Infant Feeding Schedule

Updated on February 04, 2010
S.P. asks from Keokuk, IA
5 answers

My daughter just turned 8 months old today. We have been feeding her 1st food puree's (and oatmeal) since she was 6 months old. I am ready to go to 2nd foods now and I think she is too. The question I have is this: What kind of schedule do I use? I tried looking for one on the internet without much luck so I thought I would ask you ladies since you are always so helpful! :) I like to give her a variety at each feeding instead of just doing one kind of food. Also, she is formula fed. How much formula should I be giving her since she is eating now? I know the formula is supposed to be her main source of vitamins so I am just curious what amount is best. Just wanting to know how much food and how much formula she should be getting each day.

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L.L.

answers from Omaha on

Here's what we typically do...

6 OZ Formula
Breakfast Jar

6 OZ Formula Snack

4 OZ Formula
1/2 jar fruit
1/2 jar veggies

6 OZ Formula Snack

6 OZ Formula
Dinner jar

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E.B.

answers from Duluth on

At 8 months our babies were basically eating meals with us. Of course, we pulled various parts of the meal so they were 8 month old appropriate, but they both sat down at the table with us to eat at that point. I was breastfeeding, so I nursed them on demand, as always, and then simply fed them a meal at mealtime. For breakfast, it was typically baby cereal (sometimes we got to putting in fruit with it), lunch was maybe toast and a veggie, supper might be a small amount of meat or beans mashed up with a veggie. We made our own food, mostly because by the time our kids really mastered chewing (in about a month) they also wanted to be feeding themselves, so we just cut everything up really, really small and the kids were great eaters. To me, it's been very important to have the kids sitting at the table with us during mealtime; that was one of the first cues we had that our kids were ready for "real" food--they would sit at the table on our laps, and follow the food from plate to fork to mouth, looking hungrily at what WE had

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C.L.

answers from Minneapolis on

With my first baby, I struggled with this too and tried to feed him a bottle and solids at the same time. Obviously this is too much at once and eventually I did some research on babycenter.com and found that you should move to feeding them every 2 hours, alternating bottles and solids. So, they end up getting a bottle every 4 hours and solids every 4 hours or so. I now have a 5 1/2 mo old little girl and this is already the schedule that we are on with her cereal. It looks something like this.
7:30 - Wake up / 8 oz bottle
9:00 - Breakfast (Cereal eventually I will add a fruit)
9:30 - 11:30 - Nap
11:30 - 6-8 oz bottle
1:00/1:30 - Lunch (Fruit eventually add a veggie too)
2:00 - 3:30- Nap
4:00 - 6-8 oz bottle
6:00 - Dinner (veggie and eventually add a meat or dessert)
8:00 - 6-8 oz bottle and then bed

This worked really well with my 1st baby and after researching it, this is what I found most moms do. I hope this helps!

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S.H.

answers from Honolulu on

Yes, for the 1st year of life, breastmilk/formula is the PRIMARY source of nutrition for a baby, not solids and not other liquids....and a baby still needs to be fed on-demand. For the 1st year, "solids" is pretty much an introduction...not the main source of the nutritional spectrum. This is per our Pediatrician.

You still feed on-demand, the Formula. Formula being given PRIOR to solids. If given with or after solids, the baby will be too full. You feed her the amount of Formula that she will drink in one sitting. Probably, at that age, (and in reflection of my son), he was drinking close to a whole bottle at that age.
You need to go by your baby's cues. And also ask your Pediatrician how many ounces she should be drinking.
There is no one-way to do it nor only one "schedule" of doing it.

Also, make sure you introduce foods that are age appropriate. For example: http://www.babycenter.com/0_age-by-age-guide-to-feeding-y...
http://www.babycenter.com/0_foods-that-can-be-unsafe-for-...

A baby at that age, does not have to have 3-meals a day, like an adult. They are working up to it. Gradually.
As for "when" to feed your baby, there is no finite "schedule" about it. For me, when my kids were babies... they would wake, I'd nurse, they are awake and play, I nurse on demand, at about mid-morning to11:00 I gave them a serving of solids of 1 or 2 foods (that they were already eating by then), I nurse, they go to nap. They wake, I nurse, they are awake, I nurse, they nap etc. Then in the early evening, I'd give them another serving of solids. If they took it. I always nursed first... before any solids, and before any nap and sleep and on-demand at night.

It is not the amount they eat or the "variety" at each feeding that is important. its that they get used to "eating" and per their cues and levels of intake. For me, I never fed them so much "solids" as to replace feedings.
I always just went according to my child's cues.

For a baby... a "serving" size is not much. Just a tablespoon of something is "1" serving. Or some people go according to how many "jars" their baby ate. But a "jar" , especially Stage 2, can be a lot for some babies.

For us, per our Pediatrician, we introduced cereal first, then yellow veggies first for a few months, then green, and also avocados & bananas mashed up, and then "meat" was not introduced until 12 months old. PER our Pediatrician. A baby's digestive system and kidneys are still developing.
As for "spinach"... keep in mind that this cannot be given to a baby under 9 months old because there are certain enzymes in it that a younger baby cannot tolerate. As an example.

Just see what "schedule" works for your baby and you. And ask your Pediatrician how many ounces of Formula she should have. But again, go according to you baby too... because at certain grwoth spurts a baby will take in more. My son had a GINORMOUS appetite, and so did my daughter, despite solids, they still drank a lot at feedings.

All the best,
Susan

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K.P.

answers from Springfield on

Here is what we do:

Morning: 8oz bottle
Fruit and some kind of cereal or breakfast jar

Lunch: Meat, Vegetables or combination and some fruit and 8oz bottle

Dinner: Same as lunch if it's something that I think he might like I hand grind our dinner for the next day to try.

Bottle before bed

Of course this is what works for us :)

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