Ds dropping his daytime feeds but he's only 9 months

[Miaou]

• how many should he be having anyway? He's breastfed.
  

He's just too darn nosey to settle down to feed during the day! He used to have a mid-morning and a mid-afternoon feed and hasn't had either today. Has a good long feed at bedtime and first thing in the morning (and one during the night too - tried dropping it but not successfully and tbh not too bothered about that). I am not giving and will not give formula.

Should I give him cow's milk at lunchtime or just continue with water? Will he get enough milk from just three feeds? Doesn't seem like a lot to me.

[SenoraPostrophe]

3 feeds can be a lot at 9 months, I think. If you're worried you could introduce cows milk into food (or give fromage frais), but tbh I wouldn't be I don't think. ds at that age was constantly whinging for a breastfeed - think you're lucky!

[mears]

There is no point giving cow's milk, especially since you do not want to give formula. Does he have a breastfeed at any meal times? If he isn't ineterested don't worry about it. 3 breastfeeds are absouletly fine. You might find he will ask for more breastfeeds if he feels like it.

[Miaou]

Thanks for that sp and mears - I thought the cows milk was probably pointless at this stage - just thought I'd check! I do cook with it so he gets a bit with most meals, and yoghurt too.

(tbh I just love breastfeeding so much and I'm really sad it's dropping off...)

[Miaou]

Oh and no he doesn't bf at mealtimes either.

[suzi2]

Miaou - we are in the same situation! Although my DS has a nighttime one, a mid morning one and an afternoon one. He's dropped the morning one and the bedtime one. Odd! (and a pain as I still have to be around all day and can't get a day out without him!). I think that in the morning he's too excited (that it's morning!) to feed and at bedtime he's too tired. The daytime feeds have to be in a darkened room too as he's too nosey. I'm trying to swap the nighttime one for a breakfast feed but with no success.

[LeahE]

I think it's fairly normal/common to drop one feed (often the mid-morning feed) at around 9 months.

[bourneville]

it's ironic isn't it, my dd was a constant feeder too and i would have loved it if she dropped those feeds miaou! Perhaps our kids know and do whatever it is we don't want them to!
I wonder too about growth spurts. not so much when i was bfeeding cos she always wanted feeding at whatever time, but with solids her growth spurts have always been very obvious. so could be that too, miaou? do growth spurts apply to bf at all does anyone know?

[Miaou]

Despite this being my third child it's the first time I've fed past six months so this bit is all new to me! I'm quite sad that they're dropping off so much . (the feeds that is). I don't know a soul in RL who is bfing (and I know quite a lot of mums with babies).

[Miaou]

yes bourneville I'm sure he's been through a spurt recently, so upped his food intake (and the milk has dropped back at the same time). He's a chubster - not worried about if he is getting enough or not!

[pooka]

ds is 7.5 months and he has really lost interest in daytime feeds - like yours he is too easily distracted by his surroundings. He has a good feed at 5am. A little thirst-quencher mid-morning, another quickie at mid-pm and then one before bed.
I try to reassure myself that he's probably really efficient at feeding so gets enough from 2 good feeds and 2 quick ones, but also give plenty of milky foods like porridge for breakfast, yogurt with meals, milk mashed with his veg and so on.
Tricky - keep feeling like I'm on the back foot because he is so very different to dd, where every dropped feed was planned and negotiated almost - a real effort - whereas he seems to be setting his own pace (which is good I suppose).

[mears]

Does he ever ask for feeds? Make sure you aren't missing his cues like the old snuggle into your chest looking for a boob. Sometimes you can be so busy that you don't respond and offer a feed. If there is no response, then he won't ask IYSWIM? He might keep these 3 feeds going for months or he may increase them again himself. Just go with the flow pardon the pun

[Miaou]

Good point mears - in fact he did have a snuggly feed this morning at about 11am. It is possible that I have missed cues, that's true - shall bear it in mind. Generally speaking though I still offer out of habit but he tends to refuse them.

Ditto pooka - you could have set your watch by my dds in terms of feeds - ds is a law unto himself!!

[lazycow]

My ds dropped a lot of daytime feeds at around 8 months. He seemed fine with 2-3 daytime feeds and one at night. I went back to work 3 days a week when he was 10 months old so on the days at work I did give him a bottle of formula but he never drank more than 1-20z so I stopped giving it at 11 months.

What I have found though is he has phases, at about 12-13 months he started to go mad for bfeeding again and although he is happy to go without if I'm not there (He really does not like cows milk, formula or ebm in a bottle or cup) when I am there he is currently much more keen on bfeeding and at 16 months has started to ask for feeds when we are out - something he hasn't done since he was about 8 months old. I am afraid I say no to that though - I have defnitely given up bfeeding in public and won't go back there so I'm afraid his luck is out there

What I am trying to say is that only a few feeds at 9 months is fine for some babies but to be aware that thing may well change.

[lazycow]

Oh I also used to offer out of habit and he would take a few sucks - almost out of politenss and then stop. I just kept offering when it suited me and at his usual times and it all just seemed to work out. There were some times I thought he would give up as he nursed so little but as I say he is a bit of a boob fiend at the moment.