1.11.2010

Help! Mealtime Questions

I have a couple of questions for all of you mamas with toddlers...  My girls are quickly losing interest in their bottles and seem to prefer solid foods instead.  The problem?  The pediatrician said they should still be taking about 20-24 ounces of milk per day.  I'm not too worried about the numbers-they barely took 24 ounces at their peak of dependence on the bottle-but they are hardly taking 10-12 ounces some days! 

Here's how their daily eating pattern goes now:  They get a bottle when they wake up (they usually take at least 4-5 of the 6 ounces I fix), and this one is not much of a problem.  They get breakfast (baby food, usually..sometimes cinammon toast if I'm eating it) around 9:00.  Then, sometime between 10:30 and noon, they get a second bottle, of which they might take 3 ounces.  Around 1:00 or so, they get lunch (a veggie and yogurt), then another bottle about 4:00.  How much they take at 4:00 varies, but it is one of the better bottles of the day, and they will occasionally take up to 5 ounces or so.  They eat solids again around 6:00, then get a bottle before bed at 6:45-7:00...of which they eat almost none (seriously, like an ounce or two).  I realize that's a lot of food toward the end of the day, but I don't know how to better divide it.  They have not figured out the sippy cups yet, or I would try giving them a little in their sippy cup with their solids.  Should I try that anyway, using their bottles? 

Tell me, how did your babies' mealtimes look around this age?  How did you make sure they got enough milk once they started eating more solids?  I'm open to any suggestions or advice!! 

2 comments:

  1. I'm no expert, but at 9 months, my girls woke at 8am and had oatmeal with 6 oz of formula. Then lunch at noon, 3-4 oz of solids and a 6 oz bottle. Dinner was at 4pm which was 3-4 oz of solids and a 6 oz bottle and then a bedtime bottle (7 oz) at 6:30pm. And at 11 months, we're still doing the same, but have added a pretty big afternoon snack around 3pm and moved dinner time to 4:30-5ish. Still sleep 6:30pm-8am. Good luck!

    Your girls are just so precious! And look so much alike!

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  2. The only time I was ever able to get my kids to take a full bottle (8 oz.) was if it was strawberry milk. They only got one of those a day, usually close to bedtime. Other than that it was usually 3-4 oz and that was it. But I never put them into bed with a bottle of strawberry milk....didn't want to rot any teeth that might be coming in.

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