Feeding FAQ: 6-9 months – Weaning/Solids

Our son, who is nearly seven months, has gone from being a happy contented baby, to one who screams for much of his awake time during the day, and who wakes two or three times a night. He settles well at 7pm and sleeps well until anywhere between 1 – 2am, when we settle him back to sleep with the dummy or cool boiled water. He then wakes again around 4/5am; at this time he has become much more difficult to settle, and will sleep on and off until 7am when we feed him.

We dropped the 10pm feed over a week ago, as he was waking up in the morning and only taking 3 – 4 oz of formula. He weighs just over 23 pounds in weight and, following the latest weaning guidelines, we started weaning him at six months, but he is not overly keen on solids and it can be a struggle to get him to take even the smallest amount; he has also started getting fussy with his milk feeds. A typical day is:

7.00am awake and takes 210 ml formula
9.00am nap of 40 minutes
11.00am 210 ml formula plus one cube of sweet potato
12.00pm nap of 2.15 hours
2.30pm 210 ml of formula
4.00pm nap of 30 minutes
5.00pm 2 teaspoons of baby rice mixed with milk and one cube of fruit puree
6.00pm 210mls of formula

I am really concerned that giving him the dummy in the night is going to cause a long term sleep association problem, but I also realise that at his age he should not need to be fed in the middle of the night.

From the information that you give we suspect that much of the irritability your baby is suffering from during the day, is being caused by hunger. We are certain that hunger is also the reason why he is waking in the night.

Until a baby is fully established on solids they usually need five milk feeds a day if they are to sleep a longer spell at night. In order for the longer spell to happen at the right time of the night, it is advisable to keep the 10pm feed going until your baby is taking the recommended amounts of food in The Weaning Guide. Your baby’s solids intake is well below the recommended amount for a baby of his age and, given that his weight is a lot more than the average six month old, you we would advise that you re-introduce a fifth feed at 10pm again and also increase his solids very rapidly during the day, so that it includes iron-rich foods. Please refer to The Weaning Guide and The Food Bible as to why iron rich foods are so necessary at this age. The Weaning Guide will also advise you about the types of food that you should introduce. When you are increasing foods rapidly it is important that you choose the right foods so that your baby does not suffer from indigestion.

Because your son is waking up twice a night, we would suggest that you do not restrict the amount of milk that you offer him at 10pm. He must have a big enough feed to get him through the night even if it does reduce the amount of milk he takes at the breakfast feed for a short time. If he does continue to wake in the night, you should find him easier to settle with some cool boiled water if he has had a good feed at 10pm. When he wakes in the morning we suggest that you allow him to take as much of his formula milk as he is happy with, and do not try to force him to take more. This means that the 11am feed may have to be brought forward if he is showing signs of being hungry before that time. We would suggest that, given your baby’s weight, you must work very rapidly through the first weaning stages so that he is getting the right balance of milk and solids. For the next couple of days allow him no more 90-120 ml before his solids, then offer the remainder of the milk after his solids. Then for the following two days decrease his milk to 60 ml before the solids, to encourage him to eat even more solids. Again you can offer him the remainder of his milk after solids, although this should decrease as his solids increase. By the fifth day you should offer him all of his solids first, followed by his milk. Once he is taking six cubes of vegetable puree, you can start to gradually replace the cubes of vegetable puree with cubes of chicken or lentil casserole, as described in The Weaning Book. Once your baby is taking the recommended amounts of solids at lunchtime you can then gradually reduce and eliminate the milk feed, and replace it with a drink of well diluted juice or water from a beaker.

In order for your baby to be willing to take more solids at 5pm we suggest that you reduce the 2.30pm bottle by 60mls (or more if needed). He may need to start his tea slightly earlier if he shows signs of getting irritable before 5pm. During the five day period of increasing the lunchtime solids you should also rapidly increase the amounts of rice and fruit that your baby is having at teatime, until he is taking at around 6 teaspoons of baby rice mixed with milk and two cubes of fruit puree.

Once your baby has increased the amounts of solids he is taking at lunchtime and tea time you can then introduce a small amount of cereal and fruit at breakfast. Do not worry too much if he is still only taking a small milk feed at this time, as that should increase once he stops the 10pm feed. As already explained it is pointless dropping the 10pm feed and having him unsettled in the night. As the amount of solids during the day increases you should see a decrease in the amount of milk that your baby takes at the 10pm feed, particularly once he is on full protein recipes at lunchtime. Provided he is sleeping through the night well until 7am, you can gradually decrease the amount you give him at 10pm by an ounce every two or three nights. Once he has reached a stage where he is only taking a couple of ounces and then sleeping through to 7am, you should be able to drop the feed altogether.

It is also important to keep an eye on your son’s daytime sleep. Once he is sleeping better at nighttime you should push the morning nap on to 9.30am and allow no more than 30 minutes. This should allow you to push the lunchtime nap on to 12.30 noon and then gradually reduce and eliminate the late afternoon nap. Once all the feeding issues have been resolved and you are confident that your son is getting the right amount of solids and milk, then you may have to look at some form of sleep training if he continues to wake in the night. However, it is important that you are absolutely sure that he is getting enough to eat before doing this. Please check the guidelines in The Weaning Book for the amounts a baby of his age needs, and take into consideration that he may need slightly more given his weight. If you do have to resort to sleep training it is important that your baby is checked over by a GP first to ensure that there is no medical reasons that would prevent you from doing this. It is also important that you understand how to implement sleep training properly. Sleep Training, when done properly, should see a rapid improvement within two or three nights.