Daily Food Schedule for 8 Month Old

Hi J.,
My daughter is 8 1/2 months old, and I am very fortunate to be able t take her to work with me, instead of daycare. I also strictly breast feed, and am trying not to introduce formula. When my daughter nurses she will only nurse on one side, so she ends up nursing 2 times in the moring, then she will get one container of fruit and cereal, then she will nurse and take a nap, gets up has one container of vegetable and one fruit, mixed with cereal, then she will nurse and take her afternoon nap, then she has either a jar of veg/meat/pasta and one container of fruit mixed with cereal, then will nurse one possibly two times before bed. The containers of food that I buy are gerber 2nd stage foods, and I try to buy organic as much as possible. I am not sure how much milk she is getting when she nurses, becuase it's been a while since I have pumped, but when I was pumping regularly I would get about 3oz per side. So I think that she gets about 18-24 oz per day?? Hope this helps.

Anotehr mom mentioned that she was surprised your son took 8 oz of breastmilk at a time - I suggest double-checking with your daycare to make sure he is actually taking all of the milk. Because if they're throwing any away, then I would suggest making smaller bottles (maybe 6 oz). If you want to take out one bottle, I would simply double the amount of fruits/veggies. Then if you breastfeed morning and night and give 2 bottles of breastmilk per day, your son should still be getting the required 8 oz of milk. Does that make sense? It's all kind of trial and error because each child is different. Even an 8 month old will let you know if he's still hungry so it's not like he's going to starve. If you choose to cut out one of the bottles at daycare, you can send that third bottle "just in case" but let the daycare know that you only want them to give it to him if he's hungry. Does that make sense? That way, you can try to cut out one bottle but if he's really hungry, he has something there.

At 8mths my daughter was drinking about 24oz of formula daily but eating a lot of food. She'd have a stage 2 (which is 3.5oz) fruit mixed with 1/4c. cereal for breakfast, then a stage 2 veggy for lunch followed by both a veggy and a "dinner" meal later on. Although usually we don't stick to only "baby" food. Try giving him other soft foods to see if he likes them...banans, cottage cheese, cheese, toast, canned veggy/fruit, ravioli, macncheese. Even without teeth, my daughter could eat almost anything. I'm sure that his milk intake will go down and you can eliminate that 3rd bottle at daycare once he eats more food. Good luck.

Hi, J. - my kids are now teenagers, but I remember going through something similar. I think by 8 months, the two breast feedings, morning and evening, are good enough. Include one or two other bottle feedings, with formula or milk so you don't have to pump. Give real food at two of the meals - in a couple of months he'll be eating three meals. I'm not an expert; this is just my personal opinion, and it depends on what's really important to you. I think the pumping is too much, and no longer necessary at your baby's age. Three breast or bottle feedings, plus two or three meals, should do it. (Just reduce the bottles gradually, so he doesn't get upset).

Hello,

My daughter was born the same month as your son last year, and this is the schedule her Dr. and I came up with. (but I use formula)

Bottle 4 oz. and stage 2 fruit/oatmeal combo when she wakes up between 7-8am
(we feed her about every 4 hours)
*** REDUCED****Natures Purest Complete Comfort Swing Between 11-12 she has a bottle again and lunch- stage 2 food for lunch- usially a veggie.
Between 3-4 she has a bottle and we up her to 6 oz. and no solids.
Between 7-8pm, she has dinner meat/veggie combo or something like that and another bottle.
Hopefully she wouldn't be up at 11-12, :-/ but if she were I would just give her another bottle. She sleeps through the night.
Our Dr. said to feed her her bottle and then give her the solids and let her eat until she is full. We just had to learn her signs, sense she will eat when she is full too. Most of the time she eats about 3 quarters of the stage 2 jar.
Sometimes at lunch or dinner i'll cut back a little on the food and give her some yogurt or try some puffs. This works really well for us and Maddie.

I know it seems like a lot, but Maddie was a big baby, and always ate a lot. You would have to adjust to whatever your son can take aand learn is full signs. At my daughters 6mo. appt the Dr. told us to wait until she was 6mo.2wks. then start solids three times a day.
I know responding to a similar posting, I got some bashing from other mothers on this site saying it was to much, or that they only need formula/breast milk for the 1st year. Which I don't agree with, but... My suggestion is to do what you feel is best for your baby, and talk to his Dr. Ours was super helpful!!

Hope this helps.
Message me if I can help anymore!
A.

Are you pumping just during the day when you're away from him or at night as well? From what I understand pumping isn't the same as nursing and it takes more effort for less output. My suggestion, from the information you provided, would be to pump as often as you can while he is at daycare and also at least once after he goes to bed but before you do. And of course keep up your fluids, make sure you're eating enough and take care of yourself.

As for solids, my (almost six month old) son eats a jar of baby food or baby yogurt three times a day but is still burning through at least five 8oz bottles of formula in a 24 hour period. When he was on breast milk only it was about the same.

Lastly, supplementing with formula. Don't worry about that right now. Figure out what you need to do to increase your milk supply and whether or not it works for you. If it doesn't work THEN you can worry about formula. And if you have to supplement then you'll do it and move on.

Instead of cutting out the 3rd bottle, I would reduce the size of the bottles down to 6 oz each - that way you won't run out of milk. Have daycare give him some solids before the bottle so he's satisfied with the smaller amount and not still hungry. Also, if you're worried about him getting enough nutrition, maybe add another nursing session after daycare. Really, until a year his primary source of nutrition should be breastmilk, and you don't want to go down the slippery slope of a dwindling supply just yet!

My son was born 6/27, so he is a little older, almost 9 months. He nurses about 5 times a day, same as yours, and I give him cheerios and/or yogurt for breakfast, fruit and cereal for lunch, and a vegetable and sometimes meat for dinner. He usually eats 4 oz. of fruit or veggies at a feeding. I don't really give him bottles so I don't know how many ounces he eats but I don't think it's 8, probably more like 4 or 5 at a feeding. Other than supplementing with formula I'm not sure what else you could do. Good luck!

At 8-9 mos I started three meals a day. I would give my daughter a bottle in the am (6 oz-- she rarely even drank all of that) and then an hour later she would get cereal and fruit. About three hours later a bottle. And then for lunch veggies and fruit. About three hours later a bottle. For dinner usually two veggies or a veggie and a little of what we were eating. And then, a bottle before bed.

My daughter did not want bottles... so we had to purposely space them out to get her to drink them.

I think it is ok to increase the food intake and cut back on the nursing at this stage, although the primary nutrition should still come from breastmilk or formula.

J. I am a working mom and while my kids are older now I nursed both of them until they were 14 months old and never used formula and they were both in daycare. Here is what I remember at about this age: I never used 8oz of breast milk. I only had 6oz bottles and some smaller ones...too much some goes to waste and I don't think they understand at daycare how valuable the milk is! I would nurse 2x in the AM before going to work(maybe 5am and then when I got to daycare) and and in the evening once when we got home and then once before bed and if needed in between. Here is my pump schedule:
10am I was ususally able to get 10-12oz best pump of the day and I always kept this time even when I needed less milk.....eat lunch then pump after lunch......pump at 3ish after a snack. Lots of water and juice through the day....tons of water and that Mothers Milk tea when my production was low. I did use cereal at about 6 months for both of my children as I recall it would have been for lunch and in the evening.
FYI there will always be peaks and valleys for your milk production and stress will tend to effect your milk. Someone indicated you get less milk from pumping than from nursing....I was great at pumping and several times got ahead of my kids milk needs. It should be easy to get production up with a nice restful weekend and lots more water. I will also share that I found nursing and even pumping so relaxing in my otherwise stressful life as a working mom and the relaxation and calming effect was so worthwhile. You can do it....good luck!!!!

check out this site- http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/foodsbytypeandage.htm

I personally liked this site and followed it pretty closely- starting at 6 months, but breastfed until 18 months.

I worked full time- pumped once in the morning, once at lunch & once in the afternoon. I think I too used 6 oz. bottles, but I also used this site to guide me on bottle sizes. http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/milkcalc.html#calculator

www.lalecheleague.org is always good too!

Good luck!

By 8-9 months, your baby should be having three meals a day. He should eat the meals at the same time the rest of the family does. I would always give cereal and fruit in the am and then nurse. Possibly a snack of cheerios mid morning and juice or water or something in a sippy. Lunch would be cereal and veggies or meat and veggies. Have you tried just giving food off your plate, cut up really small. He is ready for food! Bottle before nap, dinner with the family and nurse before bed. You will never be able to keep pumping that much. Baby is graowing and needs real food. Good Luck and don't worry. I makes life alot easier when you want to go out. Babies will play and eat cheerios forever at a restaurant.

K.

Hi J.,
I didn't read the other comments but during the first year your baby needs 24 oz. of breastmilk or formula. I wouldn't cut out the third bottle. Is you baby eating all of the bottles at once? My kids would never eat that much at one sitting. I'd try making 4 6oz bottles. Baby food doesn't have enough nutrients in them to make up for the breastmilk. Anyway, good luck.
Chris

for the first year-- all of the nutrition comes from breast milk or formula.. the solid foods are just practice for eating.

My dr cautioned me against adding too much solid food too fast - cause then the baby doesnt get enough milk.

Babies should get at least 24 oz of milk a day which he does... I am amazed that he takes 8 oz of breast milk at a time that is a lot. My kids never took more than 4 or 5 oz of pumpled milk or formula.

can you change teh timing on the meals at day care so he gets the cereal/fruit maybe 45 minutes to an hour before the bottle so maybe he wont drink so much??

At 8 months you can also add a 3rd meal to his day.. he can also start to get some table foods such as cheerios, small pieces of fruit...cheese.. he can have yogurt... (yo baby)

can you go in and nurse him just before you go to bed ?? and get an extra meal in that way?

I would check with your pediatrician and see how much breastmilk he should be getting in a day (I've forgotten what it is for that age). If he is getting more than that (which I think he is) then go to three meals a day and give the food before breast or bottle.