Hi! I'm comin' over from[edited-forum name removed] It's not a very busy forum so it takes a loooong time to wait for answers! I found this Baby n Bump forum to be a much more "hopping" place! Hope you all don't mind if I jump right in with a question!

I've been doing BLW for a month or two now. It's been going well for the most part. One thing I'm struggling w/ is the "weaning" part. With having to juggle two naps a day, 3 BLW meals a day, and 4-5 milk feeds a day, it's really hard to get all of it to just mesh together well!!

The naps and the meals are manageable because they are at pretty consistent, set times. It's the milk feeds I find hard. I always try to wait for DS to give me hunger cues before I give him his bottle as I prefer "demand feeding" versus parent-led feeding. That's tricky sometimes because:

1. I have to make sure he gets his bottle at least 30 minutes before his solids meals. Otherwise, he's not "hungry" enough to want anything to do with the solids.

2. Sometimes his naps will lead to him not having had a bottle for up to 5 hours since his last one. (He usually wants his bottle every 4 hours).

I worry that he won't get enough milk in so I often offer him a bottle early even if he doesn't ask for it. Of course, I don't force him to eat if he pushes the bottle away... but I still feel bad for offering when he didn't ask for it. Doesn't feel like "demand feeding" anymore!

Hi and welcome!!

I also found juggling the whole thing quite difficult until she started dropping milk feeds. By 7 months she was down to 3 milk feeds a day which made it much better. It might help if you gave us an idea of how your day tends to go with times of getting up, naps, milk, meals etc?

I've always offered feeds rather than waiting for her to demand them tbh and started dropping them by me not offering her mid morning one when she seemed to be losing interest anyway so we're now down to morning, after lunchtime nap and bedtime

Per forum rules and TOS the forum name has been removed from your post.

Oh dear! What a way to start off on the wrong foot! So sorry about that! I apologize profusely and hope I can be forgiven for that!!

Oh, Lu28! Thanks for the warm welcome! I get a lovely feeling from BnB, even from just reading the posts! I know this was the right place to come for help!

First, I'm so glad I'm not the only one who struggled with this! Wow... you got her down to 3 feeds a day by 7 months! My little guy's NINE months and he's still going 4-5 feeds a day at 200ml each.

Oh, sure, I can tell you what our schedule's like! Hope I don't put you to with so much detail!

7:00 am: Wake up, give first feed right away (don't do demand feeding w/ the first one as he sleeps through the night now for a full 12 hours).
8:15 am: If we have time for breakfast, this is when we'd have it.
9:00 am: First nap.
10:30 am: Wake up then play.
11:30 am: Eat lunch then playtime, out for errands, a walk, etc.
2:00 pm: Second nap.
3:30 pm: Wake up then play.
6:00 pm: Eat dinner then get ready for bed.
7:15 pm: Give one last bottle (again, this bottle's not on demand feeding... I give it to "top him up" for his sleep at bedtime.
7:30 pm: Zzzz!

What do you think??

When do you tend to give the other milk feeds? Sam is 10 months and down to 3 milk feeds and 3 meals a day now. He has a bottle when he wakes, one before his afternoon nap and one at bedtime.

Yes Ruby is 10 months and down to 3 milk feeds and 3 BLW meals a day. We're advised that a FF fed baby should not have more than 21oz a day at 6-12 months. If he demands milk feeds, could you not try offering solid snacks instead?

DS tends to ask for his other milk feeds roughly four hours from the last one.
Hmm... both of you and Mum2b_Claire have 10 m.o. s who are donw to 3 milk feeds a day... DS has less than a month to go before he's 10 months as well and he's still at 4 milk feeds a day.

Eeek... was it a doctor who advised you on that amount? Now I'm soooo confusedabout how much milk to give my DS... thought I was doing the right thing, according to the BLW book. It says to give baby milk feeds if he is hungry as he still gets most of his nutrition from his milk feeds until 12 months. Or, have I misunderstood the book??

I think it depends on how much they are eating really. When Sam started to eat more he just naturally dropped one of his milk feeds.

Hi there,

Myles is almost 7 months and we are still on around 6 bottles of follow on formula (6oz) a day plus 3 meals (although I have to admit he doesn't finish every bottle) I am trying to cut down although yesterday he only had four bottles and woke up at nine screaming his head off and drank another full one

We went down the traditional weaning route from just over four months but have progressed onto finger foods and other blw foods now. IKWYM about trying to fit everything in it is hard work!! I think the others are right, we need to try and cut down on the formula and increase their appetite, I am trying to offer food before formula now and see if that works

Welcome to BNB by the way it is great on here there is so much help and support on every problem you have!