New 9 Month Old...Help Please..Been a Loooooog Time

[handemom]

hello!

I just started watching a 9 month old. She is currently on formula. Parents said that she has NO schedule and they have never been able to get her on one.

she arrives at 8:30 every morning. Has a 4 oz. bottle at 10 a.m. and a small jar of baby food at 12:00 and then another 4 oz. bottle at 3:00 p.m. she goes home around 4:30.

She only naps at the 10:00 feeding and that is ONLY if she falls asleep during eating her bottle. more often then not, it seems like she wants more....

This is all the parents send me everyday. What is your opinion on this?

Is this a normal "schedule" for a 9 month old? She is not overweight or anything like that, it's just how the parents choose to feed her.

anyone else out there with 9 month olds? What are their schedules like?

[ninosqueridos]

my 9mo dcb is on a similar schedule

8:30 arrival
9:15 3-4 oz ebm & some puffs/cheerios
10-11 nap
12 4-6 oz baby puree fruit or veggie
1:15 3-4 oz ebm
1:30-3 nap
4 some puffs/cheerios
4:30 3-4 oz ebm
5 go home

(ebm=expressed breastmilk)

He is healthy and growing like a weed. My own kids barely had any solid foods at all their first year and they were healthy as well.

I'm wondering why she doesn't sleep in the afternoon at all? I wonder if you gave her a 2pm bottle, then nap, then 4pm bottle before she went home if that would make a difference? Or are they expecting her to nap once at home before bedtime? It just seems that noon to bedtime is a looooong time for a 9mo to be awake with no rest. What are her bedtime hours at home?

[handemom]

I guess my first thing was "is it normal for her to only have those two 4 oz. bottles in the 8 hours she is here? She cries quite a bit and I almost feel like maybe she is hungry.

The parents said that she only takes minor cat naps. and the longest she has slept here in the last week I have watched her is 1 1/2 hours total. They didn't tell me her sleep schedule.

And I would LOVE to offer her another bottle as i am almost positive that is what she needs, but they send me 2 premeasured baggies for the bottles. I asked for extra but they said that they don't really think that she will need it.

????

[ninosqueridos]

Being that she is crying a lot, I would strongly encourage more formula as a back up just to try it. You could always suggest it as a "1 week trial" thing. Does the baby have teeth yet?

I should mention that my 9mo dcb sometimes will take ZERO milk from me but he is still a happy camper. The crying would have me concerned - good luck!

[handemom]

i know that she is teething also, which I feel horriable about, i am trying all i can to help her out. Im just really not all that good with formula as both of my kiddos..... now 10 and 6 were both breastfeed.

[Live and Learn]

At this age their nap schedule is 9 to whenever usually 10:30 to 11:00.
Afternoon nap is SACRED. EVERYONE is down at 1:00 to 3:00.
This is really the best age to get them on a schedule. The first couple of weeks can be hard but stick to it and the pay off is golden.
I don't think she is eating quite enough...follow your instincts...maybe some cheerios or puffs?

[Francine]

The 9 month old little boy that I have would starve to death eating that little bit. He eats a big bowl of cereal and fruit before coming to me, he gets here at about 7:45, sometimes he wants to go down for a nap shortly after getting here and will sleep 2 hours. When he wakes up he will eat a container of applesauce ( real, not babyfood) with cereal stirred in plus cherrios, or some other snacky thing that his Mom has brought. At noon he will eat lunch, sometimes Mom cooks squash or some other home made food and sometimes she brings baby food but either way he will eat what equals at least two containers of baby food plus cherrios, bits of muffins or whatever Mom supplies. Takes another two hour nap and then eats a container of yogurt, chunks of banana, cherrios, etc. He is a HUGE food eater but I am lucky if I can get him to drink any formula at all during the day. He MIGHT take a bottle for Mom at bedtime but that's not even a given, he just doesn't like it. Mom was giving him juice until the DR. told her to stop and only give him formula.....if he's thristy he will drink it. Now she will bring him with a sippy (doesn't do bottles) of water instead of juice but he doesn't even really drink that. He just isn't a drinker, it really bothered me when he first started coming here but he seems to be very healthy although I do worry about him missing out on all of the vitamins that are in the formula. I stir it into whatever I can just so that he gets it one way or the other but as far as him drinking it he just doesn't. I made 2 ounces yesterday morning and offered it before I offered food every single time and still he didn't drink all of it. If he were a year or so older I would be stirring chocolate syrup into it just to get him to drink it but what can you add to it for a 9 months old? Seriously if anybody has any ideas I would love to hear them.

[nannyde]

http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/care/programbasics/meals/meal_patterns.htm

Yes you are correct that this is not enough formula.

At that age the baby needs at least six ounces per meal and two to four ounces at snack.

It looks like they are providing you two snack bottles but not a lunch bottle.

She needs an additional six to eight ounce bottle for lunch. I also figure the MAX when calculating formula. So if the baby eats breakfast at home she would need four oz. for a.m. snack, eight oz. for lunch, and four oz. for p.m. snack. The parent would need to supply 16 oz. per day.

I don't allow parents to dole out formula or make formula amount decisions. I have them bring me two cans when they start. I put one can in my pantry for back up and then they replace the other can when it is empty. Usually about every Monday they bring me a new can.

I decide the amounts the child is given based on the Food Program guidelines. These are the USDA recommended amounts. My State requires that both registered and unregistered providers FOLLOW the USDA reccommended feeding for all ages. We don't have a choice whether or not to do it. It's not a parental decision. Once the child enters care here the government decides. Here is the regulation in my State.

Meals
Regular meals and mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks shall be provided which are well balanced, nourishing, and in appropriate amounts as defined by the USDA Child and Adult Care Food Program.

I would tell them they need to leave three bottles at your house and bring two cans of formula. Then you wash the bottles every day and report her total oz. in a day if they need that info. If they feel it is too much then they can do as they wish at home regarding withholding what THEY do. They don't have guidelines to follow. As long as you are giving her the proper amounts when she is there... that is your only concern.

You usually see this kind of behavior from parents when they are on free WIC formula and don't have enough WIC to cover their whole month use so they want it for their house OR you see it with parents who don't want to spend the money on formula while at your house. They don't have the option to do EITHER one of these while in your care. They HAVE to provide what the baby needs or you provide it yourself... but in the end the baby needs more formula then they are bringing... and that needs to change TODAY.

I also do not do cat napping. I believe it is harmful to babies over time. Babies need deep restorative sleep that can't be gained in fifteen minute cycles. Junk sleep nets junk behavior. Every baby I have come to me is a cat napper but they convert to a regular napper within three to seven working days. At that age she would have a 1.5 hour nap in the morning right after she arrived (assuming she ate brek at home) and then a 2.5 hour nap in the afternoon.

[DancingQueen]

Haven't read any responses yet - but that is not enough formula. That should still be her primary source of nutrition at 9 months of age.

[QualiTcare]

i was sending 3 full 8oz. bottles with my daughter to daycare every day when she was that age.

i made them up at night - adding water and all -and usually i would end up taking a full bottle home with me, but she'd usually want that in the car anyway. bottom line: it's better to have too much than not enough! why would anyone want to risk their kid being hungry when it's so easy to prevent?

the daycare my kids went to were on the food program and they gave us formula to take home - all we had to do was ask for it when we needed more. they gave it to us to take home cus they'd rather us make the bottles at home instead of them having to keep the formula there and make them on their own. plus, there were people on the WIC program who didn't need the daycare's formula cus they already got it free so there was always extra.

[TGT09]

I have a similar dcb that is almost 8 months.

DCM breastfeeds him about 6 a.m.
Arrives at dc at 7:30
Eats about 1/3 cup of cereal at 8
Sleeps from 8:30 to at least 10:00 (sometimes 10:30 or 11)
Has 8 oz. bottle at 12 or 12:30.
Sleeps from 1:00-3:00 (sometimes 3:30)
Picked up at 4:30
Mom breastfeeds again as soon as they get home.
Then he gets jarred food later and nursed again before bedtime.

I too have been a tad concerned that he's not getting enough while he's here. She has told me I can supplement with cereal and/or puffs if I feel like he needs a little something extra. I do have 2 extra bags of breastmilk in my freezer though in case.

[Unregistered]

WOW 4oz of FORMUAL is NOT enough for a 9 month old she should be eating at the least 6 oz ad the most 8oz. My own kids where eating 8oz by that age and tablefood and graduate snacks ive had kids in daycare who where 9 months eating 6 to 8 oz and stage 3 jars of food not ones she is not feeding her kid enough. You CAN you her on a shecdule by feeding her MORE at the same time everyday my kids and dc kids ate every 4 hours at that age on shecdule.

[handemom]

thank you guys! I mentioned it to the parents last night and all they said was that they would send more,

ummmmm k.


they send two 4 oz bottles. (normal)

and an additional premeasured baggie containing another whole 2 oz.

they said that it was on a "really needed" basis. they said there is no reason for her to have more than 10 oz total at my home.


so this morning she came at 8:45 (had already had breakfast at home)

she had some puffs at 9:30, cried for her "ba-ba" and i gave her the 4 oz at: 10:00.
she slept for 20 minutes.

an here she is now at 11:00 and rubbing her face into blanket an wining. I don't wanna give her to much, if I do then she wont have anything for the day..


i did ask about her sleep schedule at home and they said that she goes to bed at around 8:00p.m. and most often sleeps till 6:00 am


soooooo not sure what to do i guess. I am dying to get her onto a schedule.

the children that I had before were 3 and 5 years old. and from day 1 in my house they followed the quite time. from 12-2 everyday. They didn't have to sleep but they did have to rest.


I have noticed that in the last week that I have her here, there is no schedule, threfore I get nothing done, I used to take time during quite time to have a quick bit to eat, do my morning dishes and clean the table for the kids to come home from school and do homework. hasn't happened in awile. ugggg so

how would you recommend getting her on a schedule? Any methods that have worked like magic for you?

[SandeeAR]

I simply tell my parents, if you don't send extra and I spill the formula/breastmik, (which has happened), you will be getting a call at work to come feed your baby. Plus, YOUR baby is suffering and crying while you are driving here to feed him/her.

[tenderhearts]

The 9 mo old dcb I have his schedule is as follows.

6:30 arrival
7:00 #2jar baby food (fruit) with rice cereal (not much of rice cereal he doesn't like it)
8:is bottle (lucky if he'll drink 3 oz)
8:30 ish morning nap about 1 1/2 hrs
10:30is snack- puffs/cherrios/baby mum mum
cup with water
12:30 lunch - #2 jar of veggie and just last week will give him small cubes of
cheese, not every day
1:30ish bottle again lucky if he'll drink 3 oz
2ish nap about 1 1/2 hrs
pick up 3:45

This boy does not like spoon feeding, he is sooooooo incredibly hard.

He just went to doctor yesterday and doctor told mom he needs to do more solid foods so she's going to start introducing more stuff.

So he'll probablly start with maybe toast and banana
or cherrios and banana

I haven't had an infant for 5 years so I'm slowly remembering stuff. Thing is mom's like you can try whatever you want but I dont' like to during their first year, I'd rather them do them then tell me what he can have. She understands.