8 months- how many bfs in 24hrs

[Tyranasaurus]

Just that really. Just had my 8 month check and the HV seemed very down on how many feeds we had. I really didn't think that it was that many, so I'm curious to hear what other people did/do. Not that I'm going to change what I do, but the whole meeting left me feeling like a crazy hippy mummy.

[peanutdream]

what is it with these HVs???? As many as you are both happy with providing everything is basically fine. By 8 mo, my two were on three meals and two snacks but tbh I say that loosely as alot of the food was squashed/mashed/thrown about/tasted!

[Spiritedwolf]

5.5 months here and we don't count our feeds (I'm not sure I have enough fingers) and don't intend to after we start solids either, so we couldn't give any nosey hvs a numerical answer if they asked.

'on demand/as often as we like' will have to do. (or plenty!) I think there's no reason to count unless you feel you aren't squeezing in enough. Milk is still a major portion of diet at that age. Food/fun/one are three words that come to mind.

do you think there's a problem?

But then I could be a bit of a hippy, I don't count how many glasses of water I drink a day either

[ZuleikaD]

At 8m mine were having feeds before every meal and probably one or two more than that, and every two hours at night.

[IShallCallYouSquishy]

My DD is coming up 8 months and generally she has 4 BF's and 3 solids meals a day.

Some days she might have 5 or 6 but never less than 4. She now doesn't have any feeds after her bedtime one.

[ElphabaTheGreen]

I had a tit of an HV tell me that at seven months, my DS should only be having BFs morning and evening and should be getting the majority of his nutrition from solids. It would also be fine for me to go cold-turkey on his night feeds.



I phoned the Breastfeeding Network who work alongside that health visiting team, who very politely and tactfully hit the roof, confirming that until the age of one year, a baby's main nutrition should be from milk. An average number of night feeds according to them at this age is about three, then whenever they want during the day. Now, at almost 8mo, DS has 4-5 BFs in the day and about the same at night.

The HVs are obviously working off some daffy guidance. Even FF babies have more than two milk feeds a day at 7-8 months, so push on with being a hippy. A comment that I also got from another HV in the same team is that, 'we've almost never had anyone breastfeed as long as you have' so I think they have to work off an awful lot of theory rather than practice when it comes to BFing (unless they work in a hotbed of us hippies).

[Tyranasaurus]

I said 8 which I really didn't think was a lot. But then again I'm vegetarian and turned down the offer of sleep training advice (because she SHOULD be sleeping through by now). I left out the BLW and cosleeping and just kept nodding and smiling...

[ElphabaTheGreen]

Co-sleeping vegetarian here as well. Shall we start a commune?

Should be sleeping through?

Where the fuck do (some) HVs get off?

[cairnterrier]

DS2 has 3-4 snacky BF during the day (won't settle down as too many other interesting things going on, people to wave at etc), 3 meals, morning snack and then BF every 2-3ish hours during the night. Big feed at 0530 to set him up for the day.

DS1 had night feeds til he was at least 13-14 months. Don't care what anyone else says, he was hungry and wasn't ready to sleep through.

[TripleRock]

At that age DD was having about 4/5 in the day and about 1/2 more at night.

However as we are still nursing at 2.3, I think that earns me some extra lentil weaving points too

[teacher123]

8 1/2 mo DS has bf first and last thing and any through the night depending how many times he wakes up. He also has a sippy cup of formula morning and afternoon.