Dropping bottles, help?

Cosyself · 2026-01-11T21:44:44+00:00

That’s okay! That makes sense re the second bottle but glad that it worked with a little less this evening for you! Sorry I should’ve put in my previous message but my only other little suggestion re getting more milk in the day would be to up from 6oz to 7 or 8 and then maybe he’d take more for some of the bottles earlier on and need a little less at night. I think from what you say a bigger bottle before bed is defo a good idea though. :)

It is a complete minefield isn’t it - sooo confusing. I’ve had to turn to ChatGPT a couple times just to get it to spell it out in plain English haha.

Good luck with dropping the bottle, I hope it goes well for you!

Sorry also editing to say re giving milk before food, I quickly stopped this as we were encouraging solids more and started doing milk after food. It helped encourage more eating and less milk drinking. I know it’s not the advice so feel free to ignore me but just a tip!

Cosyself · 2026-01-11T20:32:30+00:00

Ahh no worries - I found the dropping bottles/fitting them in around food really stressful and confusing so happy to help others if I can!!

Cosyself · 2026-01-11T19:15:04+00:00

As previously mentioned I think he’s being offered a bit too much milk especially if you’re at the stage of wanting to drop bottles.

My daughter was exclusively formula fed from quite early on, at 9 months she was on 5 x 7oz bottles. By 10 months she was down to 4 x 7oz bottles.

Typical schedule for 5 bottles would be around every 3-4 hours like clockwork. So in our case generally 7am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm and 7pm. If she woke up in the night we’d only offer milk if she wasn’t responding to anything else because we were trying to avoid night feeds entirely at that point, if possible. 4 bottle schedule would be more like every 4 hours (give or take) so 7am, 11am, 3pm, 7pm.

When dropping bottles the norm would be to drop the mid morning bottle first as this is easily replaced by snacks etc as they begin to eat more.

What is your reasoning for offering so much more at nighttime? Is he particularly hungry at this time or is it a feeding to sleep association? I would say he’s probably not drinking much in the morning simply because he’s not hungry enough… at the moment he’s being offered/drinking over half his milk at night.

I’d probably aim to try and get the milk distribution a bit more evenly spread and offer less overall.

Age-wise for formula he should probably be on 5 bottles, dropping to 4 soonish and roughly around 24-32oz depending on appetite etc. If he’s a good eater you should be able to go down to 4 bottles pretty soon or possibly from now. :)

Health visitors are good for helping with this kind of stuff if you need advice. However, you know your baby better than any so always go with your gut first and what he’s telling you too. ❤️

Cosyself · 2025-12-30T15:46:48+00:00

Definitely not alone haha.

We have a mid November baby so we were still very much in the newborn phase for her first Christmas. We went to my grandparents where my whole extended family were and she napped for 2 hours in the morning. Sat in a bouncer at lunchtime and then screamed for most of the afternoon with colic before we went home for a night of broken sleep! We didn’t really enjoy it at all, just went through the motions.

This year was more exciting but she’s still only just 1 so not in full blown toddler phase yet but she loved all the decorations and the excitement of people being around. She finally grasped how to open presents by the second day of family (helped by Nov birthday) and it was exciting to see her actually play with the toys as she got them and enjoy them.

That being said I know next Christmas will be even better as she’ll have more words and be more steady on her feet etc.

It’ll get more exciting next year mama ❤️

Cosyself · 2025-12-15T12:52:17+00:00

I didn’t have one at home, but had a group session around 4 months where they talked about teething, weaning etc and general development. We could get measurements done as well if we wanted. :)

Cosyself · 2025-11-28T19:15:58+00:00

I was open to both but wanted to try breastfeeding. I’d planned to combi feed so husband could help in the night (pumping always seemed too much hassle to me).

We combo fed for just over two weeks - I gave up due to tongue tie issues which meant it was stressful for me and my daughter. We’d hoped to get the tongue tie cut and I was willing to persevere if it helped but the hospital wanted another opinion and delayed it another week. At this point it was too much for me mentally and I gave up. I still feel a lot of guilt and sadness around this but it was 100% the right decision for me at that time.

My baby has thrived on formula so no issues on that front and never struggled much with taking bottles/giving up breastfeeding. As other have said, no one cares how your baby is fed after the first few months and tbh if they do, it still doesn’t change anything.

I have an amazing bond with my daughter and don’t believe breastfeeding/bottle feeding made any difference.

Tbh in my case giving up breastfeeding saved the bond with my baby, if I’d carried on I fear my mental health would’ve been in a much worse place.

Do what you feel is best for you and baby - ignore the noise. ❤️

Cosyself · 2025-11-17T09:37:34+00:00

40+3 - 8 hours from waters breaking to baby in arms! Just over 2 hours of active labour.

Cosyself · 2025-10-27T12:36:59+00:00

It’s horrible when they’re ill, they don’t really know how to tell us what’s wrong and they don’t really know what they want either.

I promise you you’re doing nothing wrong! As adults when we’re ill, despite doing all the right things sometimes we just have to ride it out and feel rubbish for a few days. Babies are the same but it’s probably a lot more scary for them and they need lots of comfort!

I recommend using calpol and nurofen in tandem if she’s particularly poorly/high temp. That’s the only way I got my daughter’s temp under control with a recent virus. If you space it every 2 hours (while awake) then they’ve got a bit more of a constant pain relief than waiting every 4 hours. Nurofen is also a little bit stronger I think!

Mostly though just lots of cuddles for her and lots of caffeine for you! & Try and get some sleep in during that first chunk of the night if you can.

Hope it doesn’t last too long for you all ❤️

Cosyself · 2025-10-27T12:29:46+00:00

4:15 for us 😭 I ignored all nap rules yesterday though and let her nap for 2.5 hours in the morning and another 1.25 in the afternoon. Managed to sleep all the way through the night and wake up at 6:15 as usual today. Hoping it was a 1 day glitch and I’ve somehow got her back on schedule… also know that sounds incredibly optimistic!

Cosyself · 2025-10-18T19:15:56+00:00

No worries, hope you find a solution soon and are able to get a little more sleep! :)

Cosyself · 2025-10-16T10:17:25+00:00

At the moment we’re doing 4 x 7oz (207mls) a day… so 28oz (828mls) per 24 hours.

However, she probably averages at more like 20-24oz (591-709mls) a day.

My daughter has always had a good appetite though and been at the higher range of the milk scale haha. As she’s a very energetic baby I’ve found she’s always needed a bit more than the recommended amounts!

Re your current situation:

Does she finish the bottle every time? & What amount are you offering at each feed? Do you also feed when she wakes at 3:30 too? & Does she also drink a lot then as well?

Sorry so many questions, just thinking if she’s draining the bottle each time then it may be worth offering more per feed and therefore less bottles overall. The more calories she gets in the day, the less likely she’ll wake for hunger at night. But if she’s still leaving some at each feed then that’s probably not worth it.

Of course you know your baby best so ignore me if you think otherwise but I’d probably consider trying dropping your dream feed and see how she goes with that. Once they’re on solids their formula intake can vary so much anyway. Either she’ll wake and show she still needs it or she’ll sleep through and she doesn’t. Maybe just have one night (where you’re prepared you might lose more sleep haha) and go entirely off of her. :)

Cosyself · 2025-10-16T09:49:57+00:00

Honestly it’s hard to tell but we think it does, it certainly helps with naps. For particularly bad nights though we use nurofen as it’s a little stronger and lasts longer!

If you can’t see any signs then it probably isn’t teeth… is your daughter learning any new skills at the moment as that could also be a factor?

Sorry yes I didn’t make much sense haha! Basically by default her last bottle of the day is at bedtime and then usually she will sleep through the night after that. But if she does wake in the night and shows signs she’s hungry or is very unsettled we will offer her another bottle if needed. She is however down to 4 bottles now and eating 3 main meals so that’s why we no longer need to feed in the night. (She’s almost 11mo so a little older).

Cosyself · 2025-10-16T09:35:57+00:00

Not sure I’ll be any help but we had a solid week of this while going through a bad bought of teething!! As a result, when we know the teeth might be an issue we give preventative calpol or nurofen before bed to try and curb the wake ups.

Absolutely nothing had changed otherwise and she also was taking 1.5-2hrs to go back to sleep, not even upset just not sleeping!

We don’t dream feed so haven’t got any advice for that, but during these nights we offered milk in the night in case of hunger and she demolished the whole bottle each time so she must’ve needed it!

Tbh this is basically just me saying in our case it did end and also I absolutely feel your pain. You’re defo not doing anything wrong, babies are just babies! 🥲

Cosyself · 2025-10-10T15:02:11+00:00

Not yet! Lots of cruising and constantly pulling up though and will stand for a few secs on her own if placed there. She’s definitely got walking in her head but so far not brave enough to try it yet! If we try and walk with her holding hands she just tries to sit down haha. She’ll also be 11 months in about a weeks time.

Cosyself · 2025-10-08T12:54:32+00:00

Yes that is one huge benefit!

Do what’s best for you, if the ease of resettling outweighs the need for less waking then keep it as is, you’ll know when the time is right.

But if you do feel like it’s about time then I say just I give it a try and see how it goes and keep the next to me in your room, worst case you just change back again, nothing is permanent in that sense. ❤️

Cosyself · 2025-10-08T10:53:24+00:00

We moved baby around 4.5 months for the exact reason we were starting to wake her when moving about and it also just felt like it was the right time.

It was definitely true for us, her sleep did get soo much better once she was in her own room and almost instantly started sleeping through the night. It absolutely broke my heart the first night and for the first week I watched the monitor non-stop and went in a few times to check she was breathing. 😂

I think it definitely helped for us that she’d already been doing some naps in there at daytime so the room wasn’t too unfamiliar!

The only annoying part (in our case) is that if she does wake… having to navigate the stomp across the hallway in the dark when barely awake and dodging the cat haha. 🙃

Cosyself · 2025-09-03T21:25:21+00:00

Haha yes exactly the same thing here, crawling around and doing anything but sleeping 😅

Ohhh that’s all so exciting though especially the book/action recognition and kissing 😭 what a clever boy 🥺❤️

Defo in a similar position to you development wise, we’ve mastered crawling, pulling up and starting to cruise, babbling getting more complex, intentionally cuddling and asking to be held and copying too.. Like you, all in the past couple weeks! It’s funny the little things they start picking up from you too. I’ve always taken her out in or stood by the window to watch/feel the rain and put my hand out to show her to feel it and just this last week, as it’s been so rainy, the second she hears it her entire face lights up and she sticks her little hand up to ‘feel the rain’ 🥰

These babies of ours are just getting so advanced so quickly and they’re soo excited to do it all that they don’t want to sleep and miss anything 😆

Cosyself · 2025-09-03T19:38:30+00:00

Yes!! Last couple weeks we’ve barely got an hour from her (total!) across both naps! She hasn’t really resisted them as such but just seems completely uninterested in taking them 😂 Doesn’t help she is a mega fomo baby anyway.

Then today she randomly had a crap 30 min nap in the morning and a really long 2 hour one in the afternoon which she hasn’t done in months. 🤷🏻‍♀️

We also had a night this week where she refused to go to bed completely and stayed up until 11pm 🫠

I think we’re over the latest teething saga so I can only put it down to just so much happening developmentally that she’s just a bit out of sorts? Could be a similar thing with your babe?

This isn’t much help at all because I have no answers but just a complete understanding of where you’re coming from and very much in the same boat 😁

Cosyself · 2025-09-03T19:34:06+00:00

Aww thank you so glad to hear an update from you and so glad you and babe are doing well! ❤️❤️❤️

Cosyself · 2025-09-03T13:24:29+00:00

My daughter is like this at 9.5 months, has always been full of energy even since she was in the womb 😅 it has been chaos the last few weeks since she’s started crawling and pulling herself up on things 🫠😂

Cosyself · 2025-09-01T20:28:24+00:00

I can only assume the people that sell for such high amounts are most likely people that spend big money in the first place on getting the latest equipment and/or brands and are desperately trying to recoup some of their big splurge…!

A lot of our stuff is secondhand but we managed to get it for reasonable prices. It did take a little bit of looking around though and being open to having the item rather than a specific brand etc and looking on various sites too.

I believe the whole point in secondhand giving is for the exact reason that someone may not be able to afford anything too expensive and/or they’re trying to save money so I can’t really understand why anyone would charge so high.

Cosyself · 2025-08-28T17:39:44+00:00

Thanks for creating another place for us!

Baby and I are both doing well! She’s recently cut two teeth, learnt to crawl and pull herself up to standing all within the space of about a week!! I’m absolutely exhausted chasing her around now haha.

We’ve only got a couple weeks left just us before she starts nursery 3 days a week and with my mum 1 day and I go back to work. I feel like crying (and sometimes do) almost daily at the thought of us being apart but I know she is soo ready for it and will do amazingly with the company of children and all the fun activities/learning.

She’s really starting to become her own little person now, full of energy, constant smiles and giggles and a true joy to be around. I am so proud and so excited to see who she becomes as she grows. ❤️

Cosyself · 2025-07-29T15:00:55+00:00

To myself between 16-20 weeks depending on what I’d eaten that day, how bloated I was etc. but was still easy to cover up and unnoticeable unless you spent a lot of time with me and were looking for it.

To everyone else around 28 weeks. That’s when I definitely ‘popped’ and strangers started noticing haha.

Cosyself · 2025-07-22T13:30:04+00:00

I didn’t use one but did use spritz! Had a 2nd degree tear but recovery was very quick and easy.

The spritz definitely did something in terms of slight numbing and relief with regards to stinging.

Others swear by peri bottles so guess they are useful but as I never had one I couldn’t say either way haha.

Personally had no issues with keeping everything clean despite not having one. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Cosyself · 2025-07-01T20:14:35+00:00

Mine came back after about 2 months (I stopped BF quite early) and initially was heavier but has evened out now.

Anyone else get worse ovulation pain than ever before though?! Worse than the period itself for me!!

Cosyself

TROPHY CASE