My son is currently 9 1/2 months old. Right now he drinks 4 bottles a day (1 in the morning, 1 mid morning, 1 mid afternoon/evening and 1 before bed) usually 6 oz. each. He also eats two meals - lunch (1/2 jar veggies & 4 tbsp. oatmeal) and supper (1/2 jar fruit & 4 tbsp. oatmeal).
He is not a very big eater so I am not sure that he is even wanting more. Should he be having three meals a day? Should I give him a breakfast and if so would I do this before or after his morning bottle. Like I said he shows no signs of being hungry for more solid food or even more breastmilk. So if I did add a third meal I would probably have to reduce the size of the other two meals.
What do you think? I know that at some point he needs to have a third meal added. I am just not sure about when and how to do it.
Now is a good time to start introducing finger foods! Most won't make it into his mouth for a while, but it's really good practice. And eating is all about practice right now anyways- he's still getting his main nutrition from the bottle.
I'd definitely add in breakfast, and focus more of his meals on soft fruits, cheerios, and other easy to pick up foods. That way- his hunger is less of the issue, and meals are full of fun learning!
L., I would say, add a meal if you want to wean off your son. I nurse my 9 month old daughter immediately as she wakes up, then breakfast (cereal with milk/fruit) about an hour later. She takes a mid-morning feed, then lunch, followed by a mid-afternoon feed (I am trying to change this to juice) and then dinner. She also nurses when she wants to sleep.
The best thing would be to try adding a meal for 2-3 days and see how he reacts.
It depends upon how he wakes up. Get rid of one of the morning bottles. My first screamed immediately in the morning and needed her bottle. I couldn't even change her diaper if she didn't have her bottle in her mouth. I would give her the bottle while I changed her and food(breakfast) midmorning and continue with your schedule. My second wanted food and didn't care about the bottle as much. With her, I changed her, fed her breakfast, midmorning bottle, and rest of schedule. Take cues from your son. I decreased the first bottle to about 4 oz. so my oldest would be hungrier midmorning for food. My second daughter I decreased the midmorning bottle because she wasn't as hungry and needed to make room for lunch. Good Luck and just go with your gut. No one knows your child like you do and no two babies are alike.
My daughter is 9 mths now and she has three meals. She has oatmeal breakfast in the morning. She then has a bottle in between breakfast and lunch. Then lunch is gets a stage 2 jar of veggies and stage 1 dessert. Again a bottle and then dinner another stage 2 jar of veggies and jar of dessert. This is the food plan that my pediatrician suggested. Talk to you doctor about it.
I would go ahead and try it. Our daughter is almost 9 months and eats 3 meals a day (she's eating only table food and feeds herself). We give her a smaller morning bottle when she wakes up (4oz) at 6am, and then around 7 or 7:30 we give her breakfast, which is usually some dry cereal (like cheerios or chex or rice krispies), some fruit, and/or some toast. She always eats the food, but it's less about putting nutrients/food in their bellies and more about practicing new flavors and skills. And we offer her water in a sippy cup too, at every meal. This might be a good opportunity to see how your son does with feeding himself - by now he should have developed a pincer grasp and be practicing it at meals.
