Should a 7-month-old really only be breastfed a maximum of 3 times a day?

[xandrarama]

DD is 31 weeks, eats 3 mushy meals a day, and breastfeeds 4x a day. This seems to suit her; she's putting on weight, is cheerful during the day and sleeps 11 hours straight through at night. Today the health visitor told me I should cut down on her milk feeds so she is having a maximum of 3 per day. (Next month I am supposed to cut back to 2x per day, apparently.)

I don't really understand why this was recommended - I did try to go over it with the HV but still came away feeling a bit befuddled. To my knowledge, the primary source of energy/nutrition at this age should still be coming from milk or formula. Over the last month, DD seems to have cut back on the amount she drinks at each feed, so why bother restricting the frequency?

On the days I'm at work, DD only has 2 or 3 milk feeds anyway because she refuses to drink ebm from a bottle or cup while I'm gone. So I guess I am inadvertently following the HV's advice to some extent. But I'd be interested in hearing what other people think. At the moment, I'm not particularly inclined to change anything we're doing.

[lljkk]

Ignore Ur bonkerz HV.

[Annner]

No! At 7 months go with what your baby wants. You are correct that the majority of her calories should still be coming from milk. Bear in mind that a small slurp in the summer can be a refreshing drink and not a meal.

At 7 months my DS cut back on feeds when I was at work - because he preferred to wait until I got home over having a bottle or cup.

Your HV is a loon.

[llareggub]

Agree with others. Your HV is a loon.

[ExpositionDesMains]

My 26 month old has more than 3 feeds a day... Tell your HV, she can report me to HV Central and send somebody round to delactatify my boobs.

[littlelamb]

No it's utter rubbish. My hv was the same- she has a thinly veiled disgust of bf past a certain age My ds is 13 months and has more than that

[CarGirl]

I agree your HV is a loon.

My youngest dropped her bf very rapidly from 6 months as she seemed to like being a big girl like her sisters but she still only dropped 1 feed a month so presumably was on 4/5 feeds per day at 7 months, 3/4 at 8 months, 2/3 at 9 months, 1/2 at 10 months because at 11 months she was only have 1 feed in the evening and then she self weaned!

I would be completely led by your baby on this.

[TheCrackFox]

It really isn't any of your HVs business how often your DD feeds.

All your HV should be concerning herself with is your DDs health. Your DD is healthy and happy.

[Reallytired]

Stop seeing the hv. You don't need her if your child is healthy.

I think they forget that boobs are not bottles. Its not like you can give your daughter 8 oz of milk. Maybe she is following outdated guidelines.

[MrsBadger]

HV is loon

avoid her

if child is ill go to GP

if child is well do not see anyone

[weblette]

Agree re HV's loon status. Follow your dd not her.

[HuffwardlyRouge]

Ha! Could you ask your HV to come and explain to my 15-mth-old that he is to be cut down to no more than 3 breast feeds a day? She may want to wear body armour .

[scrappydappydoo]

Hmm - I think we have the same hv - I had a truely disastrous 8mth check with mine in which she told me that my dd was underweight (not true) but at the same time more than 3 feeds a day was way too much. Prehaps I should try formula. I never went back...
She doesn't know what she's talking about. Ignore

[TheCrackFox]

Hmm, wonder if the HV limits herself to 4 drinks a day? Or does she have a drink when she is thirsty?

[JodieO]

Agree, no need to see HV at all.

[aGalChangedHerName]

I fed mine as much/little milk as they wanted. Go with the flow and ignore anyone who says your lol 'should' be doing anything.

[tiktok]

Ridiculous.

Perhaps the HV has a hearing problem? She thought you said 'bottle feeding' and not 'breastfeeding'?

Or perhaps she really is a loon?

Or perhaps she is woefully ignorant about the needs of babies of this age and the perfect way unrestricted breastfeeding, together with a growing repertoire of solids, meets these needs.

[Tambajam]

A loon.
I would stop seeing her TBH. She doesn't sound very useful. If you want to talk about breastfeeding phone one of the helplines.
Milk is supposed to be the primary form of nutrition until 12 months.
3 feeds at 7 months would be the absolute MINIMUM. Certainly not something to aim for. My 19 month old gets 3 feeds in 24 hrs and eats well and is healthy and happy.

[Jennylee]

mine says it too, is not true, not sure why they think it though

[RorysRacingMa]

HV's don't seem to understand bf and think it's a bind therefore they want you to reduce it, but it's up to you and your child what they do.

I suspect they get goodie bags from SMA telling them how great formula is and have targets to reduce bf.

[Bellsa]

WHO recommends BF until 2 yrs. I cut down a bit as ds started on solids but not much, and I just let him guide me as to how much he wanted. I'm not an expert, but I agree with the other messages on here, that 3 BF a day doesn't sound like a lot.

[ButterbeerAndLemon]

Moondog has a HV loon detector with a big flashy light just for situations like this...

[IsItMeOr]

Love the consistency of responses here!

If you do feel the need to see HV, suggest you ignore her advice re BFing and just nod and say yes that's pretty much what I'm doing to anything she says about it.

[xandrarama]

Thanks everyone. You've reinforced my decision to ignore the HV on this matter (and possibly others).

She also said I should start giving DD multivitamin drops because she wouldn't be getting enough iron from breastmilk or solids. I had a quick look at infant multivitamin supplements in Boots and couldn't find any that also contained iron. I am trying to feed DD a wide selection of iron-rich pulses and vegetables and assumed she wouldn't need any kind of vitamin or mineral supplements unless she was diagnosed with anemia or rickets or something... HV said this was a Dept. of Health recommendation. I will ignore her on this too unless someone more educated than I pops up here to correct me!