3/4 Month Old Eating

sound just like my 4 month old. She is breastfed but often takes bottles too - she has to tag along to a lot of her sisters' events and it's just easier for me to give her breastmilk in the bottle.
She eats around 7am, 11am, 3pm, 7pm and a little more at 830pm, then down to bed at 845 and sleeps until 7am. When from a bottle she takes about 6oz. I have not yet started cereal. She's been in this routine since 2 months old and my older two were the same way. She does not fuss or act hungry in between feedings, and my pediatrictian says she is growing and developing right on track.

I had the same concern with my son. He started sleeping through the night at 6wks (10pm-5am) I thought he was waking at 5am because he was hungry, but I tried just rocking him back to sleep and he didn't wake up again until 8 or 9am and ate his regular size bottle, 4oz I think at that time. I asked the doctor if it was okay that he was going that long w/o feeding. He told me that as long as he was making up the missed ounces during the day then it was perfectly fine. I think the accepted norm is 2-2.5 ounces per pound. So a 10 pound baby should be taking in 20-30 ounces a day. If he's happy and growing at a steady pace I wouldn't stress.

He's too young; but after about 4 m/o (preferably after 6 m/o), you may want to give him a bit of table food here and there. I held out till fully 6 mo w/ both my kids, and with my first-born it was easy, but with my second, I was hanging on by my fingernails to get him to that "exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months" gold star. ;-) If I had it to do over again, I would have let him eat table food around 5 m/o, when he was acting like he really wanted it.

I never did baby cereal or baby food - just used whatever was on the table, if it wasn't too hard or spicy. Sometimes I'd mash it up, and sometimes I'd just put small bits of food (soft, and too small to choke, even if it went down whole) like peas or cut-up boiled carrots on the high-chair tray.

But a lot of babies this age are just wanting see the "new and exciting" thing on the table that we call dinner, so just because he's acting disinterested in his bottle doesn't mean he's interested in food for eating, but just something new to chew on, instead of the remote or his baby toys.

Do not start solids of any kind so early. Of course he's watching what you and hubby eat - he's trying to learn mannerisms and behaviors - which is normal.

If I was offered a bottle instead of the breast when Mommy was looking right at me, I'd refuse too - and may be why 'he's not eating much'. You should be nursing him more, not less... his growth spurt should have just occurred or will be occurring and that is when he needs to cluster feed at the breast to ensure your body knows it needs to up its production to keep up with baby's growing.

He should be eating a lot more and this sounds like he is showing a preference. If you are present, there should not be any bottles being given. I understand you want him to be used to a bottle... and when you are at work, he will not allow himself to starve. But when you ARE with him, you should exclusively nurse - unless you are using this as a way to sabotage your own milk supply so you have an excuse to wean? I've seen Moms do that before... intentionally set themselves up to fail then complain they tried but in reality they didn't want to breastfeed anyways and needed a way out.

He's not old enough to be starting on solid foods. Your breast milk is enough nutrition for him at this age. He will sleep when he needs it and if he is a good sleeper then I am very happy for you. Some are never very good at it.