Wednesday, December 2, 2009

It would be easier if she took a feed bag

For the past couple of months Cameron and I have been in a pretty good groove with her feeding schedule. It was far from perfect but it seemed to work in getting her to nap twice a day for 2 hours and sleep through the night. So really, what more can I ask for?

But of course Cameron doesn't just come from me. No, no. She also has a wide streak of her father in her. DH and I are diametrically opposed when it comes to food and eating. Me? Never met a carb I didn't like. I would rather cut off my arm than miss breakfast. I require breakfast, lunch AND dinner or I become a crazed, grumpy woman. DH on the other hand can sometimes go from breakfast to dinner skipping lunch entirely. When I poke him about what he had for lunch that day I get the following responses:
  • "I was too busy to eat." Um, I would make myself un-busy just to eat. Otherwise I would be distracted by the constant grumbling of my tummy.
  • "I wasn't hungry." Freak.
  • "I forgot." Seriously? Who forgets to eat?
For many months I had an unhealthy fascination with the amount of food going into Cameron's system. I limited my stressing when I was breastfeeding because it's not like I really knew how many ounces she was eating. But when I moved to primarily pumping and then formula feeding I felt my Type A personality rear its ugly head. Despite this Cameron and I got into a groove where she would eat most of her bottle and I would count up the number of ounces she ate over the course of the day and not-so-silently seethe if she dropped below 20 ounces.

Flash forward to this week at day care. Cameron has decided that she doesn't want to eat at least 1/2 of two of her bottles most likely because they were too close together. So last night I made the executive decision that we are changing up her feeding schedule dramatically. Instead of 5 bottles at 5 ounces we are now moving to 4 bottles of six ounces.

Cameron has consistently eaten 6 ounces for her first bottle of the day so 6 ounces appears to be doable as a bottle size. Her new schedule (fingers crossed!) will be:
  • 6:45 AM - 6 ounces
  • 8 AM - solids
  • 9 AM - nap
  • 11:00 AM - 6 ounces
  • 12 PM - solids
  • 2 PM - nap
  • 3 PM - 6 ounces
  • 5 PM - nap (she really only needs this during daycare days because she doesn't nap well there)
  • 6 PM - 6 ounces
  • 6:30 - solids?
My biggest issue with the new schedule will be on the weekends. Cameron usually naps 2 - 4 PM which would screw things up. The other general problem will be fitting in the last solids of the day.

What I really like about this new schedule is that it gets us out of the habit of a bottle at bedtime. Now DH and I can create a new bedtime routine with books instead of bottles. Yay for reading! Anyone else able to swing four 6 ounce bottles with two 2 hour naps? When can I stop stressing about food with Cameron? Or is this just the start of a years long battle?

7 comments:

Mommy, Esq. said...

Why don't you move her nap to 1:30 and get her 6 ounces at 3:30. Before you know it she'll be off bottles...time flies.

rccalyn said...

Thanks for stopping by! I haven't heard of that book, but I read The No Cry Sleep Solution. I'm not willing to do CIO, so for now we're just trying other options. The earlier bedtime doesn't work either. So I'm just hoping things will get better with time!

Good luck with changing your schedule! Babies are so funny with schedules :-P

AiringMyLaundry said...

I know, who forgets to eat?? I could never forget to eat..

Amanda said...

Here is our schedule with holden but he still has a bottle before bed

6:30-6-7 oz
8-solids
8:30-nap
10:30-6-7 oz
12-solids
1:30-nap
4:30-6-7 oz
5:30-solids
6:00-8 oz
6:30-bedtime

This is more rigid that actuality but pretty close. Even though he has a bottle before bed he usually is up for another 30 minutes and we can do bedtime routine with a book before he lays down.

Nicole S. said...

We did 4-6oz bottles, pretty similar to your schedule. Whne they wake up in the morning and after naps and we did a bedtime bottle. Like Mommy Esq mentioned, our afternoon nap was earlier, starting between 1230 and 130, depending on the day/age. But, 4 bottles worked very well for us - hopefully you'll find that it works for you and Cameron, too!

Danielle said...

One of the biggest lessons I've learned as a mother is that the schedule is precious - and short-lived! My mother kept telling me that as soon as Brady would get me used to a certain schedule he would change it on me and it's been true time and time again!
He didn't really have a set schedule of naps or eating until around Cameron's age and he kept that a few months and then switched it up and kept that a few months and switched it up.
Like others said, by the time you figure out how many bottles to give her, you'll be dropping another and before you know it you'll be trying to convince her to please, please just eat something for dinner.
I hope the change works out and try not to stress it that much.

Donna said...

Sounds like a plan but I do have to ask are you planning on upping the solids? As the solids increase, their tendency is to refuse part or all of the bottle. So, I would consider that as you move forward. My little pumpkin is so little, we still give him toddler formula at bedtime.