Feeding and Sleeping Schedule for a 5 Month Old

My empathy for you and your situation.

At this age, you cannot feed her according to a "schedule"...a baby needs to be fed "on demand" whether by you or the babysitter. No wonder she is frustrated and hungry... this is not good. You need to provide the sitter with more breastmilk than you think. BECAUSE, as a baby is growing and changing, their intake needs changes too. They will need more, and like any human or adult, their appetites WILL fluctuate everyday too. It's normal. You cannot predict this.
THUS, you need to provide more than what you think.

I had this problem when I was babysitting a baby once... the Mother insisted her baby didn't drink that much, and would only provide 2, 3 ounce bottles for the WHOLE day! It was very frustrating... for the baby and me. I eventually stopped babysitting the child.

A baby needs to be fed whenever they are hungry... and sometimes they will even need to feed every hour.... you have to look out for their "hunger" signals as well.... not just according to a clock. This is for bottle, formula OR direct breastfeeding.

For the first year of life, the PRIMARY source of nutrition for a baby is breastmilk/formula. NOT solids. NOT water.

Solids at this age is supplemental...for them to get used to "eating." It is NOT their primary "meal." Solids, whether in quantity or frequency, is GRADUAL. Starting from one "meal" a day...then over time (even a month), 2 meals a day... then 3 meals a day. There is no rush to this. And you should not "make" a baby eat 3 meals a day from day one. They and their body had to adjust to it... your babysitter should know this. "Serving size" at this age is just in tablespoons, not jars. Remember their stomachs are tiny. They get full fast.
ASK your Pediatrician for guidelines and what you should use as a "first food" and then how to progress form there. Each Pediatrician has different "styles", some being more conservative or liberal than others.

When you breastfeed, you need to make SURE you nurse her long enough so she can get to the "hind" milk... this takes at least 15 minutes or nursing...then you should continue to let her nurse some more, until she wants to stop. Also making sure she is latching on correctly to get the proper nursing intake.

You should ALWAYS give breastmilk FIRST...before solids. Or, they will be too full to nurse or drink their breastmilk. AND, if you "replace" nursings with solids... this will affect your body's production of breastmilk, reducing it.

Ask your Pediatrician for how much breastmilk she should be drinking at this age as well. If you cannot produce enough pumped breastmilk to fill enough bottles for her, then you need to assess how you will supplement her? Formula? And how will you feel about this? Ask your Pediatrician. Because she will need to have enough on hand, at the babysitter. You don't want to "run out" of bottles for her while at the babysitter.

Sample:
baby wakes up
Nurse her for as long as it takes
take her to babysitter
Have babysitter give her bottle
Midmorning- try a little "solids." (per recommendation from your Pediatrician).
bottle before nap
bottle after nap
bottle whenever your baby needs it and is hungry, on demand
"lunch time" -solids. IF she is on solids, following breastmilk
bottle before afternoon nap
bottle after afternoon nap
bottle before "dinner" if she is on solids
Bottle before bed
Direct nursing during the night-time when she wakes up and is hungry.

At least this is what I did for both my children. I prioritized breastfeeding as my main thing for the entire first year... then, fed my kids "solids" after breastfeeding. My kids grew like weeds.

Each Mom is different... refer to your Pediatrician. Make SURE your baby is getting enough intake... she does not seem to be right now.

All the best,
Susan

I ususally started with cereal once a day mixed with breastmilk at lunch time, for about a week, and then I added a second cereal feeding for another week at dinner, and then added breakfast...and then I started mixing vegies or fruits, one at a time into the cereal at each feeding.

This really helped my kids to need less milk and be more satisified. Also, I noticed that when I was nursing less during the day as they were eating more, it seemed like the nightime nursing picked up more, like they were making up for lost time/milk at night. This didn't bother me, it didn't last forever, just during the transition to solids period, and then dropped off again.

Take lots of photos of those first few bites - such precious memories!

Toss the schedule. Your daughter is hubgry because her babysitter is not feeding her on demand. Babies this age do not need solids, regardless of what her caregiver thinks. Sounds like an older woman to me, or someone with old school ideas on child care - there are plenty of people out there who do not understand that baby humans were designed to be fed breast milk. It is their perfect food, and all that is necessary for perfect health. Follow your instincts, mama. You DO know what is best for your little girl - you are not a rookie mom. If this caregiver is pushing you to start solids, switch caregivers, or let her know in no uncertain terms that you are the mom and what you say goes. Supplement with formula if you feel your daughter needs more milk than you can pump. Sounds like the problem is with your babysitter and her beliefs, not with your daughter.

you do know what to do, don't doubt yourself. i work full time and pumping has become my way of life when i am at work, my son is almost 10 months old. yet, he has never had formula. be sure that when you pump you relax and are keeping up with your water intake.

your daughter will still need your breast milk. so keep it up. have you changed the nipples on the bottle? i did at this time, from slow flow to medium. maybe she just isn't getting enough out of the bottle fast enough???

as for solids, i only began a few days prior to his 6 month check up, even though my doctor said i could start at 4 months. Baby's intestines aren't ready until closer to 6 months. Deena Leigh left a great guideline, one that i followed too.

as for what to start first, La Leche League recommends bananas because they are most like breast milk. i began with that and i mashed it up with a fork. then i began cereal and fruit. be careful with banana and cereal they are both cause constipation. Apples, Pears, and prunes will help to releave that. and prunes on the face make for a fun picture of eating solids. good luck. oh, and since i work, i began feeding him dinner with solids and then my sitter worked in a small lunch so he could take a long afternoon nap.

Both my sons went to the same in-home day care povider when I went back to work after having them. Bless her heart, she had the best schedule ever. Here it is...

I would feed my baby a bottle at home before dropping him off. She would give the kids (infants through toddler age) a breakfast snack around 9am. Lunch was between 11:30-noon. Afternoon snack was around 3:30pm when everyone woke up from afternoon nap. I fed my baby dinner between 5-6pm. Bedtime was 7-7:30 and we started again at 6am the next morning (yes, my kids would sleep through the night that long...I was very lucky).

However, I had my babies on formula and bottles by 3 months and solids at 6-9 months. <chuckle> My oldest never ate baby food, he went right into table food...it's own very special challenge for a person with no teeth! <g> If you're worried about obesity, I can tell you that neither of my two sons became obese as a result of this. The were way, way too active! It was fuel, pure and simple.

Of course, that was all a long time ago. My kids are 14 and 10 now and we still pretty much keep to the same schedule.

Hope this helps!

This is such an exciting time. It's great that you're aware se's ready to start solids.
If you go to weelicious.com to the "introducing new foods" and "recipes for 6-9 month olds" on the right hand side, it should answer most of your questions.

Pump for a bottle, don't give formula chemicals. Your milk is made for her specifically, keep up the great work with breast feeding. THEN, you don't have to worry about what to feed her. Her food is just for the texture and experience your milk gives her ALL she needs. She won't get sick and IF she does nurse extra and she'll get better quicker. Your schedule probably doesn't 'feel right' because she misses her mother throughout the day. Maybe try to nurse first thing in the a.m. then about an hour later offer baby oat cereal, then nurse/bottle about 1/2 hour later, then lunch of fruit and more cereal and bottle/nurse, then about 2 hours later nurse before dinner, then dinner of veg and cereal, then nurse before bed. The Le Leche League international website has more info for you. You'll get into a routine, just tweek things around, check nap times... she'll get it. Every change takes a while to get used to.

K., Do not feel bad about being unsure. I am in the same boat. My 5 1/2 month old son is also very ready for solids and I work as well. We have a schedule that seems to work for us. I feed baby in the morning and then pump. I pump 2-3 times at work. I began pumping about 1 month before returning to work and that has really helped with my supply.

I send him to the sitter with 3- 5oz bottles. the sitter also will feed him 1tbs of cereal mixed with breast milk at his 12:00 feeding. He eats with me in the morning before work then at 9,12, and 3 with the sitter. We will begin to add vegetable soon and then the cereal will be at his 9am feeding and veggies at 12. He gets a 5 oz bottle with each feeding.
you know what is right for you little one. GOOD LUCK.

Just my opinion, but it is kind of soon for solids. I would just offer her another feeding, maybe formula if you don't have enough bm, that is what I did. She is probably going through a growth spurt. Good luck.

Okay, so here is what my son and I did...

Depending on when you little girl wakes up in the morning, but my son's schedule was something like this I think...

7am wake up (it varied)
8am cereal with BM (formula can be used too)
930am nap with bottle (filled a 6oz bottle and let him go to town)
1130am wake up
12pm ceral with fruit or fruit juice 1tsp. (pears/apples)this worked great for variety
2pm naptime w/bottle
4pm wake up
5pm dinner...this is where I did cereal and started to introduce jars of veggies. My son took to them right away, that has changed now...he's two.

http://www.babycenter.com/0_age-by-age-guide-to-feeding-y...

It really depends on what your day is like with naps and playtime, but really it's best to just pick a time after wake up and start introducing it a little bit at a time. My son was a really good eater when we started cereals. He loved the Earth's Best ones with flavors, and adored jarred veggies from the start. Don't stress, it's okay. I remember going through the same turmoil, but really feeding solids is such a tricky thing. Try to create a breakfast, lunch and dinner schedule that you can continue to follow, once she starts eating table food too.

I included the link from Baby Center that was what I printed out and kept in the kitchen when my son was that age. You don't have to follow to the letter, as every baby will like and dislike certain foods and that will change with every stage! My son is in his carrots, corn and lima beans phase now and it's funny, but he used to adore brocoli and won't touch it now.

Oh, and if you daughter is only on BM and you can continue to give that to her, I would wait to introduce formula once you're past introducing foods to your kiddo. My son's doctor suggested that, and I'm glad we did cause it was a whole other mess since, we found out he was lactose intolerant...
Good luck.

I started my little one on solids at 5 months. I would just do rice cereal in the morning and evening...making sure to breast feed/ give her bottle first then cereal. At this point, it should be for texture and learning how to move food around her mouth...not for calories or to satisfy hunger. She should get those needs met through nursing/formula at this point. At around 9 months, I moved my DD to 3 meals a day. I always give her a bottle first...then finger foods for practice (bananas/avacado/berries/cheerios work great) then follow up with pureed veggies or fruit. Good luck!