a little in a sippy with meals

[Bluedaisy]

@scoop, I'm totally with you! LO WAY prefers me to hold a regular cup so he can sip. If I try to give him a sippy he just dumps it out on his tray and plays in the water. And he's only had purees and mum mums... I need to get on feeding real foods but I can't decide what to give him. I feel so lost and the more I read the less I can figure it out.

[pghtruelove]

Mar 13, 2016 20:53:33 GMT -5 @scoop said:

This thread stresses me out because N is the worst eater and I feel like she is never going to eat real food or use a sippy for anything other than banging on the table.

This is how Jules used a sippy cup, so I decided to just do straw cups. They worked much better for us!

[jillywilly]

+ 1 to DS mostly banging the sippy cup on his high chair tray (or chewing on the handles). Ironically, if we hold it up for him, he actually really seems to like getting drinks of water, but he's just not putting two and two together to actually be able to do it on his own.

Also, Bluedaisy, DH was super anxious about giving DS table food at first, so we just started with what we thought the easiest foods possible were - bananas and avocados were big in the beginning because they're kind of naturally "mushy." From there, we moved to picking veggies out of soup and well-cooked pasta, and after that, things just naturally took off, and now we essentially just feed DS whatever we're eating, just cut up small for him.

[islandgirl14]

1.)  I nurse before work, then he gets three bottles during the day when I'm gone, and then I nurse again before bed. When I'm home on the weekend though it's much more random and frequent though.
2.) Solids are 2-3 times per day, after his bottles.
3.) Our DCP has a very set schedule he follows which I think is great. On the weekends it's a bit more random though, and we really need to get better at it! 

As for whole milk, I'm not really sure... I think I'll slowly introduce a little at a time... do a few days of 1oz, then increase to 2oz, and work our way up. With DS1's food allergies, we are extra cautious so I won't want to move too fast in case there are any reactions!

[belle0720]

I've been thinking about this all a lot lately!

1. How often are you BFing/FFing? Generally about every 3 hours (Pumped milk when I'm a work, BF when I'm with her). Sometimes more often if she's grumpy and I'm there. She takes 4oz bottles when I'm not there.
2. How often are you giving solids? 3ish times per day when we eat. We're doing BLW.
3. Do you have a set schedule or just kind of play it by ear? Not necessarily a set schedule, I'd say it's more of a usual pattern.

Oh also, how do you plan on introducing whole milk? I've been wanting to ask all of you ladies about this. We'll do it some time after she turns one, but I'd like to continue breast feeding at least in the evenings and weekends and maybe just pump once a day at work. I'd love to hear about everyone's decisions on using goat vs cow's milk (looks like a lot people will be doing goat). Anyone considering coconut or other alternative milks?

[belle0720]

Additional question: Did you guys switch bottle nipples in line with the ages recommended? I finally bought some stage 3 nipples when I went back to work, but she chugs those bottles really fast when we use them. Are we doing a disservice to her if we still use slow flow? She used to spit up a ton so we've always tried to pace her feedings.