Answer: Hi there,
demand feeding is still recommended to be the most ideal way to feeding babies. Interestingly, babies are quite adept at regulating their 24-hour energy needs and it appears important to go with this for later eating habits.

Babies and also young children will generally have a maximum of 3 hours of energy stores in their body. Beyond this they begin to get hungry and of course cranky and irritable. At four months there are quite a few things going on including fussy periods, sleep changes, even teething. All of which affect the two big things babies do – eat and sleep.

As feeds drop (from about 6-9 months) and sleep cycles lengthen you can find your routine needs tweaking and it is often hard to rework. Just as you get it sorted they seem to change again, it can be like a revolving door.

I have copied in the routine I found most useful, but ultimately stick with what works best for you and baby and try to allow for flexibility during times of change.

On routines, Karitane, recommend the following for bubs 6-9 months:
- Early morning milk feed (baby may return to bed)

- Up time 2 ½ to 3 hours - solids
- Play
- Sleep (1.5 to 2 hrs)

- Up time 2 ½ to 3 hours – b’feed
– solids
– Play
– Sleep (1.5 to 2 hrs)

- Up time 2 ½ to 3 hours – b’feed
– solids
– Play
– Bath
– Milk feed (or delay until just before bed)
– Quiet time
– Sleep (1.5 to 2 hrs)

As to the exact time these schedules fall into depends on you and bub.

If you keep an eye on baby’s growth and it maintains its usual rate you can be pretty sure what is going in is meeting her needs. Baby is your best guide! If you find things are slipping yes you may want to rework things or pop into see your ECN or GP.

Hope that helps
All the best
Leanne