When should I start feeding 3 times a day?

Question

My daughter (7 months old) is currently eating baby food twice a day and I would just like to know when it is appropriate to start her on a 3 times a day schedule? And, what about sippy cups? When is it best to start introducing those?

Answer 1

you can do 3 times a day right now and you can even introduce healthy snacks as well in between meals. Sippy cups can be started as early as you want so go ahead and start with those now. The sooner you introduce them the better makes it much easier to switch from bottle to cup.

Answer 2

Sippy cups can be started now. One thing to not use is the ones with a valve in them because they make it so the baby has to suck to get the liquid out and that makes the transition to a regular cup more difficult. I really like the Take-n-Toss brand. They have no valve, but they don't leak all over if they get tipped. They do drip, but not as bad as some others.

When my son had his 18 month doctor's check-up, I was told that he should still be eating about every 3 hours. Do you mean that she would have solids 3 times a day and bottles (or breast) in between? I think that would be fine. I also think she's young enough to stay on a twice a day schedule for a while. Either way, as long as she's still getting plenty of formula/breast milk in addition to the solids.

Answer 3

wow you are in an exhilerated mode with your little one. Remember she has only been in the world for 7 months.
It is common for babies, especially breast fed to not have solids until 12 months. By then they have gradually having finger food, like cherrios.
I wouldn't even give a two year old three meals a day let alone a 7 month old. And a sippy cup????? wow!!
Please please let your little girl be a baby. No need to rush. Sucking is part of an inborn need for a baby.
Also the child needs to be held for feeding for the bonding.
As baby ages....like at 18 months, give three to four bottles. Especially one in the evening. No way can a baby go from dinner time. 5pm untl 7am without nutrition.

I am actually disturbed with your question.

Let your baby be a baby. If you skip too far ahead you might be emotionally damaging the child.

The emotional bonding between parents and baby is crutial to human development.

It is fine to feed her baby food two or three times a day.....but take it slow and stick to simple things. Don't mess up her digestive system.

Sippie cups are NOT meant for children under a year and I would say 18 months. And even if they use a sippie cup......they still need sucking.

Please Please let your baby be a baby. What is the rush?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Answer 4

Right now she should be eating 3 times a day Breakfast, lunch and supper and a snack in between, And normally around 10 to 12 months is when u should introduce her to a sippy cup..Pediatrics nurse for 14 years and still doing it..

Answer 5

I'll have to check the answers to this because I'm wondering the same thing for my 6 month old. As far as sippy cups, we use one already because our baby holds her bottle by herself. We only use the sippy cups for water mixed with a little juice now after her meals and still give her the bottles for milk. She makes a big mess, but she has fun with it. We have the Nuby and the Gerber ones and both are pretty good, although I like the Gerber better. They both have soft spouts and don't leak. My daughter makes a mess by chewing on the spout and letting the juice drip everywhere.

Answer 6

food - she should be eating more than 3 jars of food a day now.

sippy cups - NOW. buy some and just lay them around the house so she can play (practice using them) with them. the day will come soon when she refuses the bottle... and i swear, it'll be the best day of your life.

i assume she is holding or at least attmeping to hold her own bottle? then she is ready to use the sippy exclusively. if she isnt even trying to hold her own bottle yet... trying to make her use sippy cups will be a waste. nothing worse than having to hold your childs 'big kid cup' for her!

i swear... sippies are the most convenient thing! you can give your child a few throughout the day and when she just drops them around the house... she will find them later when she is thirsty. so instead of making her a bottle to drink, she can do that herself when she is thirsty. the only ones you'll have to keep track of are the ones with milk in it!

my now 18 month old started on sippy cups with his lunch when he was 6 months, moving to it exclusively when he was 9 months. he is now not wanting it most of the time - he prefers the cup and straw!

i strongly reccommend playtex insulator cups... they are easy to hold and the spout is awesome. not soft like the gerber ones... but normal developing children do not need the 'soft spout' cups...

just make sure you put stoppers in each cup! thats what prevents leaks! I would buy extra of these... mine liked to take the empty ones apart after he was done and would leave them everywhere!

the earlier you start with the cup the better - when your child is a little older they might grow an attachment to the bottle and you wont want to throw it away... next thing you know you have a 3 year old walking around the store sucking on a bottle. discusting!

please do not let your child have a bottle when they are 18 months! by this time (unless they are malnourished) they should have at least 6 teeth, and the bottle messes them up. this is what my pd told me - this is in response to the answer clcalifornia gave.

Answer 7

well mine is 6 1/2 months, and I feed him food 3 times a day and he drinks milk twice(morning and night). tha sippy cup you can introduce it closer to 1 year old.

Answer 8

I breast fed my dd and started solids around 6-7 months. I'd say we went to three times a day around 8 months or so. If you are breast feeding it doesn't matter. You can actually provide only breast milk for 12 months which some mothers do to prevent allergies and such.