The 499,562nd Feeding question! Need advice

So the boys are 4 months on Monday. They are eating something like this:

6AM 7-7.5 oz btl
9-10AM 7 oz bottle(just started 1 tsp oatmeal with BM)
1PM-7oz bottle
4PM-7 oz bottle (1 tsp oatmeal with BM)
6:30 or so-7 oz bottle
Bed
They usually wake up around 12-1AM for a bottle
Ronan has skipped that bottle a few times and slept straight until 6AM or so

Declan wakes up for that bottle and usually around 4 to eat.

What do you suggest to help them sleep longer?

How much creal should I be giving?

Should I mix fruit into the cereal? If so what do you suggest?

Is 8 oz each bottle too much for them? TIA!

Re: The 499,562nd Feeding question! Need advice

Re: The 499,562nd Feeding question! Need advice

zsorry - giving DS solids didn't help him sleep longer, so i am no help

it sounds like they are getting plenty to eat during the day, i wish i had better advice!!

Re: The 499,562nd Feeding question! Need advice

Posted by headoverheels

zsorry - giving DS solids didn't help him sleep longer, so i am no help

it sounds like they are getting plenty to eat during the day, i wish i had better advice!!

Re: The 499,562nd Feeding question! Need advice

DD's sched is very similar, except with 6oz bottles and no cereal yet, but she has been (don't want to jinx it) giving us mainly a full night of sleep from 8-6ish...
Anyway at like 6 she gets a bottle we then give her a bath at 7 and at 730 she gets a full bottle, she eats most of it, so eventhough it's not a 3 hour gap between feedings she goes down easily after this bottle and sleeps mainly through the night..so maybe add another bottle???? just a thought...

Re: The 499,562nd Feeding question! Need advice

At 4 months Emerson all of a sudden was hungry A LOT!! Luckily she didn't wake up through the night but she was barely making it 3 hrs. between bottles during the day and she was up to 8oz. but kept spitting it up because it was too much liquid even though she was hungry. As soon as we started her on solids she dropped her bottles down to 7oz. and went from 5 bottles a day to 4.

We started her on solids at 4 months 1 week old. She had 2 tsp cereal in the morning and afternoon. Once I knew she was okay with the cereal we added a different fruit or veggie every 3-4 days along with the cereal.

At almost 6 months old she now has 4 tsp. of cereal in the morning and afternoon along with either 1/2 jar fruit or veggie. She also has (4) 7oz. bottles a day.

EDIT - My ped had mentioned at that age if they are still waking up to eat in the middle of the night it may be because they aren't eating enough throughout the day. Maybe increase the amount in the last bottle for the night or start adding more cereal and possibly a fruit or veggie throughout the day. My ped had her start on 2 tsp. of cereal when I first introduced it.

Message edited 3/13/2009 2:10:18 PM.

Re: The 499,562nd Feeding question! Need advice

Re: The 499,562nd Feeding question! Need advice

Thanks Hofstra-very helpful-how liquidy do you make the cereal. Mine is sort of the consistency of a cream soup. Should it be thicker?

Re: The 499,562nd Feeding question! Need advice

Posted by melijane

Posted by headoverheels

zsorry - giving DS solids didn't help him sleep longer, so i am no help

it sounds like they are getting plenty to eat during the day, i wish i had better advice!!

LB-do you think I should add fruit(applesauce, pears) They seem to struggle to poop, especially Declan

Do you know the max breast milk they are supposed to take per day?

Message edited 3/13/2009 2:44:04 PM.

Re: The 499,562nd Feeding question! Need advice

Re: The 499,562nd Feeding question! Need advice

Hey Mel, I think you should try what we discussed the other day

give them cereal 2x a day for a few days and see what happens. You could throw some fruit in there if you want. I would try prunes if they are having trouble pooping

Re: The 499,562nd Feeding question! Need advice

Thats an awsome schedule. My DD wont eat at all...so they make me put cereal into her diet. She refuses bottles often.

Re: The 499,562nd Feeding question! Need advice

Re: The 499,562nd Feeding question! Need advice

My DD was eating 2x's a day at 6 months and didn't sleep through the night until 7.5 months. I don't think their anything you can really do to change that.

If they are drinking each bottle dry to the bone then I would increase to 8oz. Their is no limit on how much BM they can have, it's different than formula. I EBF but never pumped and I am sure DD had more than 40oz some days.

If you are giving them cereal now and it is oatmeal or rice it is very binding. I would try giving them barely (I gave both my kids this and it didn't constipate them as much). If that still doesn't help I would give them a stage 1 jar of pears a day. Apples might give them gas. You could also try making the cereal a little thicker so it is like grits consistency and give it to them as dinner. So feed them and give a bottle. I would take the milk out of the bottle to make the cereal and give them the rest.