6.5 Month Old Feeding Routine

At such a young age, I don't think it's important to get him on a feeding routine(3 meals a day) as far as solid food is concerned. Right now he's getting the majority of nutrients from his formula and will continue to do so for the next few months. Absolutely introduce him to fuits and veggies, but if he's filling up on that and not drinking his formula, or just doesn't seen interested in it, then I wouldn't push it. At this stage of the game it's more important that he gets formula.

Our feeding routine was pretty basic. Cereal in the morning, then whatever formula was left over from the cereal was given to her in a bottle. Then it was pretty much bottles during the day with either fruit or veggies around dinner time, then back to bottles for the rest of the night.

As far as the napping goes if he's sleeping that much during the day and it doesn't interfere with his bedtime sleep, then that means he needs the sleep. He won't sleep more than he needs to, and those frequent naps will become less over time.

Now for having him bottle feed himself, it's not as hard as you might think. Actually at your son's age, I started encouraging my dauther to learn to use the sippy cup(with water, I was never big on the juice). It's new to him so he's going to play with it. In time he'll get the idea. Believe me, I understand your concerns and I know how hard it is, but he won't starve. He just needs some time to explore with his new "toy" and then he'll get the hang of it before you know it.

Good luck with everything! My daughter is 3 years old now and I still say children should have come with instruction manuals. :)

Hi Raine,

I have a seven month daughter and I've got her on a pretty good feeding schedule. I have to admit that her Doctors is very good and I have followed a alot of advice from them. I started her on cereal and stage 1 baby food at 4 mths. By about 3 or 4 mths, I started feeding her every fours hrs as well. Before starting her on the foods, she had about 6 oz at each feeding at 4 hr intervals. Now that she's on food here her schedule. The times are approx, but I try to keep it as close to this as possible.

5:00 am (approx) - 6 oz bottle

9:00 am - Cereal w/ fruit in 4 oz of milk - previously I started her on about 3 oz of milk with about 3 tbl spoons of cereal and then about an hour of so later, I would give her a 3 oz bottle right before she naps. Now, I've increased the cereal to 4 tbl spoons in 4 oz of milk and I keep 1 oz to the side and I spoon feed her it as I feed her the cereal. It's just a way to help her wash down the cereal and that way I get another ounce of milk in her as well. I sometimes give her the ounce in a sippy cup instead of spoon feeding. I introduced the sippy cup (on my Dr's advice) at 6 mths. She's learning it well, but hasn't mastered it yet. I no longer give her a bottle before her nap, unless she doesn't finsihed her breakfast for whatever reason.

1:00 pm - 4 oz w/ either a stage two fruit or veggie - Depending on what we are doing, I sometimes start her lunch with two oz of milk in either the bottle and then feed her the remaining 2 oz by spoon or sippy cup while she's having her fruit or veggie. I just use it as her beverage so to speak. I'll feed her a few spoons of the food and then a sip or a spoonful of her milk.

5:00 pm - 3 oz in sippy cup or spoon fed along with stage two food of meat with fruit or veggie.

7:30 pm - 3 to 4 0z in bottle as she is falling asleep for the night.

I think the most important thing to remember and again this was advice from my Dr. is that you should let your baby dictate what he can take. Some days it will be more and some days less. As you know, each child is different. My dauther has been fairly good with eating, but she went through a stage where she didn't want to take her bottle unless she was falling asleep. It started at 3 mths and seems to be ending now, as she is taking the milk with less fuss. I also used to give her water during the day from the bottle, just a few sips here and there. I've stopped that for the most part, b/c I think that is why she was refusing her milk as she liked the taste of the water. Now I try to only give her water in the sippy cup or with a spoon, and I limit it as much as I can.

I know that it can be frustrating, I just to feel helpless when she didn't take her milk. But my Dr assured me not to worry, and that she'll drink as much as she needs. So, as long as she drank at least 4 oz at each feeding I was happy. He said that babies are like adults, they sometimes eat more one day and less the next.

About the bottle holding, she is learing to hold it but drops it more often than she can keep it in her hands and she hasn't grasped the concept of leaning it to get the milk. I'm not worried though, she'll get it.

Okay, I'm sorry for such a long email. I hope some of this helps you. Let me know! Good luck!

Raine,

My twin girls are just 7 months old and I knwo how hard it is to figure out the feeding/sleeping thing.

First, 16 lbs in big for a baby, so don't worry about how much he is or isn't eating.

1) At this age, he reallt needs only two naps about 1-2 hours apiece. If he wants more... that's great, but it isn't necessary.

2) I found my girls were often too full to eat 3 meals, and drink a bottle. So I spaced it out. Here's there current routine:
upon awaking (around 6:30 AM): bottle
8:30 AM - cereal and fruit with some yogurt
11 AM - Bottle then a nap
Upon awaking (about 1 PM) - lunch - veggies and tofu (mashed)
3 PM - bottle then a nap
5:30 PM - dinner - veggies, cottage cheese
7 PM - bottle then bed

I do also give them a bottle if they wake up in the night. And offer watered down juice and water after meals and in between feedings. It seems to work well.

You just need to know (and I asked my perditrician about this) that it's ok that thier bottle consumption goes down.

3) The girls are just starting to hold their bottles for a little bit. (I always have a hand close in case of throwing or dropping, because it happens.) And by the way, I've read that many babies don't get a (pardon the pun) handle on bottle holding until at least 9 months. Don't let your daycare provider dictate what's right for your little one. Follow your instincts.

S.

Hi Raine,

I have an eight month old, and I am still nursing. You are right to be worried about the milk, most of your baby's nutrients will still come from milk for quite a while.

Here is the schedule that seems to be working for my daughter:
nurses when she gets up in the morning
takes a nap
eats solids (I mix cereal with a fruit for breakfast)
takes a nap
nurses
eats lunch about an hour or two later(fruit or veggie with or without cereal depending on how thick the solid is)
nurses (usually a short nursing, almost a snack)
naps
eats dinner (cereal and veggie, and at this point whatever food we are adding to her diet)
about 1-2 hours nurses
goes to bed for night

Obviously, when she is at day care, she gets bottles instead.

Good luck,
M.

Wow, just reading thru all these responses. JUICE in a bottle at 7 months, cottage cheese? All this solid stuff at such a young age?
Juice is never reccomended before age one(and even after that , a maximum of 4 oz a day diluted!!) nor any whole milk products (yogurt, cottage cheese). I am just shocked at all the food that these babies are being fed.
Why the rush? Formula or breast milk is all they need the first year of life, as someone else stated.
No wonder we have an epidemic of childhood obesity.
I responded to Raine privately also.

I remember this as it were yesterday! Here are a few things I tried:
* I actually tried a little formula in an infant sippy cup to start of the breakfast meal & dinner meal. This somehow made a difference to my son & he became a very good eater. My son ended up being so independent w/ his bottle & cup. His daycare is amazed.
* It's definitely a good time to cut down on all the bottles. Try stretching out each bottle by 15 minutes every couple of days. In a few weeks, you'll be at a 4-5 hour stretch, which means youlll start seeing the "3 meals a day" routine. My son is 11 months & gets one bottle at night (he gets 5 oz of formula in his sippy cup w/ breakfast). He almost seems like he doesn't need it, so I'm pretty confident that taking away the nighttime bottle in a month or so won't be too bad.

Good luck!

I work in a daycare with the infants and at about 5-7 months they should be eating more food. Usually we'll mix a few teaspoons of cereal with fruit in the morning followed by a bottle. Then maybe a small juice bottle around 10-10:30. Then another jar and bottle around 12-1pm. Then another jar and bottle around 4pm. Of course this depends on how much your child likes to eat and how much. But of course you don't want to over feed him. Have your daycare provider sit your child in a reclining seat to drink his bottle and have her help him hold it, in a week he'll be holding it himself. But if you keep holding him to feed him his bottle, he'll never learn. She should not let him drink a bottle in the crib, though, because that's against DPW's guidelines.

Hi Raine,
I am a working mom with an almost 6 month old so I know the importance of a schedule!! As a prior poster said, if the naps aren't interfering with bedtime then let him sleep. Eventually as he is more mobile and active he will be too absorbed in playtime for so many naps.
Solids at this point are more for practice then nutrition. What works for us is a half jar of food at breakfast (7:00am) with 8oz of formula, the same at lunch (11:30, only a bottle at mid-day (3:30) and then dinner at 7:30, again a half jar of food and 8oz.
Our daughter LOVES her jar food so we found we have to give the bottle first or she wont eat it. if you are finding he throws up maybe just give less food (only 2 tsps) and gradually work up until he can keep it down. But you dont want to back down on the milk. At this age they should get between 30-35oz/day.
Finally, about the bottle. The other tips were great about how to encourage him but really, what is the rush? Why does your daycare provider care if he holds it himself? The only reason I can think of is because she doesnt want to take the time to feed him. Mealtime is a great time for cuddling along with nourishment and once they gain independence they just keep moving forward so enjoy this baby time!!! He'll hold it when he is ready.
Good luck!!

Hi, Raine. I would follow the baby's lead as far as his nap schedule. He is getting the sleep that his body needs. As for the formula and food, the most important thing until he turns 1 is the formula. As for the food, give it to him so that he learns to eat from a spoon and taste different foods and textures. When my daughter was about 3 months old, I started putting her hands on the bottle with my hands on top. She was holding her own bottle at 4 months old, which I thought was very cute! But I still held her closely and cuddled her while she drank. Do what you feel is right for your baby. Good luck with everything.

Hi Raine,

Let's see, if were you, I would focus on the formula and work the food around it. At his age, he is getting all he needs from the formula, and the baby food is something added to fill him. You can try giving him cereal with the formula mixed in, also, they do have baby cereals that have the same ingredients that are in the formula. See if he needs a bottle in between breakfast and lunch, if not, then you can give him half a jar of baby food and try some formula. same thing before dinner.
Please don't misunderstand me, he should be eating baby food, but his milk is very important. At least that is what I was told. Its always trial and error, if something works better you do it. Babies are very resiliant, you cant go wrong. Like i said, his formula/milk for the first year is what he needs most.

My son was a different situation, he was a 10lb newborn and was started baby food at 3 months old. So by the time he was your sons age, he was already eating a jar of food PLUS half a bottle of formula with it. Every baby is different.

As far as him holding his own bottle goes, my son didnt want to hold his bottle at 6.5 months old. It was because he wanted to be nurtured while feeding, which is perfectly normal. Your baby can hold it if he wants, but right now he chooses not to.

I hope this was a bit of a help, don't worry about your sons eating, like i said, work the food around the formula, and see what happens.
good luck!!!

My dau is 12mo and I honestly can't even remember her feeding schedule at 6.5mos. I think I was nursing her before I went to work, then she'd get breakfast, then a mid-morning bottle, then lunch, then an early afternoon bottle and then I'd nurse her when I got home again 1.5hrs before dinner, then dinner, then another bottle before bed.

At 12mo's I still hold my daughter's bottle. She can do it, and chooses to at times, but I like the closeness. Your daycare provider doesn't want to hold your child to feed him and that would bother me as a parent. I used to work at a daycare and we often propped bottles up to babies mouthes with rolled up blankets and sat them in a seat alone to drink their bottle like an assembly line. I used to have a lot of nifty ideas about childcare like that until I became a parent! It's up to you how you feel about that, but my two cents is to not put any undo pressure on yourself to somehow teach him how to properly drink when it's time to drink. If he needs to be held, he needs to be held. He is still a baby and needs some physical contact, I believe. Whenever I start to feel pressure to do the impossible I usually realize the pressure is coming from an outside source and I need to take a moment to think about what is best for me and my baby. It sounds so cliche, but the first year goes by SO FAST...baby him as long as you can. It goes fast enough naturally! ;) Good luck.

At that age trying to get your child on a 3 course meal is a bit tricky condsidering he is in daycare. Your childs stomache is not as big as an adults and will need more meals if on breast milk or formula. As your child ages he will not need as many naps. My daughter had no intreast in any type of food until she was a year old. I would try rice cereal at about 7mo once every day but she refused it. She ate when she was hungry. On bottle holding, my daughter refused to hold her bottle. I would try to make her and let her cry it out but she had no intreast at all. If you go to babiesrus or I think onestepahead.com, they have a bottle called Podee. It is a hands free feeding system that was a life saver for me when it was just me in the car. Your child will eat when he is hungry, this "picky stage" is just starting. Do not worry about it, as long as your Dr is happy with weight progress then dont stress. Every child is different and will do things when they are ready. You know your child better then anyone else, always go with mothers instinct.